A panoramic view of Amazonian archeology in Ecuador

Abstract

Archaeological work carried out in Ecuador, during the last 30 years, shows that the Upper Amazon was an important part of the Andean civilization, from its beginnings more than 5,000 years ago. Although most of the work and budgets were initially concentrated in the provinces of the three northern Amazonian provinces (contract archaeology), information has been limited. At the most we became aware of the existence of scattered populations in the idyllic Eden. Later, academic studies began to deal with the three southern eastern provinces and the information there collected showed that the ancient history of these regions presented chapters of great social complexity, with close ties maintained with the highlands and the Pacific coast. This paper presents a synthesis of the information that is handled at present and the thematic problems that are apparent, that should be treated in the near future.