Early Formative Period of Coastal Ecuador: The Valdivia and Machalilla Phases

Abstract

The publication of this report is a monument to the importance of international cooperation in scientific endeavor. The archeological sites and complexes were discovered by Ecuadorians, detailed analysis of the developmental sequences was furnished by North Americans, invaluable information for comparative study was provided by Japanese, and a Chilean prepared the report on skeletal remains. To those of us who are listed as authors, working with all of these people has been a memorable experience not only because the scientific results have been so exciting, but because the context in which they have been derived has been so rewarding.The largest contribution has been made by the many Ecuadorians who have assisted with fieldwork and preparation of the bulk of material for analysis over the years. Some should be singled out for special mention. Dr. Carlos Zevallos Menéndez, then President of the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, Núcleo del Guayas, arranged for permission under the Ecuadorian antiquity laws to conduct the archeological field research. Félix Martínez and later Julio Viteri served as foremen during much of the excavation at G-31. During two seasons of work by Meggers and Evans at G-31 and G-54, Francisco Salcedo generously made available a comfortable house near the site as field headquarters. Washing and preliminary sorting of material from G-84 and G-31, Cut J was done by Walter Molina, part-time aide in the Museo "Víctor Emilio Estrada."Staff members of the former Division of Archeology, Museum of Natural History, U.S. National Museum who have over the years assisted in the laborious job of washing, numbering and classifying Valdivia and Machalilla Phase materials, are Mr. George Metcalf, Mr. Robert C. Jenkins, and Mrs. Willie Mae Pelham. We are indebted to personnel of other divisions for identification of stone, bone and shell remains, including Dr. Harald A. Rehder, Division of Mollusks; Dr. Henry Setzer, Division of Mammals; Dr. E. P. Henderson, Division of Meteorites; Dr. Leonard P. Schultz and Dr. William R. Taylor, Division of Fishes. Mr. Henry Wright assisted one summer with sorting of rocks from G-31: Valdivia into possible and impossible artifacts.Carbon-14 determinations, which confirm the early chronological placement of the Valdivia complex, were made over several years at three different laboratories: the United States Geological Survey Low Frequency Radiation Laboratory, the University of Michigan Laboratory, and the Smithsonian Institution Carbon-Dating Laboratory. We would like to thank Dr. Meyer Rubin of the United States Geological Survey for his willingness to accept shell samples for dating at a time when this material was considered unsuitable in many quarters, and Dr. Austin Long of the Department of Radiation and Organisms, Smithsonian Institution Carbon-Dating Laboratory for consultation and advice in the evaluation of the entire series of dates, which led to several of the interpretations in the section on dating.Our inferences about the origin of Valdivia Phase pottery would have been poorly supported had it not been for the opportunity to visit Japan during March and April, 1963 to examine collections and talk with experts on the Early and Middle Jomon Period. Initial communication with Japanese archeologists was facilitated by advice and introductions from Dr. Chester Chard, University of Wisconsin; Dr. Richard K. Beardsley, University of Michigan, and Dr. Edward Norbeck, William Marsh Rice University. Informed in advance of our general problem, members of the staff of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology, University of Tokyo, headed by Prof. Seiichi Izumi, laid out a tentative schedule of visits that permitted us to make best use of our limited time. Our ability to accomplish so much was largely because of this generous unsolicited aid by Prof. Izumi and his colleagues, Prof. Shozo Masuda and Prof. Toshihiko Sono. Through their advice, we were accompanied on trips outside the Tokyo area by one of their senior graduate students, Mr. Hiroaki Okada, who served as an efficient guide and interpreter, and an amused informant on Japanese inns and outs. Our search for Valdivia-like pottery led up a few blind alleys and into several productive fields, and we gratefully acknowledge guidance and information from the following individuals: Prof. Sugao Yamanouchi, and