Mayo Chinchipe-Marañón Complex, the Unexpected Spirits of the Ceja

Summary

The fringes of the eastern Andean slopes that conform Ecuador’s Ceja de Montaña are a steep transitional zone between the cordillera highlands and the Amazonian lowlands, where altitude varies from 1800 to ca.-400 masl, The ceja is covered by a dense humid tropical forest that has been traditionally seen as unfit for the development of social complexity. In spite of the apparent adverse ecological conditions this region became an important cultural area around 5000 years ago. A precocious ceremonial center has been discovered recently in the area of the headwaters of the Mayo Chinchipe hydraulic drainage. The site, called Santa Ana – La Florida, shows a complicated stone architectural layout, where two opposing platform mounds mark the extremes of a sunken circular plaza. One of the platforms held a circular structure that has been interpreted as a temple. Under this platform several elite tombs were found. The funerary paraphernalia shows the importance of the regional interactions that connected the Pacific coast the Andean highlands and the Amazonian lowlands. The iconography depicted in the stone and ceramic vessels suggest a strong ideological structure that led and managed the population on a regional scale ideological

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21060