ative populations whose presence stretched back over 12,000 years. The earliest traces of these indigenous peoples include fluted projectile points. Central Panama was home to some of the first pottery-making villages in the Americas, such as the Monagrillo culture dating to about 2500-1700 B.C.E. These evolved into significant populations that are best known through the spectacular burials of the Conte site (dating to circa 500-900 C.E.) and the beautiful polychrome pottery of the Coclé style. At the time of European conquest, the indigenous population of the isthmus was said to be between one and two million people. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Panama was widely settled by Chibchan, Chocoan, and Cueva peoples, among whom the largest group were the Cueva (whose specific language affiliation is poorly documented).
In 1501, Rodrigo de Bastidas from Seville, who had accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas, sailed westward from the Atlantic side of present day Venezuela in an attempt to militarily observe the coastline of the Caribbean basin. Though the poor condition of his ships forced him to turn back and return to Santo Domingo to effect repairs, de Bastidas would reach La Punta de Manzanillo on Panama's northern Caribbean coast before having to abandon his effort. He is acknowledged to be the first European to have claimed that part of the isthmus, which includes the San Blas region of the Kuna Indians.
A year after de Bastidas's arrival in Panama and on his fourth trip to the Americas, Columbus sailed south to the isthmus from the northern, present day Central American states of Honduras and Costa Rica. Columbus produced hand drawn maps of Panama's coastline and unlike de Bastidas, explored Panama's western territories. He landed in what is present day Almirante, in the Bocas del Toro province, and proceeded along the coast to a part of the territory he would name Veragua meaning "to see water." He continued his coastal journey up to the Chagres River, taking refuge in a natural bay he christened Portobelo (Beautiful Port). This site would become a key port for colonial Spain in 1597, replacing Nombre de Dios which had burned and proven to be vulnerable to attack. Columbus ended his explorations at Del Retrete having spent just shy of two months in what would be Panama.
Soon Spanish explorations would converge upon Tierra Firma (also Tierra Firme, Spanish from the Latin terra firma, "dry land" or "mainland") which served in Spanish colonial times as the name for the Isthmus of Panama. Panama was explored and settled by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. In 1821, under the leadership of the then-colonel in command, José de Fábrega, it broke with the Spanish Crown and joined Simón Bolívar's Republic of Gran Colombia. When this dissolved in 1830, Panama remained part of Colombia.
Panama was part of the Spanish Empire for over 300 years (1513-1821) and Panamanian fortunes fluctuated with the geopolitical importance of the isthmus to the Spanish crown. Panama's importance would wane to insignificance by the middle of the eighteenth century as Spanish influence and power in Europe decreased and Spanish ships began to increasingly circle Cape Horn in order to reach the Atlantic. While the Panama route was short it was also labor intensive and expensive because of the loading and unloading and laden-down trek required to get from the one coast to the other. The Panama route was also vulnerable to attack from pirates (mostly Dutch and English) and from "new world" Africans called cimarrons who had freed themselves from enslavement and lived in communes or palenques around the Camino Real in Panama's interior, and on some of the islands off Panama's Pacific coast.
When Panama was colonized, the indigenous peoples who survived the many diseases, massacres and enslavement of the conquest ultimately fled into the forest or to nearby islands. Indian slaves were replaced by Africans.
Panama joined the independence bandwagon as did most of the other Central American countries, in 1821. While Panama was of g