Interested in the ancient stone bowls seen from local residents, a joint Franco-Ecuadorian expedition undertook excavations near the spurs of the Andes. As a result, traces of a hitherto unknown culture were found, which originated in the forest zone and could influence other civilizations of this region.
Archaeologists managed to excavate burials, the age of which is estimated at 4.5 thousand years. The works were carried out along the tributary of the Rio Chinchipe River (Ecuador). A dozen vessels (bowls, small saucers and mortars) were brought into the world, as well as many shards from earthenware. These discoveries, which were made near the town of Palanda (Zamora-Chinchipe province), in the town of Florida (1000 m above sea level) and made public at the beginning of July, seem very promising to specialists.
This story has all the hallmarks of a good adventure romance. In 2000, members of a Franco-Ecuadorian expedition were intrigued by stone bowls found in the homes of some local residents. After questioning, it turned out that these gizmos were found three years ago during the construction of a new road. As a result of searches in the upper reaches of the Ecuadorian rivers Isimanchi, Valladolid, Palanda and Mayo, two sites were found containing smooth stone vessels. One of them, located in Florida, seemed especially interesting, there were noticed three mounds on a small river terrace, immediately prompting the idea of burials. Archaeologists unearthed one of them, partially damaged by the blows of an excavator bucket. Under the river terrace, an overlap was found covered with earth, and under it was a hole two meters deep, the walls of which were reinforced with masonry. The method of radiocarbon analysis made it possible to estimate the age of these building elements - 2,450 years BC.
Excavations on two other hills are ongoing. A week ago, French researchers discovered another intact bowl, a thousand small jade beads and a fragment of a human skull. One of the vessels especially surprised archaeologists. We are talking about a bowl with a diameter of 20 cm, carved from a two-tone rock, on which complex iconographic patterns are applied - cat heads, snakes and birds of prey (condors) - a symbolism clearly associated with life in a humid tropical forest. The ornaments resemble those that were in use among the first great civilizations in the Andes (Peru) - Chavin and Kupisnik (the coastal tradition of Chavin, its center is in the north).
“The exceptional iconographic and artistic skill with which these bowls and elements of the architecture of the burial chambers were made suggest that this newly discovered culture could have been the progenitor of the first civilizations in the Andes - we are talking about Chavin,” says Jean Guffroy, head of the the study of human adaptation to tropical environments during the Holocene (modern geological era) at the Research Institute for Development (l'Institut de recherche pour le developpement - IRD) in Orleans.
The Chavin culture developed in the Peruvian Andes between 1200-1300. BC and lasted until 400-200 BC. It got its name from the impressive cult center - the village of Chavin de Huantar (or Chavin de Guantar), located at an altitude of 3500 m in the Peruvian Andes, between two mountain ranges. Remains of platforms, a temple stone building ("Castillo"), numerous underground galleries, stone statues of deities, carved slabs with images of jaguars, condors and fantastic creatures have been discovered. The Chavin de Huantar cult complex was the center of an influential new religion based on the cult of the jaguar with bared fangs and centered around an oracle who was believed to be in the temple and was supposedly able to foresee the future, conquer disease and make requests to the gods. Chavin jewelers used hammering of gold leaf,relief images on metal, soldering and welding. The art of this era is similar to the art of the Olmecs, the people who inhabited the Gulf Coast. Archaeologists have already proven that around 900 BC. direct maritime contacts existed between Mesoamerica and Ecuador and Peru. By the time the Chavin culture began to wane, the metalworkers had passed on their craft and their gods to other peoples of Peru, including the Moche. Then came Tiaguanako and Vari, two influential cultures, and, according to scholars, the first real empires of the same name in the Andes. Between 300 BC e. and 1100 AD e. they were dominant in the region and helped lay the foundations for future Inca rule.which is about 900 BC. direct maritime contacts existed between Mesoamerica and Ecuador and Peru. By the time the Chavin culture began to wane, the metalworkers had passed on their craft and their gods to other peoples of Peru, including the Moche. Then came Tiaguanako and Vari, two influential cultures, and, according to scholars, the first real empires of the same name in the Andes. Between 300 BC e. and 1100 AD e. they were dominant in the region and helped lay the foundations for future Inca rule.which is about 900 BC. direct maritime contacts existed between Mesoamerica and Ecuador and Peru. By the time the Chavin culture began to wane, the metalworkers had passed on their craft and their gods to other peoples of Peru, including the Moche. Then came Tiaguanako and Vari, two influential cultures, and, according to scholars, the first real empires of the same name in the Andes. Between 300 BC e. and 1100 AD e. they were dominant in the region and helped lay the foundations for future Inca rule.the first real empires of the same name in the Andes. Between 300 BC e. and 1100 AD e. they were dominant in the region and helped lay the foundations for future Inca rule.the first real empires of the same name in the Andes. Between 300 BC e. and 1100 AD e. they were dominant in the region and helped lay the foundations for future Inca rule.
The new discovery is especially interesting because an unknown culture was found in the western Amazon, in a region covered with tropical rainforest and poorly understood by archaeologists. This zone, located on the lower spurs of the eastern Andes mountain range, extends to the Amazon Valley. The great Amazon River originates here, and the fauna and flora here are much richer and more diverse than in the alluvial plain. It is not surprising that the ancient man decided to settle there, according to the researchers. “The ideology and iconography of the Chavin were probably already well established in the Florida region. The current prevailing theory suggests that the Chavin culture did not spread beyond the borders of Peru, but here we found elements similar to northern Peru, and even in the context of the forest,”concludes Jean Guffroy.
The Ecuadorian government intends to turn this place into a tourist mecca by organizing a museum there, the head of Ecuadorian archaeologists Francisco Baldes said at a press conference.
Promotional video:
Maxim Borisov (Grani. Ru, based on materials from the foreign press)