Traces behind the Esmeraldas shore : prehistory of the Santiago-Cayapas Region, Ecuador

Although long famous for its antiquities—notably intricate goldwork, elaborate pottery, and earthen mounds—the Santiago-Cayapas region of coastal Ecuador has been relatively neglected from the standpoint of scientific archaeology. Until recently, no sound chronology was available, and even the approximate age of the region's most impressive monument, the large and much-looted site of La Tolita, remained in doubt. Building on evidence obtained during the last decade, this book documents an eventful prehistory for Santiago-Cayapas that spans three millennia. A highlight of this prehistory was the reign of La Tolita as a regional center from 200 B.C. to A.D. 350. Archaeological data from La Tolita's hinterland indicate a complex and changing social landscape in which La Tolita's hegemony was never absolute nor uncontested. Abundantly illustrated and written in a crisp, witty, and occasionally irreverent style, __Traces Behind the Esmeraldas Shore__ will stimulate debate and rankle interpretive conventions about those social formations that archaeologists gloss as 'chiefdoms.'

Although long famous for its antiquities—notably intricate goldwork, elaborate pottery, and earthen mounds—the Santiago-Cayapas region of coastal Ecuador has been relatively neglected from the standpoint of scientific archaeology. Until recently, no sound chronology was available, and even the approximate age of the region's most impressive monument, the large and much-looted site of La Tolita, remained in doubt.

Building on evidence obtained during the last decade, this book documents an eventful prehistory for Santiago-Cayapas that spans three millennia. A highlight of this prehistory was the reign of La Tolita as a regional center from 200 B.C. to A.D. 350. Archaeological data from La Tolita's hinterland indicate a complex and changing social landscape in which La Tolita's hegemony was never absolute nor uncontested.

Abundantly illustrated and written in a crisp, witty, and occasionally irreverent style, Traces Behind the Esmeraldas Shore will stimulate debate and rankle interpretive conventions about those social formations that archaeologists gloss as 'chiefdoms.'

"Survey along the lower Cayapas and Santiago rivers located ca. 200 habitation sites. Ceramic distinctions define seven phases, partly sequential and partly regional; 25 C14 dates extend from ca. 400 BC to AD 1400. Settlements become smaller, more dispersed, and culturally isolated after ca. AD 400"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57. This work documents the prehistory of the Santiago-Cayapas region in Ecuador, focusing on the reign of La Tolita as a regional centre from 200 BC to 350 AD. Archaeological data indicates a complex and changing social landscape in which La Tolita's hegemony was never absolute nor uncontested.