The traditional oxcart， or carreta， is Costa Rica’s most famous type of craft. From the mid-nineteenth century， oxcarts were used to transport coffee beans from Costa Rica’s central valley over the mountains to Puntarenas on the Pacific coast， a journey requiring ten to fifteen days. The oxcarts used spokeless wheels， a hybrid between the disc used by the Aztec and the spoked wheel introduced by the Spanish， to cut through the mud without becoming bogged down. In many cases， oxcarts were a family's only means of transport and often served as a symbol of social status.

The tradition of painting and decorating oxcarts started in the early twentieth century. Originally， each region of Costa Rica had its own particular design， enabling the identification of the driver’s origin by the painted patterns on the wheels. By the beginning of the twentieth century， flowers， faces and even miniature landscapes appeared beside patterns of pointed stars. Annual contests were arranged to reward the most creative artists and are still held today.

Each oxcart is designed to make its own ‘song’， a unique chime produced by a metal ring striking the hubnut of the wheel as the cart bumped along. Once the oxcart had become a source of individual pride， greater care was taken in their construction， and the best-quality woods were selected to make the best sounds.

Today's colourful and richly decorated carretas bear little resemblance to the original rough-hewn， rectangular， cane-framed vehicles covered by rawhide tarps. In most regions of Costa Rica， trucks and trains replaced oxcarts as the main means of transport， but they remain strong symbols of Costa Rican former country life， and the carretas still feature prominently in parades and in religious and secular celebrations.

傳統(tǒng)的牛車，是哥斯達(dá)黎加最著名的工藝。從19世紀(jì)中葉開始，牛車就被用來運(yùn)輸咖啡豆，從哥斯達(dá)黎加中央谷地，越過群山，送到太平洋海岸的潘塔熱那斯，全程需要10至15天。牛車采用沒有輻條的車輪，這種阿茲臺克人的圓盤和西班牙輻條車輪的混合物在穿過泥漿時(shí)，車輪不會陷入泥沼。許多情況下，牛車是一個(gè)家庭的唯一運(yùn)輸方式，并經(jīng)常被當(dāng)作社會地位的象征。

繪畫和裝飾牛車的傳統(tǒng)始于20世紀(jì)初。最初，哥斯達(dá)黎加的每一個(gè)地區(qū)都有自己的獨(dú)特設(shè)計(jì)，駕車者的身份背景可以通過車輪上的圖案得以識別。至1915年，花卉、面容甚至微縮風(fēng)景開始出現(xiàn)在星形圖案旁。每年的競賽都會獎勵最具創(chuàng)造力的藝術(shù)家，這種競賽一直延續(xù)至今。

每輛牛車都被制作出獨(dú)特的“歌聲”，即產(chǎn)生于牛車顛簸前行時(shí)，金屬鈴叩擊車輪中軸的和諧聲響。據(jù)推測，這一發(fā)明是為了使農(nóng)場主聽到勞工勞動的聲音。一旦牛車成為自尊之源，車主在制造中就投入了更大關(guān)注，他們紛紛選擇最優(yōu)質(zhì)的木料使其發(fā)出最美的聲音。

今天的牛車裝飾豐富多彩，已經(jīng)與原來那種粗糙、矩形的、加藤條框并蒙以生牛皮油布的車輛完全不同了。哥斯達(dá)黎加的大部分地區(qū)，卡車和火車代替牛車成為主要運(yùn)輸工具，但是牛車仍然是哥斯達(dá)黎加農(nóng)村生活的有力象征。牛車仍然在游行、宗教和世俗慶典中起著突出作用。