Mayo Chinchipe

Abstract

A new archaeological culture, named Mayo Chinchipe, has recently been discovered on the headwaters of the Ecuadorian western Amazon. Santa Ana–La Florida, a ceremonial center with important architectural remains, was occupied by the third millennium BC. Evidence of specialized crafts, such as pottery and outstanding lapidary art, bears testimony of the early development of agricultural complex societies that existed on the eastern flanks of the Andes. The new evidence challenges the traditional theories regarding the origins of the Andean Civilization.

Keywords

• agrarian civilization
• Andean cosmology
• Equator
• Peru
• Western Amazonia