Clifford Evans

Possible Transpacific Contact on the Coast of Ecuador

The earliest pottery-producing culture on the coast of Ecuador, the Valdivia culture, shows many striking similarities in decoration and vessel shape to pottery of eastern Asia. In Japan, resemblances are closest to the Middle Jomon period. Both early Valdivia and Middle Jomon are dated between 2000 and 3000 B.C. A transpacific contact from Asia to Ecuador during this time is postulated.

PART II, AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE METHOD E

Dating archaeological sites, cultures or phases by the obsidian method is still experimental, but shows promise provided the archaeologists understand the present limitations. Two categories of factors cause possible dating errors: the technical or geological aspect discussed by Friedman and Smith, and the archaeological context. For the establishment of valid rates of hydration and for the archaeological evaluation of the method, preferred samples are those datable by independent means, such as radiocarbon, dendrochronology, historical records, rates of refuse accumulation, contemporary calendars, or correlated positively with complexes or seriated sequences that are so dated. A few samples used in the preliminary part of the study do not meet these rigid standards and make the method look poorer than it is, but a table contains the raw data on all specimens tested to date. The principal source of potential error at our present state of knowledge is the frequency with which artifacts of older manufacture were re-used by a younger (more recent) culture. Evaluations of the data presented in the table and most of the results are discussed by geographical area. For the tropical region where the annual temperature range is minimal and where large obsidian samples from village refuse are available, the hydration rate appears to be a fairly accurate method of dating. Lack of conformity of obsidian dates with archaeological dates for the Maya region and the Southwest, however, emphasizes the need for further research using larger series of artifacts and for a continued examination of technical factors. Objects of modern manufacture can be identified with little difficulty, offering a simple means of detecting fakes or copies.

The Machalilla Culture: An Early Formative Complex on the Ecuadorian Coast

Excavations at the site of G-110: La Cabuya provide significant new data on the content and chronological position of the Machalilla culture. Trade pottery establishes its contemporaneity with the late period of the Valdivia culture, estimated at between 1800 and 1500 B.C. While seafood appears to have provided the main subsistence in both cultures, the ceramics and other artifacts are distinct. Machalilla pottery is well made, with thin walls and a high frequency of polished surfaces. Vessel shapes include carinated bowls and stirrup-spout jars. Typical decoration is by incision or thick red painting, separately or in combination, in simple but distinctive patterns. The Machalilla culture cannot be related to any of the known Formative complexes in Mesoamerica or South America, so that its origin cannot be suggested. Its termination was brought about by Mesoamerican contact, which added new traits to the Machalilla complex, producing the combination of elements characterizing the Chorrera culture.