Abstract

Published evidence of prehistoric settlement from the lowlands of Amazonian Peru is sufficiently scarce to perpetuate debates over the presence and impact of early populations in western Amazonia. In this paper we review the cultural prehistory of the Lower Ucayali River, assess the presence of archeological sites and recovered artifacts, and describe a promising new site (Suni Caño) which may have been the chiefdom seat of the late prehistoric Cocama. We argue for a fuller exploration of the site and nearby terraces along the Lower Ucayali and in doing so, suggest that studies aiming to resolve debates over early environmental influence of humans in the Peruvian Amazon may not be looking in the most propitious places.

摘要

从亚马孙秘鲁低地的史前定居点的公开证据不足以使关于亚马孙西部早期人口的存在和影响的辩论永存。在本文中，我们回顾了下乌卡亚里河的文化史前历史，评估了考古遗址和回收的文物的存在，并描述了一个有希望的新遗址（SuniCaño），该遗址可能是史前晚期卡卡玛河的主要所在地。我们主张对Ucayali下游的遗址和附近阶地进行更全面的探索，并建议这样做，旨在解决有关人类对秘鲁亚马逊河流域早期环境影响的辩论的研究可能不在最有利的地方。