in the park of
Logroño,
Morona-Santiago. While archaeologists have proposed different temporal models at different times, the schematic currently in use divides prehistoric Ecuador into five major
time periods:
Lithic,
Archaic,
Formative, Regional Development, and Integration. These time periods are determined by the cultural development of groups being studied, and are not directly linked to specific dates, e.g. through
carbon dating. The
Lithic period encompasses the earliest stages of development, beginning with the culture that migrated into the American continents and continuing until the Late
Pleistocene or Early
Holocene. The people of this culture are known as Paleo-Indians, and the end of their era is marked by the extinction of the
megafauna they hunted. The Archaic period is defined as "the stage of migratory hunting and gathering cultures continuing into the environmental conditions approximating those of the present." During this period, hunters began to subsist on a wider variety of smaller game and increased their gathering activities. They also began domesticating plants such as maize and squash, probably at "dooryard gardens." The Integration Period (1450 BP—450 BP) "is characterized by great cultural uniformity, the development of urban centres, class-based social stratification, and intensive agriculture." The Integration Period ends and the historic era begins with the Inca conquest.
Paleo-Indians The oldest artifacts discovered in Ecuador are stone implements discovered at 32
Cotton Pre-ceramic (Paleolithic) archaeological sites in the
Santa Elena Peninsula. They indicate a
hunting and gathering economy, and date from the
Late Pleistocene epoch, or about 11,000 years ago. These Paleo-Indians subsisted on the megafauna that inhabited the Americas at the time, which they hunted and processed with stone tools of their own manufacture. Evidence of Paleoindian hunter-gatherer material culture in other parts of coastal Ecuador is isolated and scattered. Such artifacts have been found in the
provinces of
Carchi,
Imbabura,
Pichincha,
Cotopaxi,
Azuay, and
Loja. Despite the existence of these early coastal settlements, the majority of human settlement occurred in the Sierra (
Andean)
region, which was quickly populated. One such settlement, remains of which were found at the archaeological site El Inga, was centered at the eastern base of Mount Ilaló, where two
basalt flows are located. Due to agricultural disturbances of archaeological remains, it has been difficult to establish a consistent timeline for this site. The oldest artifacts there discovered, however, date to 9,750 BP. Settlements that probably date from this period have been found in the provinces of
Napo,
Pastaza,
Sucumbíos, and
Orellana. In the Sierra, people cultivated locally developed crops, including tree bean
Erythrina edulis, potatoes,
quinoa, and
tarwi. They also farmed crops that originated in the coastal regions and in the North, including
ají,
peanuts, beans, and maize.
Animal husbandry kept pace with agricultural development, with the domestication of the local animals
llama,
alpaca, and the
guinea pig, as well as the coastal
Muscovy duck. The domestication of
camelids during this period laid the basis for the pastoral tradition that continues to this day. In the Oriente, evidence of maize cultivation discovered at Lake Ayauchi dates from 6250 BP. area at Sangay demonstrate that the Oriente was capable of supporting large populations. The lack of evidence of kings or "principal" chiefs and also challenges the notion that cultural creations such as monuments require centralized authority.
Development of metallurgy The period from 2450 BP—1450 BP is known as the "Regional Development" period, and is marked by the development of metalworking skills. The artisans of
La Tolita, an island in the estuary of the Santiago River, made alloys of platinum and gold, fashioning the material into miniatures and masks. The Jama-Coaque, Bahía, Guangala, and Jambalí also practiced metalwork in other areas of the Ecuadorian coast. These goods were traded though mercantile networks.
