Hacia la desmitificación del Oriente – arqueología en la cuenca amazónica ecuatoriana

Abstract

There is a marked difference between archaeological research conducted at the Ecuadorian Amazon basin and research done at the coast and in the highlands. This article synthesizes the archaeological history of the region, which can be divided into three moments: one of pioneer and sporadic incursions with an emphasis on the achievement of chronological sequences of horizons by means of a historical-cultural approach and a diffusionist interpretative model; a second moment, characterized by projects of archaeological rescue, being part of the oil exploitation, which brought a limited contribution to the understanding of the prehispanic past of the region; and a third moment with punctual investigations, which begin to shed some light on the many outstanding questions, although few of these works take into account the theoretical advances of the archaeological discipline in their interpretative frames.