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Vista del depósito lahárico con material cultural: fragmentos de cerámica, trozos de carbón y obsidianas.
Source publication
Their settlements expanded uphill along the river Blanco, where agricultural land was most productive, i.e. La Remonta area. The Cayambe volcano, having had various eruptions over the last 4000 years, must have posed many challenges to prehispanic populations inhabiting this zone. Since the river Blanco acts as one of the main drainage systems of t...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... de Pichincha (Athens, 1980; fig. 2a). Adicionalmente, se encontraron algunos cortes recientemente hechos por maquinaria, los cuales contienen material cultural dentro de un depósito lahárico (120 cm) que está sobreyacido por una capa de suelo (50 cm). Este estrato no está disturbado, por lo que no es producto de ningún relleno contemporáneo ( fig. 3). Los fragmentos analizados cubren una zona amplia en las cercanías del drenaje del río Blanco en la ciudad de Cayambe. Sin embargo, no se puede determinar el tamaño exacto de la dispersión de los restos culturales ya que se desconoce la ubicación y extensión del asentamiento que fue afectado por los flujos laháricos. La falta de ...
Citations
Since approx. 800 A.D. until Inca invasion in 1500, the Caranqui culture occupied the region where nowadays the city of Cayambe (Ecuador) is located. Their settlements expanded uphill along the western flanks of the Cayambe volcano, following the Blanco River, where agricultural land is most productive. Cayambe volcano, with several eruptions over the last 4000 years, must have posed many challenges to pre-Hispanic populations inhabiting this zone. The Blanco River is one of the main drainage systems of the volcano and, in case of an eruption, it is very plausible to assume that lahars flowed down the river and gravely affected nearby settlements. The aim of this study was to prove this hypothesis by inspecting “La Remonta” area, which is located over the right margin of the Blanco River and which is currently being rapidly urbanized by the growing city of Cayambe. During fieldwork various lithic fragments made in obsidian and andesite (e.g. arrowheads, scrapers, splinters and millstones) and ceramics (pottery) were found within a lahar deposit. Most of the collected fragments are not indicative of a specific culture. Nevertheless, the absence of decorations, their smooth and simple surface, their thick walls (9-20mm) and carbon particles found within them suggest that they were of domestic use and that the population they were used by lived off of agriculture, hunting and aquaculture. Some ceramic fragments with red paint and slip, and the specific shape of other elements are similar to one type of vessel that belongs to the first phase of the Caranqui culture (800-1250 A.D.). This finding allows determining a relative age of this destructive event, which could be most likely linked to the strong volcanic eruption of the Cayambe in 880 A.D. In depth investigations of this archeological site, which would serve to retrace the exact location and extent of this Caranqui settlement, are currently impeded by rapidly growing agricultural lands and urban zones. Nonetheless, the findings of this study are very valuable to the community since they embody the hazard that could await settlements downstream of the Blanco River – taking into account that the Cayambe volcano has shown unrest since mid-June, 2016.
