Obsidian in the lower amazon of northern Ecuador (900-1250 d.C.): long-distance exchange or landscape dynamics? geoarchaeological perspectives

Abstract

In this work, the presence of obsidian in the lower Amazon of northern Ecuador is discussed, from a geoarchaeological perspective, emphasizing the dynamism of the river landscape. The information from archaeological excavations at the Payamino site, the lithic analysis of the tools, X-ray Fluorescence characterizations of obsidian, analysis of stratigraphic profiles, the use of geographic information systems and palynological data were taken as reference. All this information points to the fact that the obsidian from alluvial fans of the Coca, Napo and Payamino rivers was transported by floods and violent expulsions of deposits accumulated in the northern sub-Andean mountain range of Ecuador, specifically from the Quijos river. In this way it is evident that obsidian in lower Amazon of Ecuador, was not exchange between from the Andes to the Amazonia.