Documents, Maps and Archaeology: Decoding two ethnic groups between 1400 and 1600 in Northern Amazon of Ecuador

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether, despite the arrival of the Spaniards among Amazon societies residing in the interfluvial regions of Norther Ecuador, the process of historical and cultural development demonstrated continuity. To achieve this, documents and maps produced during the first centuries of the colonial period were analyzed, along with new archaeological evidence from carbon 14 dating. This study confirmed that two major ethnic groups occupied the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon between 1400 and 1600 AD. The Omagua-Yete resided along the Coca River, and the Encabellados were divided in two subgroups between the Napo and Putumayo Rivers. It is suggested that the Omagua-Yete did not use the polychrome pottery tradition (Napo Phase) but developed the new decorative style of false corrugation based on their prior use of the corrugated pottery tradition. On the other hand, the geographic distribution of the archaeological evidence indicated that the Encabellados were divided into several tribes under different names, which were given them during the colonial period.