A Frontier between Geography and History: Archaeology of Trade and Influence in the Equatorial Andes in the Formative Period

Because the Andes are so difficult to climb & to cross, these mountains had the effect of slowing the rate of culture change in the region in the latter half of the eighth century, during the Formative Period in this region. The author argues that one can view the mountains as a sort of cultural frontier even though they did not mark a line between different linguistic or cultural groups. The rate of cultural change was different in mountain regions than in areas in which people could more easily communicate with & trade with each other. This difference in the pace of cultural change & acquisition of the knowledge of new ways of doing things should be seen as one type of cultural frontier. 7 Figures, 16 References. D. Knaff