Three Cultures or people dominated the northern area of Ecuador: the Valdivians before 2000 BC, the Cotocollao, about 1500 BC, and the Quito who overlapped both earlier cultures and continued until the mid-first century AD. They, in turn, were replaced by the Cara, around 500 BC and continued until the wars with the Inca, who were followed in the 1500s by the Spanish.
It might be of interest to know that the ancient maps of the area, some made from ancient alignments of buildings (ruins), had “east at the top of maps,” and these pre-hispanic cultures of the Americas were aligned toward the east,” which was the alignment and most important direction to those of the middle east—from whence the Jaredites and Nephites came.
The area of Northern Ecuador from Quito to Ibara, just north of Mt. Imbabura (Cumorah), in the highland valleys of the Andes
In addition, the stepped pyramids at Cochasquí, 19 miles northeast of Quito in Pedro Moncayo and sits at 9,970 feet above sea level, covers 210 acres, consisting of 15 truncated pyramids and 21 burial mounds. The site shows the pre-hispanic architecture of 1500 to 500 BC, with nine of the pyramids having elongated ramps, much like the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia.
Archaeologists have theorized that Cochasqui was an astronomical center, used for meteorological purposes to calculate solstices and aid in determining when crops should be planted. In addition, the site may have had military and political importance.
The largest of these pyramids is the one classified as number nine, which is 300 feet north to south and 260 feet east to west. It is 69 feet high, with the ramp leading to the pyramid 660 feet long. The primary construction material used in the pyramids is a soft volcanic stone that is vulnerable to weathering and erosion, however, the pyramids have survived because they were overgrown with grass (Julie Skurdenis, “Ecuador's Precolumbian Heritage,” Archaeology, vol.40, no.4, 1987, p65).
An important site in this area is Rumicucho, one of more than 100 known pucaras (fortresses) in northern Ecuador, far more than in any other region in Andean Peru. This suggests an ancient people, long before the Inca, fought many battles in Ecuador (the Land Northward) and fortified themselves against attacks by a people advancing northward.
Rumicucho—in the language of the Quechua: Rumi = Stone; Cucho = Nook or Corner meaning Corner or Nook of Stones. These ancient ruins are well named as stony walls wrap five different terraces on this site, that hangs on the corner edge of a mountain along a high plateau that once held different shaped buildings with unknown function. The ancients used the location as a strategic military site and the locals still refer to this place using the word pucará, meaning fortress in the language of the Northern Quechua and Aymara.
Positioned along a minor ridgeline in the northernmost valley of Quito in the Andean highlands of northern Ecuador, on the northeast side of the barren northward extension of the sprawling town of San Antonio de Pichincha, Rumicucho was not only a fort, but also a supply storage facility and a ceremonial center.
Rumicucho sits on a hill in a valley in the northern highlands of Ecuador
Unlike many pucaras Rumicucho is not on a high point of the landscape, but rather is located on a small hill, overlooking crossroads of travel and was evidently not only a fortress, but a protection for trade.
Workers today have restored the walls at the site haphazardly, using abundant cement mortar, with the stonework lacking the refined joints or geometries of the Peruvian builders. Using a technique called “pirca,” in which two different layers of stone are joined by mortar. The Caranquis, sometimes called the Cara, are known to have built using a type of volcanic stone called toba or tuff and an adobe made from volcanic rubble and ash, called canguahua.
On a site that stretches 1250 feet long and 246 feet wide, there are two main walls—one is 130 feet long and the other 165—that were built by ancient Ecuadorians. At Catequilla, one wall is 351 feet long.
Trapezoidal Doorways and Windows
One of the Rumicucho walls has traces of three trapezoidal doorways with remnants of plaster and pigments. At the east end of the site was a large ceremonial pool about 33 by 55 feet in size. It was dug to a depth of four to five feet below the modern ground level and was surrounded by walls about three feet high. The walls and floor were made of finely cut and fitted stone in the classic Cuzco style. A semi-subterranean rectangular Inca structure approximately 33 by 66 feet in size with intact walls up to three feet in height. This phenomenally well preserved feature appearas to be the center of a religious-ceremonial sector of the site. Two types of canals were ingeniously made and used to bring water 5½ miles from its source to the site.
Rumicucho is characterized by the construction of truncated and stepped pyramids made of blocks of cangagua or volcanic tuff, with residential, ceremonial and astronomical observation functions. Some pyramids have huge access ramps, while others do not. The best known pyramid sites are Cochasquí, Cayambe, Caranqui, Perugachi and Gualimán, among others.
Long before the arrival of the Inca in Northern Ecuador, the Caranquis occupied the surrounding countryside from the current border with Columbia in the Carchi Province, through the Imbabura Province, where Rumicucho is located. According to some historians, the Caranquis originally built this location as an observatory—certainly the buildings of this entire area are so aligned with their astronomical science allowing the control of natural seasons and cycles. For an agricultural society, an absolute must!
In addition, the pyramids of Cochasquí and the archaeological site of Pambamarca, converge in the archaeological center of Catequilla following the falls and exits of the Sun at the solstices of June and December
Nearby, on the equatorial line, is another ancient site of the Caranqui called Cochasquí. This site contains large pyramids, yet to be completely excavated because there is no inexpensive way to protect them. Little is known about the relationship between the two ancient sites. In fact, modern scientists are still debating whether or not the Caranqui culture was well-developed. However, from uncovered remains at Cochasquí, it is now known that the Caranqui people had developed calendars to track both the sun and the moon.
An elongated wall running over a thousand feet
An elongated wall running for 1,181 feet encircled the ruins, with a 174-feet long wall encircling the central raised platform. While most internal structures were rectangular, there are two circular walls north of the platform. Also, the northern section of the west wall has some distinct left jogs in the wall. Which in aerial photographs lend the structure a sawtooth appearance.
There is much to suggest a connection to the Jaredites in this area especially the many buildings of every kind found on the ancient landscape. In addition, later cultures (the Nephites?) built forts all over the land to hold the region against the Lamanites toward the end of their time.
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