WHERE THE AMAZON RIVER MEETS THE ORINOCO RIVER. ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GUIANAS

Archaeological and interdisciplinary investigations conducted in the Guianas during these last 35 years offer a new picture of the pre-Co­lumbian Guianas. Although archaeology still is relatively incipient in the Guianas, it is possible to draw up a panorama of the prehistory of this huge region. During the last millennium before the European Conquest, Guianas coast was divided into two main territories dominated by two different cultural entities. Cayenne Island in French Guiana was the key-area marking the boundary between two cultural traditions. Western coast up to the Guyana was dominated by cultures linked to the Arauquinoid Tradition originated in the Middle Orinoco. Eastern coast was occupied by cultures belonging to the Polychrome Tradition of the Lower Ama­zon. These two cultural entities grew up from ca. AD 600 up to their destruction by the European Conquest. Keywords: Archaeology, Guianas, arauquinoid tradition, polychrome tradition