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The chronology of the Northern Andes

Felipe Cárdenas-Arroyo

The chronology of the Northern Andes is a critical topic for understanding the development of human societies that inhabited this great territory and whose only material trace is the archaeological record left behind. Recent archaeological excavations conducted in Colombia’s Amazon rainforest confirm the existence of human societies in those areas since at least 15 thousand years BP and even earlier—about 22 thousand years BP. Seen from the Andes, these early dates make us rethink the antiquity of human societies in the highlands and the Pacific lowlands. This topic seeks to approach the subject by first considering the actual state of the art in the Northern Andes, including both the eastern and western tropical lowlands as possible sources of the social processes that took place in the cordillera. The aim is that the existing chronology for each cultural area or geographical space, defined by the presence of one or several ethnic groups, can be compared with neighboring archaeological areas (for example, Carchi and Nariño).

In that view, this topic is also interested in revisiting the traditional format that defines the chronological periods that we’ve been using for over fifty years–Paleoindian or Archaic, Formative, Regional Developments, Complex or Chiefly Societies, Colonial Period, and Republican Period. These periods have worked well because they are based on levels of socioeconomic development but must be adjusted in order to include differing social developments that simultaneously occupied the same space. The discussion should also consider concepts such as ‘Classic’, ‘Intermediate’, and ‘Transition’–terms that imply social change but that are necessarily defined based on the periods that either preceded or followed.

Lastly, this topic will consider some aspects of geoarchaeology, as the past volcanic activity may have been an important factor affecting the human landscape of the Northern Andes. 

In this general topic we will be discussing three themes:

Theme 1

Assessment of the state of the art regarding the chronology of Southwestern Colombia, Ecuador, and Northern Peru. 

Theme 2

Re-visiting the chronological model established for Southwestern Colombia, Ecuador, and Northern Peru and its importance for the archaeology of the Northern Andes.

Theme 3

Geoarchaeology in Colombia, Ecuador and its importance for the chronology of the Northern Andes

Bibliography


OpenEdition le sugiere que cite este post de la siguiente manera:
danielabalanzategui (16 de noviembre de 2021). The chronology of the Northern Andes. Andes Septentrionales: arqueología e historia. Recuperado 15 de abril de 2026 de https://doi.org/10.58079/sdxk


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