Pre-Inca era Prior to the invasion of the Inca, the Indigenous societies of Ecuador had complex and diverse social, cultural, and economic systems. The ethnic groups of the central Sierra were generally more advanced in organizing farming and commercial activities, and the peoples of the Coast and the Oriente generally followed their lead, coming to specialize in processing local materials into goods for trade. The coastal peoples continued the traditions of their predecessors on the Santa Elena peninsula. They include the Machalilla, and later the Chorrera, who refined the ceramicism of the Valdivia culture. The economy of the peoples of the Oriente was essentially
silvicultural, although horticulture was practiced. They extracted dyes from the
achiote plant for face paint, and
curare poisons for blowgun darts from various other plants. Complex religious systems developed, many of which incorporated (or perhaps originated from) the use of hallucinogenic plants such as
Datura and
Banisteriopsis. They also made coil ceramics. In the Sierra, the most important groups were the Pasto, the
Caras, the Panzaleo, the Puruhá, the
Cañari, and the
Palta. They lived on hillsides,
terrace farming maize,
quinoa, beans,
potatoes and squash, and developed systems of
irrigation. Their political organization was a dual system: one of chieftains, the other, a land-holding system called
curacazgo, that regulated the planting and harvesting of multiple cycles of crops. While some historians have referred to this system as the "Kingdom of Quito", it did not approach the level of political organization of the
state.
Economy Using the system of multicyclic agriculture, which allowed them to have year-long harvests of a wide variety of crops by planting at a variety of altitudes and at different times, the Sierra people flourished. Generally, an ethnic group farmed the mountainside nearest to it. Cities began to specialize in the production of goods, agricultural and otherwise. For this reason, the dry valleys, where cotton, coca,
ají (
chili peppers),
indigo, and fruits could be grown and where salt could be produced, gained economic importance. Sometimes, tribes farmed lands outside their immediate purview. These goods were then traded in a two-tiered market system. Free commerce took place in markets called "
tianguez", and was the means by which ordinary individuals fulfilled their need for tubers, maize, and cotton. Directed commerce, however, was undertaken by specialists called
mindala under the auspices of a
curaca. They also exchanged goods at the
tianguez, but specialized in products that had ceremonial purposes, such as coca, salt, gold, and beads. Seashells were sometimes used as currency in places such as
Pimampiro in the far North. Salt was used in other parts of the Sierra, and in other places where salt was abundant, such as
Salinas. In this manner, the Pasto and the Caras undertook their existence in the
Chota Valley, the Puruhá in the Chanchán riverbasin, and the Panzaleos in the Patate and Guayallabamba valleys. In the coastal lowlands, the Esmeralda, the Manta, the Huancavilca, and the Puná were the four major groups. They were seafarers, but also practiced agriculture and trade, both with each other and with peoples of the Sierra. The most important commodity they provided, however, were
Spondylus shells, which was a symbol of fertility. In areas such as
Guayas and
Manabí, small beads called
chiquira were used as currency. Also following the lead of the Sierra peoples, the people of the Oriente began congregating around sites where cotton, coca, salt, and beads could be more easily produced for trade.
Tianguez developed in the Amazon forest, and were visited by
mindala from the Sierra.
Political organization The
extended family, in which
polygyny was common, was the basic unit of society. The extended family group is referred to by the Kichwa word "
ayllu", although this type of organization predates the arrival of Quechua speakers. Two political systems were built on the basis of the
ayllu: the
curacazgo and the
cacicazgo. Each
curacazgo is made up of one or more
ayllu. The Ecuadorian
ayllus, unlike in the Southern Andes, were small, made up of only about 200 people, although the larger ones could reach up to 1,200 members. Each
ayllu had its own authority, although each
curaca also answered to a chief (
cacique), who exercised power over the
curacazgo. The
cacique's power depended on his ability to mobilize manual labor, and was sustained by his ability to distribute highly-valued goods to the members of his
curaca.
Religion Local beliefs and practices co-existed those practiced regionally, which allowed each ethnic group to maintain its own religious identity while interacting, especially commercially, with neighboring groups. Some regional commonalities were the
solar calendar, which marked the solstices and equinoxes, and veneration of the sun, moon, and maize. ==Inca conquest==