Current Perspectives in Ecuadorian Archaeology

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Ecuador is experiencing a period of growth and increasing professionalization in the field of archaeology. Government investments for archaeological surveys have lead to the identification of new sites, and new training programs provide Ecuadorians with the necessary training for the profession. The papers in this session represent current work in Ecuador that are part of this burgeoning wave of research. The papers collectively transcend temporal and spatial boundaries. Research spans from the Formative through the Colonial Periods, and includes work from the coast and the highlands. Papers also address ethical issues and the cultural context of archaeological practice in Ecuador. By transcending these boundaries, this session builds on six decades of research into the cultures of Ecuador and provides new directions for future study.

Other Keywords
Ecuador • andes • Ceramics • Mounds • Museums • Human Remains • Craft Production • Settlement patterns • communities • Inca

Geographic Keywords
South America

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • Excavaciones arqueológicas en la pirámide de Huataviro (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Estanislao Pazmiño.

    A mediados del 2009 en la parroquia de San Antonio de Ibarra, provincia de Imbabura, el descubrimiento casual de una tumba rica en ofrendas dentro una pirámide prehispánica atrajo la atención pública y permitió el inicio de una intervención arqueológica. Las plataformas piramidales constituyen un elemento recurrente en varios de los asentamientos prehispánicos tardios del denominado País Caranqui. Las investigaciones arqueológicas realizadas en la pirámide de Huataviro, arrojan nuevas luces...

  • Fiestas and funerals? Possible uses of a rectangular platform mound in Yumbo territory (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ronald Lippi. Alejandra Gudino. Estanislao Pazmino.

    In 2010 the Palmitopamba Archaeology Project in northwestern Pichincha province, Ecuador, was expanded to include excavations in a rectangular platform mound (Tola Rivadeneira, NL-30) 2 km north of the monumental Yumbo and Inca site of Palmitopamba. Earthen mounds (tolas) widely distributed throughout the region, constituted a significant element in the construction of the Yumbo landscape. While recent agricultural work removed the latest occupation of the mound, excavations reveal a history of...

  • Forgotten mummies. Reflections on the management of human remains exhibits in Ecuadorean museums. (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Maria Ordoñez.

    This paper will address the role of the human remains collections in Ecuadorian archaeological museums through the comparison between the case of the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden Holland and three Ecuadorian museums: the National Museum, the Sumpa Lovers museum and the Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño museums. This comparison will be done on the basis of archaeological ethical practice in regards to human remains and the experience and points of view of the museum personnel that work with these...

  • Las Voces del Barro y el Paisaje Manteño en Hojas-Jaboncillo, Manabí Central (Ecuador) (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Stefan Bohorquez Gerardy.

    El gobierno ecuatoriano ha apoyado desde el 2009 al proyecto arqueológico "Cerro Hojas-Jaboncillo" y al estudio de la sociedad Manteña, en la provincia de Manabí (Ecuador). Actualmente la investigación está dirigida a los procesos constructivos de las estructuras y las modificaciones del paisaje, innovaciones en tecnología, estilos e iconografía cerámica, y en la dispersión y conectividad de los asentamientos manteños. El paisaje cultural manteño no solamente pudo ser apreciado en las áreas en...

  • Late Formative Craft Production and Interregional Interaction at Las Orquideas, Imbabura, Ecuador (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Eric Dyrdahl. Carlos Montalvo.

    Scholars long have realized the importance of interregional interaction in Ecuadorian prehistory. While many non-local goods have been recovered that signal interregional interaction, archaeologists rarely have had the opportunity to study the contexts where the production of these artifacts occurred. The recent discovery of intact stratigraphy dating to the Late Formative in the rural barrio of Las Orquideas that includes large quantities of craft production waste will help change our...

  • Local Communities, Ceramic Use, and the Uneven Development of Social Complexity in the Late Valdivia Period of Coastal Ecuador (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sarah Rowe.

    The Late Valdivia period of the coast of Ecuador is often portrayed as one of movement, as sites in the former "heartland" adjacent to the Santa Elena Peninsula were abandoned and new, larger sites were founded at the former peripheries to the north and south. These new sites are implicated in the development of incipient social hierarchy within Valdivia society. However, recent research at the site of Buen Suceso in the Manglaralto Valley suggests that this process of developing social...

  • Message in a Bottle: Assessing the Impacts of Looting on the Archaeological Record of the Jama River Valley, Coastal Ecuador. (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only James Zeidler.

    Northern Manabí Province of coastal Ecuador has long been a center of archaeological looting and illicit trade in antiquities derived from successive cultural occupations of the Formative Period Valdivia and Chorrera cultures and the long Jama-Coaque cultural tradition, a sequence spanning some 3,500 years. The ceramic artifacts from this trade are some of the most complex and elaborate found anywhere in Ecuador. They grace the shelves of national and regional museums, and numerous private...

  • Patrimonio, Políticas de Estado y Arqueólogos. La Experiencia del Ecuador en los Últimos Cuarenta y Cinco Años (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jose Echeverria.

    Para un pueblo, conocer, valorar y usufructuar debidamente su patrimonio natural y cultural es parte esencial de su existencia. Para esto es necesario un trabajo colectivo permanente, una práctica social diaria enmarcada en una legislación adecuada y en una dinamia integradora conducida por líderes que cumplan y hagan cumplir las leyes. A los 185 años de vida republicana, el gobierno reconoce la función del Patrimonio como sustento del desarrollo social y económico del país. En consecuencia,...

  • San Catequilla de Pichincha and Catequil, the cult to Lightning (Illapa) in the context of Inca expansion (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only John Staller.

    Natural features, hills, subterranean springs, etc., designated as, ‘Catequilla,’ in northern Ecuador were huacas associated with Catequil, a religious cult to lightning (Illapa), worshiped from Quito to Cuzco, in the context of Inca expansion. San Catequilla de Pichincha is located in the Pomasqui Valley of northern highland Ecuador and the only huaca under the equator at 0°0’02" South Latitude. Ethnohistoric accounts indicate it was one of the most highly venerated Andean huacas, in part...

  • Settlement Patterns Study in the Lake San Pablo Area, Northern Highland Ecuador: Preliminary Results (2015)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Maria-Auxiliadora Cordero. Esteban Acosta. Paulina Rosero.

    The project "Cultural and Technological Principles Associated with Occupation Modalities during the Integration Period: Value and Use in Present Day Ecuador", carried out by the INPC (National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Ecuador) and funded by SENESCYT (Ecuador’s Department of Science and Technology) has researched five areas of the country, including in the Otavalo Canton. This paper presents the preliminary results of a survey, conducted with the collaboration of community members, from...