Materials Preparation and Procurement at Cochasquí as Indicators of Social Organization

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Excavations at earthen pyramid sites in northern Ecuador have documented the presence of unique circular baked-earth floors atop the pyramids which have been interpreted to be a marker of the especially sacred nature of the structure. Yet little is known about the process by which these floors are produced and fired or the societies that built them. Recent excavations at the archaeological site of Cochasquí have revealed that, in addition to these baked floors, a number of earthen materials composing the pyramids were manipulated in a variety of ways. Rather than being the product of least-cost procurement, many of the materials were brought from various locations at some distances across the landscape. The way in which these materials appear to have been processed and incorporated into the construction can ultimately provide clues to the technical and symbolic reasons that the architects included them in construction of the pyramids. Understanding the vagaries of material procurement and processing may help explain the organization of the society that built these massive structures and how their unique makeup affects the composition of the surrounding landscape seen at Cochasquí and other pyramid sites across the north.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26247