Chorrera

Chorrera, a pre-Columbian culture located in western Ecuador, also called Engoroy by some archaeologists. Scarcely investigated, Chorrera's existence has been dated variously from 1500 to 500 bce to as recently as 800 to 100 bce. These temporal differences may in fact date occupations in different geographical areas. Chorrera is known principally for technically innovative and aesthetically pleasing ceramics, often depicting the local fauna and the wild and cultivated plants of the Pacific coast, savanna, and tropical forests of western Ecuador.

Chorrera existed during the Late Formative period of Ecuadorian prehistory. Archaeologists describe Formative period cultures as initiating many of the developments that later became the foundations of "high" civilization in the Central Andes, culminating in the Inca empire-state. These novel developments included settled life in permanent villages, highly productive agricultural systems, the invention and elaboration of pottery, social-status differences reinforced by differential access to exotic goods, and the beginnings of monumental constructions undertaken through corporate labor projects.

Two contrasting views have been proposed to explain the origins of Chorrera culture. One view argues for strong links between Chorrera and Formative cultures in Mesoamerica, with the latter region as the proposed place of origin. The presence of ceramic traits such as iridescent painting and napkin-ring ear spools in both areas suggests to some that long-distance contacts existed. Mesoamerica is seen as the more precocious region, and therefore as the donor of many cultural traits to the Andean region. According to the opposing view, many purported Mesoamerican traits in Chorrera ceramics occurred earliest in Ecuador, and therefore its origins were elsewhere, either in the forested eastern Andes or southern highlands of Ecuador. The representations of plants and animals in Chorrera pottery are seen as indications of a well-established tropical-forest cultural pattern, similar to ethnographically known groups from present-day Amazonia.

Much of the information archaeologists use to reconstruct Chorrera culture comes from the carefully crafted naturalistic depictions on Chorrera pottery. Chorrera bottles, jars, and bowls often incorporate a variety of forest mammals and reptiles, as well as numerous species of birds. The depiction of marine animals suggests the exploitation of maritime resources. Chorrera pottery also offers information about agricultural practices. Various types of squashes and tropical fruits appear on bottles. Botanical analyses from archaeological excavations indicate that maize and root crops were cultivated. In addition, many wild plants from the forests appear to have played an important role in subsistence.

Ceramic human figurines were also made by Chorrera potters. The fronts of figurines appear to have been fashioned using molds, while the backs were modeled by hand. Although neither the archaeological context nor the use of these figurines is known, they do provide clues as to possible clothing and hair styles, and may reflect the practice of tattooing or body painting.

Archaeologists have recovered little information regarding Chorrera mortuary practices. Excavations at a cemetery site in southwestern Ecuador uncovered several burials. Individuals were sometimes accompanied by grave goods, including stone beads, ceramic bowls, and effigy bottles. Other perishable items may have been included in burials, but were not preserved over time. Also recovered were secondary collective burials documenting the practice of reburying the disarticulated bones of several individuals together in circular pits.

See alsoArchaeology; Art: Pre-Columbian Art of Mesoamerica.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Clifford Evans and Betty J. Meggers, "Formative Period Cultures in the Guayas Basin, Coastal Ecuador," in American Antiquity 22 (1957): 235-247.

Emilio Estrada, Las culturas pre-clásicas: Formativas o arcaicas del Ecuador (1958).

Carlos Zevallos Menéndez, "Informe preliminar sobre el Cementerio Chorrera, Bahía de Santa Elena, Ecuador," in Revista del Museo Nacional 34 (1965–1966): 20-27.

Betty J. Meggers, Ecuador (1966).

Donald W. Lathrap, Ancient Ecuador: Culture, Clay, and Creativity, 3000–300 b.c. (1975).

Henning Bischof, "La fase Engoroy—períodos, cronología y relaciones," in Primer Simposio de Correlaciones Antropológicas Andino-Mesoamericano (1982), pp. 135-176.

                                      Evan C. Engwall