Costa Rica was first conceptually divided into three archaeological areas: northern Pacific, Central Valley and Atlantic watershed, and southern Pacific, with these subdivisions facilitating more detailed control of the slowly developing archaeological data base. As Fonseca (1992, 15) noted, these three cultural and geographical areas coincided with the names of the three indigenous groups first encountered by the Spanish: Chorotega, Huetar, and Boruca. Fonseca points out that a mistake was made at this stage of Costa Rican archaeology in assuming that artifacts found in these areas were automatically made by these peoples. We now know that the contact period cultural appellations have relatively unreliable direct and historical utility beyond the first century or so before the Spanish invasion.

Table 1. Periodization of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan Archaeology
Wiley and Sabloff (1980) Fonseca (1992) Arias (1982) Corrales (1987)
        Research Design Archaeology (1985–present)
Explanatory-Cont Method Theoretical Innovation (1970s)
Explanatory/Diachronic 1975–present
Explanatory-New Data (1960s–1970s)
Explanation of Sociological Processes (1970–present) Priority of Salvage Archaeology (1974–1985)
Explanatory-Begin (1960s)
Descriptive Diachronic (1960–1975) Diachronic (1960–1970)
Classificatory-Historical-Context and Function (1940–1960)
Descriptive Synchronic (1925–1960)
Classificatory-Historical Chronological (1914–1940)
Pioneros (1850–1925) Official Collecting (1887–1974)
Classificatory-Descriptive (1840–1914) Descriptive Synchronic (1840–1960)
Speculative (1492–1840)

Fieldwork undertaken between 1959 and 1967 resulted in the first chronological sequences for Costa Rica. Under the auspices of the Institute for Andean Research, the Inter-relationship of New World Cultures Project under Claude Baudez and Michael Coe developed the basis for the central developmental sequence for northwestern Costa Rica, and Samuel Lothrop developed an initial sequence for the southern Pacific region. Wolfgang Haberland, Laura Laurencich Minelli, and Maria Bozzoli de Wille also contributed to our