painter
Guamán Poma in his work "Nueva corónica y buen gobierno".
Royal Library, Denmark. “The plateau is a place treasured by empires," comments Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera. "The
Cañari then Inca and then Spanish occupied the region in the last two millennia, each renaming it in their own language. Now the capital city is called Cuenca and the province Azuay.” According to studies and
archeological discoveries, the origins of the first inhabitants go back to the year 8060 BC in the Cave of Chopsi. They were hunters, hunting everything the
Páramo offered them, and nomads, following the animals and seasons. Their culture is represented by tools such as arrows and spears, which have been found throughout the
Andean valley. The culture was most present about 5585 BC. Later, the early indigenous people used the stable climate, fertile soil, and abundant water to develop
agriculture. They grew
potatoes,
melloco,
chocho,
squash, and
quinoa. They also domesticated animals such as
cuys (guinea pigs) and
camelids:
llamas and
alpacas. Their technology was also advanced. For example, they began creating ceramics. In fact, ceramics constitute the greatest number of artifacts which
archeologists use to study their culture. The period from 5000 BCE to 2000 BCE is not well represented in the archeological record. Beginning around 2000 BCE, the people developed a more highly organized society, demonstrating delegated responsibilities, such as the
managing of water and
control of plagues. People were specialized as administrative and religious authorities (known as
shamans). This occurred during the periods of Chaullabamba,
Huayco, Pirincay,
Monjas, Putushio, Huancarcucho, and Jubones. From then until 500 AD began the periods of Tacalshapa III and the
Cañari people, who were absorbed into the Incas in the 15th century.
Pre-Columbian society Cuenca was originally a
Cañari settlement called
Guapondeleg. Archeologists believe Cuenca was founded around 500 AD.
Guapondeleg translates into "land as big as heaven." Less than half a century before the
conquistadors landed, the
Incas, after a bitter struggle, conquered the Cañari and occupied Guapondeleg and the surrounding area. Though the Incas replaced the Cañari architecture with their own, they did not suppress the Cañari or their impressive achievements in astronomy and agriculture. As was customary for the Incas, they absorbed useful achievements into their culture. They renamed the city
Tomebamba. The city became known as the second
Cusco, a regional capital. After the defeat of the
Cañari, likely in the 1470s, the Inca emperor,
Tupac Yupanqui, ordered the construction of a grand city to be called Pumapungo, "the door of the Puma." Its magnificence was said to have rivaled that of the Inca capital of Cuzco. Indians told stories to the Spanish chroniclers of
golden temples and other such wonders, but by the time the Spaniards found the legendary city, all that remained were ruins. They wondered what happened to the fabled splendor and riches of the second Inca capital. After having been abandoned by the Cañari and then the Incas, Tomebamba was sparsely populated until the 1550s. Tomebamba is considered a candidate for the mythical city of gold which the Spanish called
El Dorado. The Spanish thought El Dorado was burned by the inhabitants after they heard of the Spanish conquests. Tomebamba's destruction by its inhabitants prior to the arrival of the Spanish suggests it may have been what the Spanish called
El Dorado.
Spanish settlement and it was built in 1730. The Spanish settlement of Cuenca was founded on April 12, 1557, by the
explorer Gil Ramírez Dávalos.
Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, then
Viceroy of Peru had commissioned the founding and ordered the city named after his home town of
Cuenca, Spain. It was founded decades after other major Spanish settlements in the region, such as Quito (1534), Guayaquil (1538), and Loja (1548). Cuenca's population and importance grew steadily during the
colonial era. Cuenca reached the peak of its importance in the first years of Ecuador's independence; Cuenca achieved its independence on November 3, 1820. It became the capital of one of the three provinces that made up the nascent republic. The other two capitals were
Guayaquil and
Quito. ==Demographics==