Results of Survey and Analysis of Manteño Archaeological Sites with Stone Structures in the Upper Río Blanco River Valley, Manabí, Ecuador

Summary

This paper will present the results of a three-year effort to survey and document Manteño archaeological sites with stone structures within the limits of the Upper Río Blanco River Valley in Southern Manabí. The region is home to 40 known Manteño sites with more than 100 stone structures across the river valleys of La Encantada, Las Tusas and La Mocora that carve the foothills of the Bola de Oro mountain. The Florida Atlantic University Archaeological Fieldschool in Ecuador, directed by Valentina Martinez, recorded 23 of these sites and 94 stone structures in the summers of 2015, 2016 and 2017. The analytical portion of this study utilizes the dimensions and features along with the location and orientation of each structure to create categories that will serve to better understand how the Manteño utilized their space. Geostatistical tools in GIS helped create categorical maps for interpretation. Our results suggest that the Manteño maximized their ability to utilize the limited available flat space and densely occupied the area. These Manteño settlements in the foothills of Bola de Oro are not small peripheral occupations but mirror the large dense populated foothills of other Manteño centers such as Jaboncillo y Hojas in central Manabí.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22773