Internet Archaeology 10 Currie 6.3

6.3 A hypothesis to be tested

The eruption of Quilotoa is presumed to have caused a very large displacement of population from the vicinity of the volcano, generating a major social upheaval. It has been suggested that this process can be observed in the relatively sudden appearance of impressively large earthen mounds in the northern sierra to where the displaced populations may have moved (Knapp and Mothes 1998: 148-151). These mounds clearly demanded a sizeable and dedicated workforce to raise them, yet it has been pointed out that apart from the ability to command the mobilisation of a large workforce, they require very little else in terms of architectural planning (Athens 1978;1992). They were not the sophisticated stone constructions that were built in Mexico or Egypt for example, and it is possible that even the largest were raised in about a year (Athens and Osborn 1974). Although of relatively unsophisticated construction, they nevertheless command the power to 'impress' and would almost certainly have been the foci for elaborate ceremony and ritual, presumably presided over by the paramount chief and his priests and retainers (Salomon 1986:126). The largest ramp-mounds can in this way be viewed as 'social statements' of power and prestige that were raised comparatively quickly. Their appearance is now believed to mark the start of the Late Period, relating it directly to the Quilotoa eruption which in turn may be interpreted as an engine of social change. On the one hand it caused widespread devastation and large-scale displacement of peoples while on the other, it effected a coherent corporate land reclamation programme. This coincided with an acceleration of socio-political complexity, eventually to culminate in the emergence of the large chiefdom polities of this region. This developmental process was to be abruptly brought to a halt by the arrival of the Inca armies in the northern sierra towards the close of the 15th century.

Future research in the region needs to address these questions explicitly, for at present the data are still too scant to allow anything more than speculation on the interesting and complex processes glimpsed in the findings of archaeological work at sites such as Hacienda Zuleta.