Interaction between the Andes and the Amazon during the Formative Period: The Case of the Huallaga-Ucayali River Basin

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K20038
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0103:History, archaeology, museology, and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Kanezaki Yuko 東京大学, 総合研究博物館, 助教 (10908297)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: アンデス考古学 / アマゾン考古学 / 文明形成期 / 地域間交流

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, an archaeological survey was conducted to examine how the interactions between the Andean and Amazonian regions contributed to the formation of civilization. During the first year, archaeological sites were discovered not only in the middle-elevation areas, which have been intensively studied, but also in the high-elevation areas northwest of Huanuco, where no Formative Period sites had been found, as well as in the tropical cloud forest areas below 1000 meters.
In the subsequent fiscal year, we conducted an excavation survey of the Chaupiyacu site, located in the tropical cloud forest area in the Monzon River basin, a tributary of the Huallaga River, which is considered particularly important for understanding interactions between the Andes and Amazon regions. As a result, we were able to clarify some aspects of Andean-Amazonian interactions during the first millennium BCE.

Free Research Field

考古学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義は、1970年代以降調査が停滞していたアンデス東斜面や熱帯低地における新たな考古学研究の先鞭をつけたことである。アンデス文明の形成には、隣接するアマゾン低地との関係が重要であるとされてきたが、調査の少なさによりその実態は明らかにされてこなかった。本研究では、これまで殆ど考古学調査が入っていなかった地域での踏査・発掘の実施により、アンデス・アマゾン間関係を考える上で極めて重要なデータを得ることができた。また、地元住民と協力して調査を実施することで、地域の歴史への関心を促し、文化財保護の意識を高めることにつながった。