Pre-Columbian History of Ecuador
Updated: Jan 2, 2022
Pre-Columbian Ecuador included numerous indigenous cultures, who thrived for thousands of years before the ascent of the Incan Empire. Las Vegas culture of coastal Ecuador is one of the oldest cultures in the Americas. The Valdivia culture in the Pacific coast region is a well-known early Ecuadorian culture. Ancient Valdivian artifacts from as early as 3500 BC have been found along the coast north of the Guayas Province in the modern city of Santa Elena.
Several other cultures, including the Quitus, Caras and Cañaris, emerged in other parts of Ecuador. There are other major archaeological sites in the coastal provinces of Manabí and Esmeraldas and in the middle Andean highland provinces of Tungurahua and Chimborazo. The archaeological evidence has established that Ecuador was inhabited for at least 4,500 years before the rise of the Inca.
Great tracts of Ecuador, including almost all of the Oriente (Amazon rainforest), remain unknown to archaeologists, a fact that adds credence to the possibility of early human habitation. Scholars have studied the Amazon region recently but the forest is so remote and dense that it takes years for research teams to survey even a small area. Their belief that the river basin had complex cultures is confirmed by the recent discovery of the Mayo-Chinchipe Cultural Complex in the Zamora-Chinchipe Province.
The present Republic of Ecuador is at the heart of the region where a variety of civilizations developed for millennia. During the pre-Inca period people lived in clans, which formed great tribes, and some allied with each other to form powerful confederations, as the Confederation of Quito. But none of these confederations could resist the formidable momentum of the Tawantinsuyu. The invasion of the Inca in the 15th century was very painful and bloody. However, once occupied by the Quito hosts of Huayna Capac, the Incas developed an extensive administration and began the colonization of the region.
The pre-Columbian era can be divided up into four eras:
1. Preceramic Period (end of the last glacial—4500 BC)
Las Vegas Culture (9000—4600 BC)
El Inga (9000—8000 BC)
2. Formative Period (4500—600 BC)
Valdivia Culture (3500—1500 BC)
Machalilla Culture (1500—1100 BC)
Chorrera Culture (900—300 BC)
3. Period of Regional Development (600 BC—400 AD)
La Bahía (300 BC—500 AD)
La Tolita Culture (600 BC—200 AD)
Guangala (100—800 AD)
4. Period of Integration and arrival of the Inca (400 AD—1532 AD)
Los Manteños (600—1534 AD)
Los Huancavilcas (—)
Quitu-Cara Culture and the Kingdom of Quito (400—1532 AD)
The Inca (1463—1532 AD)
La Tolita Culture (600 BC—200 AD)
The culture of La Tolita developed in the coastal region of Southern Colombia and Northern Ecuador between 600 BC and 400 AD. A number of archaeological sites have been discovered and show the highly artistic nature of this culture. Already extinct by the time of the Spaniards arrival, they left a huge collection of pottery artifacts depicting everyday life. Artefacts are characterized by gold jewellery, beautiful anthropomorphous masks and figurines that reflect a hierarchical society with complex ceremonies.
The Sol de Oro is the most prominent artifact from the La Tolita Culture. It is a sun-shaped mask dated between 600 BC and 400 AD. It was probably worn by a Shaman who knew the agricultural cycles, and used it for sowing and harvesting rituals. It has an anthropomorphic face with a jaguar mouth. The wavy rays bursting from the head are grouped into three bundles and are formed by slithering snakes tipped with human faces. At the base of the upper bundle of rays, there are two mythical crested animals that resemble dragons, which are common in the pre-Columbian art of the western South American coast, from Peru to Panama. The Sol de Oro is a piece of 21 karats and 284.4 g in weight, and its size is 64 by 40 cm. It is an embossed sheet fashioned from a natural alloy of gold and platinum. The provenance of the mask was until recently uncertain and was one of the most controversial among ancient Ecuadorian metallurgy. For years it was debated whether its origin lies in the Sig-Sig and Chordeleg area in the province of Azuay, or the area of La Tolita in the province of Esmeraldas. Finally, the results of neutron activation analysis have revealed the raw material has a coastal origin.
Anthropomorphic golden funerary mask with platinum eyes.
Anthropomorphic golden ornament.
Golden and platinum ornament of a monkey head.
Golden ornament with platinum and turquoise eyes.
Jaguar censer.
Mythical four-eyed caiman statuette.
Jaguar vase ornament.
Head of a mythical creature.
Statue of a priestess.
La Bahía Culture (500 BC—650 AD)
The Bahía culture inhabited modern Ecuador between 500 BC and 650 AD, in the area that stretched from the foothills of the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean; and from Bahía de Caráquez to the south of Manabí.