Prof. N. Watanabe, Department of Physical Anthropology, University of Tokyo; Prof. Sosuke Sugihara, Department of Archeology, Meiji University; Prof. Teruya Esaka, Department of Archeology, Keio University; Mr. Chosuke Serizawa, Tokyo; Prof. J. Edward Kidder, Jr., Archeology Laboratory, International Christian University; Prof. Kyoichi Arimitsu, Department of Archeology, University of Kyoto; Mr. Fukuhara and Mr. and Mrs. Shirakiba, Department of Archeology, Tenri Museum; Mr. Yoshimasa Kamaki and Mr. and Mrs. T. Macabe, Kurashiki Archeological Museum; Prof. Teigo Yoshida, Institute of Comparative Education and Culture, University of Kyushu; Prof. Morimitsu Ushijima and Mr. Mitsuhiko Higashi, Kumamoto Municipal Museum; Prof. Matsumoto, Department of History, University of Kumamoto; Prof. Sadanori Kawaguchi, Goyokuryu High School, Kagoshima; and Mr. M. Furuta of Shimabara. Prof. Ichiro Yawata, Archaeological Laboratory, Tokyo University of Education, led us on a memorable visit to an inland Middle Jomon site near the town of Oomiyama. The warm welcome and open generosity of all these people in providing us with advice, assistance and freedom to take notes and photographs of anything and everything is beyond the power of words to acknowledge. We hope that they will receive some satisfaction from seeing how significant has been their contribution to the conclusions in this report.Financial support for the research has come from a number of different organizations, whose contribution we gratefully record: the American Philosophical Society for Penrose Fund Grants 2012 and 2370; the National Science Foundation for Grants G-9055 and G-15641 to the Institute of Andean Research for a three-year program entitled "Interrelationships of New World Cultures", under which we were included as Project J: Coastal Ecuador; and the National Science Foundation Cooperative International Science Activities Program (supplemental funds to Grant GS-37), for sponsoring the trip to Japan. Throughout the various periods of field investigation from 1957-1961, a large portion of the field expense was borne by the Museo "Víctor Emilio Estrada".Individuals who deserve special thanks for aid in preparation of the monograph are Miss Judith Hill, Secretary of the former Division of Archeology, United States National Museum, who skillfully and uncomplainingly deciphered the rough drafts, improved the consistency of the style and format, and typed rapidly, neatly and efficiently the final copy of the manuscript; Mr. George Robert Lewis, Scientific Illustrator, of the former Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum, who produced the beautiful and accurate line drawings; Mr. Jack Scott, Head, Museum of Natural History Photo Lab, for production of excellent enlargements from negatives taken under varying conditions over several years; and Prof. Kazuo Terada, University of Tokyo, who translated statements from Japanese publications.As the first of a new format, this volume presented special problems to the Editorial and Publications Division, Smithsonian Institution. We wish to express our gratitude to Mrs. Joan Horn and Mr. John S. Lea for their constructive suggestions, careful editing for consistency and accuracy, and forebearance with our many demands. To the Government Printing Office, we offer a word of admiration for the remarkably error-free setting of the text and tables, their speed of execution of each phase of the work, and their high quality reproduction of a wide variety of photographs into excellent plates.We have left until last the recording of our indebtedness to those Ecuadorian colleagues with whom we shared the excitement of discovering the early Formative cultures of coastal Ecuador and of reconstructing from fragments of pottery, stone and shell, long forgotten historical events: Francisco Huerta Rendón, Carlos Zevallos Menéndez and Olaf Holm. The years we worked together under the leadership of Emilio Estrada are treasured memories to all of us-golden years beyond repetition or recall. The unexpected death of Estrada in November 1961, shortly following the final season of fieldwork, brought an end to many dreams, but one at least has developed in a manner he would have loved to see-the verification of his correlation, timidly proposed many years ago, between Valdivia and Jomon. His co-authorship of this report is not simply a tribute-it is a position fully earned.BJMCESmithsonian InstitutionWashington, D.C.June 22, 1964