"A Connecting Link": An Archaeometric Reinvestigation of Ceramic Artifacts from the Cave of the Owls and their Relationship with Upper Amazonian Ceramic Assemblages

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Reflections and Ripples of the Caiman: Papers in the Spirit of Don Lathrap" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Stylistic similarities between ceramics from the Central Andean Highlands and the Upper Amazon were central to Don Lathrap’s argument that Tropical Forest Culture contributed crucial components of Andean highland civilization. Artifacts from the Cave of the Owls provide “a possible connecting link” between distinct highland-lowland ecological and cultural zones, owing to the site's unique position within the montane forests of the ceja de selva. Despite their importance to understanding highland-lowland social and economic interactions, these collections remained untouched for nearly 60 years, until Johnson conducted a paste study of the Ross Collection (n=41, Hearst Museum, University of California, Berkeley) in 2019. This study identified four major paste groups dominated by (1) monzogranite, (2) limestone, (3) crushed quartz, and (4) metamorphic rock inclusions. The results of subsequent petrographic and geochemical analysis (n=11) highlight subtle variations in raw material acquisition and production practices, as well as significant technological breaks between earlier Fine Ware and later Coarse Ware components. Altogether, these findings provide a more nuanced interpretation that generally supports Lathrap’s argument for a temporal break and a strong material connection to the Upper Amazon.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Reflections and Ripples of the Caiman: Papers in the Spirit of Don Lathrap   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50605