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Revista Ecuatoriana de Arqueología y Paleontología
Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural 2023
Tolas, terrazas y casas: arqueología del valle del Upano
Stéphen Rostain
stephen.rostain@cnrs.fr
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artificial. Upano, Upper Amazon, Ecuador, artificial mound.
Tolas, terraces and houses: Archaeology of the Upano Valley
The narrow Upano Valley, which runs along the eastern foo-
thills of the Andes, preserves magnificent pre-Hispanic monu-
mental assemblages on the high terraces bordering the river.
Often earthmounds (locally called tolas) are arranged in a
recurring pattern of three, four or six elevations around a low
central plaza, with a possible mound in the center.
Large-scale archaeological excavations carried out by the au-
thor at two different sites during the 1990s and 2000s have
shed light on several aspects of these original occupations of the
Amazonian lowland and have provided insight into the cons-
truction mode of and the domestic function of the tolas, pre-
viously considered purely ceremonial.
Two house plans from different periods were studied, at the two
extremes of the chronological sequence. The older one, from the
Kilamope culture, is dated between 2565 and 2225 BP: that is
to say, this settlement, found in the lower level of the stratigra-
phy, dates from the beginning of the construction period of the
mounds. The most recent, from the Huapula culture, is dated
between 1210 and 770 years BP and was found in the upper
part of the stratigraphy. It corresponds to a reoccupation of a
tola by a proto-Shuar group after the valley had been aban-
doned centuries earlier by its original Upano culture builders.
This work highlights the socio-cultural specificities of the early
Amerindian inhabitants of the Upano Valley sites.
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Abstract
Revista Ecuatoriana de Arqueología y Paleontología