The prehistoric occupation of the Upano region was first brought to scholarly attention by Porras’ (1987) discovery and excavation of a large complex of artificial mounds located along the small Huapula River. The significance of the discovery was somehow obscured by Porras’s claims that the people who built the mounds worshipped the Sangay Volcano, and that the spatial distribution of mounds, as seen from above, depicted a human being in sexual intercourse with a she-jaguar. Porras made no effort to apply a regional approach to the Sangay Complex in order to determine its context. An archaeological survey of the upper Upano River region subsequently carried out by the author, between the “curva del Upano” and Macas, yielded about 70 mound complexes (Figure 15.1).
A typical Upano mound complex is composed of a number of rectangular platforms, usually in groups of four, delimiting an interior plaza, quadrangular in shape. A variant of this pattern includes a smaller platform in the center of the plaza. At times, a platform may adopt an L-, T - or U-shaped pattern, to facilitate the delimitation of contiguous plazas. A platform is always flat on top, but occasionally, on the long ones, another small platform may be superimposed on one or both ends, a feature that Porras interpreted as the paw of the jaguar in the Sangay Complex.
Platform dimensions are variable, 10-100 m long, 8-20 m wide, and 2-8 m high. As a general rule, a mound complex is conformed by several plazas with their corresponding platforms flanking them, although the simpler pattern of four platforms and one plaza is not uncommon. Most archaeological complexes have been observed on open grazed land. However, often a complex may lie part on grazed land and part on land still covered by forest, preventing an accurate appreciation of the archaeological site. If we add to this the complexity of mound distribution, the difficulty of isolating sites can easily be appreciated. For the purposes of this investigation, the boundaries of a platform complex are established when a break of continuity (an empty tract of land, a ravine or a stream) is apparent on the ground, visibly separating one group of platforms from another. The following discussion includes only the description of sites preeminent either for large size or for a particular feature that may help us to understand the nature of the pre-Columbian occupation in the region.
Starting from the north, near the Curva of the Upano River, and towards the south, we have been able to locate, among others, the Barranco Complex (1 plaza with 40-50 m long platforms) partially destroyed by highway construction, and 3 locations named Mau-1 (a series of low platforms with five plazas, Figure 15.2), Mau-2 (at least 20 platforms and several plazas) and Mau-3 (4 platforms and 1 plaza). These sites are located 2.5 km south of Cooperativa Quinta, on the Mau upland, skirting a swamp, but scores of mounds still lie hidden in the forest. When survey is completed, it will be no surprise if the Mau area shows a continuous distribution of mound complexes.
Further south, at about 3 km from Mau, lies the Huapula Complex, renamed “Sangay” by Porras. Huapula, the original name used by both Shuar and colonists, has been given
Back to this site. It is located in a strip of land 2,400 m long and 300 m wide, flanked on one side by the wall of the Upano River channel, and on the other by the Huapula River. According to Porras (1987:38), the site consists of 180 platforms, grouped in 25 “sub-complexes.” Our survey indicates that these figures may drop drastically, as many platforms registered by Porras are either natural or nonexistant. The Huapula site has three well differentiated sectors. The first is located at the northwest tip of the land strip, where at least 10 plazas are aligned along a 600-700m-long pre-Columbian road, which enters a “monumental” sector with at least 20 large and tall platforms. Several narrow roads and drainage canals cut across the land, particularly in the vicinity of the Huapula River, shaping other platforms that at first sight seem to be human-made. This is the sector where Porras identified the distribution of platforms as representing a human being and a feline.
Leaving this sector to the southeast, the countryside gives way to a series of small platform complexes and another road, 800 m long, which bifurcates and eventually disappears in the forest. Opposite the Huapula site there are several isolated platform complexes (Figure 15.3), built on strips of land formed by a series of subparallel streams draining into the Huapula River. In this area, sites like Moy, Porras, Zamagolli (Figure 15.4), Payra and Casa Vieja are connected by roads either between themselves or to the Huapula site.
South of Huapula, the land drops in altitude to the Upano plain, where several isolated platform sites with one to several plazas are found: Tunanz, Guapu, Santa Rosa, Kilamope (Figure 15.5), Uyumtza, Yurank and Yuquipa, among others. Size of platforms is variable, but mention should be made of the Tunanz and Yurank sites with 90 m - to 100 m-long platforms.
On the right bank of the river, near the Curva del Upano, there are two complexes, named Eden-1 (Figures 15.6, 15.7) and Eden-2. The first is a medium size complex with
Figure 15.3. Aerial photography of the Huapula site, with indication of adjacent complexes. (Ernesto Salazar)
18 platforms and 6 plazas; the second, a single complex of 1 plaza. Further south, 3 km past the Domono River, lies the Domono site (Figure 15.8), a complex of four platforms about 60 m long. Still further south, at about 5 km, are located La Esperanza (Figure 15.9), and the Carmen site with 100-120 m-long platforms. Three more sites lie in the vicinity apparently connected with Carmen. If that is the case, Carmen would constitute a large platform complex, similar to Mau, Huapula and perhaps Yurank.
At 800 m south of Carmen, lies the Huacho site, two platforms connected by a causeway, in a pattern clearly different from the other complexes so far reviewed. Approaching Macas, the highway cuts across the Providencia site, a large complex with long platforms, natural and artificial. Finally, the southernmost platform site of the upper Upano is the Eulalia site, a one-plaza complex located at Rio Blanco, about 5 km south of Macas.
Although the survey has focused on the Upano river banks, an effort has been made to cover inland areas, away from the river. Mound complexes like Domono, Barranco and Huapula are located at the very edge of the barrancos. The Mau complexes are situated 1 km inland, and Casa Vieja and Eden are about 1 km and 2 km, respectively, from the bar-ranco. The farthest sites (Carmen, Huacho, Providencia and Uyumtza) are located between 2,700-4,000 m away from the barranco. Perhaps moundbuilding did not extend sideways (further in) because of the geographical barrier represented by the mountain ranges flanking the valley. However, up north, between the Curva del Upano and the Palora River, there is a large plain suitable for mound settlements. Preliminary explorations carried out in the area led to the discovery of the Caivinahua and Sinai sites in the vicinity of Sinai, and three others in Tres Marias. Furthermore, a limited survey carried out under my direction by students (Pazmino and Flores 2003) yielded 15 more platform sites in the Rio Chiguaza
Figure 15.4. Zamagolli, a “satellite” complex adjacent to the Huapula site. (Ernesto Salazar)
Region. No doubt there are still other complexes to be located, but the results so far have been impressive.
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