The demography at the site tracked with normal patterns of natural age-at-death at the non-elite site of Cerro Juan Díaz rather than the abnormal patterns seen at the large ceremonial sites of Sitio Conte and El Caño. Analysis of field notes, excavation photos, and the 77 individuals available for study from the site yielded no evidence of perimortem trauma nor abnormal body positioning unexplained by taphonomy. This paper considers the physical evidence for interpersonal violence and sacrificial death at Playa Venado based on the burial positioning, demographic composition, and trauma present on the human remains recovered from the site.

At the precolumbian site of Playa Venado in Panama, these accounts of violent mortuary rituals may have influenced the interpretation of the burials encountered in excavations, leading to claims of mutilations and sacrifice, with little or no supporting evidence. Many Spanish chroniclers detail violent cultural practices of the indigenous populations they encountered in the Isthmo-Colombian Area however, lack of physical evidence of interpersonal violence from archaeological contexts has made uncertain the veracity of these claims.

La reina de Panamá by Gonzalo Fernández