Drennan Under the direction of Dr. Robert Drennan, Ms. Maria Cordero will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct archaeological excavation at the site of Cayambe, located in the Quito Basin in highland Ecuador. Prior work at Cayambe indicates the presence of large hemispherical and quadrilateral mounds which cover a range of time from ca. A.D. 500 to 1,500. The mounds - based on information obtained from other sites - probably served as burial structures. The site almost certainly represents a chiefdom level of social organization. The main goal of Ms. Cordero's research is to reconstruct the sequence of development of hierarchical society at Cayambe, to determine how this chiefdom emerged and how far back it time its roots go. To do this, she will determine the extent of the site during different periods of time and attempt to detect differences in the spatial patterning of activities in each. She is currently conducting a systematic intensive surface of the site and supplementing this with limited excavation. With NSF support she will increase the number of test pits and the extent of stratigraphic excavation. One of the hemispherical mounds and one of the quadrilateral ones will be excavated to determine how they were constructed and what role they served. Samples will be collected for radiocarbon dating to obtain a more refined chronology. Materials collected, especially pottery will be subjected to detailed analysis. Archaeologists wish to understand how complex societies emerged and were maintained. The Cayambe area is particularly interesting because excellent ethnohistoric data is available and this provides a solid end point from which to work backwards in time. What this information indicates is that Cayambe served as a trade center and a point of entry into the highlands for "exotic" goods from the Amazonian lowlands to the East. Utilizing archaeological materials, especially one type of ceramics, Ms. Cordero will study the d evelopment of this trade and relate it to the rise of the Cayambe chiefdom. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will increase understanding of the processes which led to the development of complex society and it will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
