Local Communities, Ceramic Use, and the Uneven Development of Social Complexity in the Late Valdivia Period of Coastal Ecuador

Summary

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 complexity was highly varied and mediated by local social dispositions. Comparative analysis of ceramic assemblages from several Late Valdivia sites highlights differences in ceramic use and assemblage composition that indicate diverging ways of fomenting community through participation in communal eating. These differences point to the negotiated character of communities and highlight the contingent nature of increasing social complexity within Valdivia society. This variation further emphasizes the need for locally-developed and historicized examinations of social practices to understand changes in the Valdivia period.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Current Perspectives in Ecuadorian Archaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage