Chorrera culture

"Chorrera" redirects here. For the genus of moth, see Chorrera (moth). For a fortification in Havana, see Torreón de la Chorrera.

Chorrera human effigy fragment, Musée d'Aucha

Chorerra zoomorphic whistling spout effigy bottle, 23 cm high, Museum zu Allerheiligen

The Chorrera culture or Chorrera tradition is a Late Formative indigenous culture that flourished between 1300 BCE and 300 BCE in Ecuador.^[1] Chorrera culture was one of the most widespread cultures in pre-Columbian Ecuador, spanning the Pacific lowlands to the Andean highlands,^[2] and even into southern Colombia.^[1]

Regional divisions

Due to variations in ceramics and other material culture, Chorrera culture is divided into regional variants. These include:

Mafa Phase, northern Esmeraldas Province
Tachina Phase, southern Esmeraldas Province
Tabuchula Phase, northern Manabí Province
Engoroy Phase, Santa Elena Peninsula and Guayas coastal region
Chorrera proper, Guayas River Basin
Early Jubones Phase, southeastern Guaya and western Azuay Province
Arenillas Phase, El Oro Province.^[2]

Other regions exhibit a strong Chorrera influence.

Ceramics

The hallmark of Chorrera culture is its ceramic traditions, which features whistling animal and plant effigy Stirrup spout vessels and human figurines made from molds. Everyday utilitarian pottery was still very fine with thin decorated walls and red or black slips polished to a high sheen. Surfaces of bowls, bottles, ollas, and other ceramic pieces were incised, painted, pattern burnished, or decorated with rocker stamps.^[2] Ceramics were used in personal adornments as well, examples being ceramic ear spools and rocker stamps used for body painting.^[3]

Unusual decorative features of Chorrera ceramics include resist-painting and iridescent slips.^[1]

Earliest use of metals

The first metal work in Ecuador is attributed to the Chorrera craftsmen. Numerous metal objects and fragments were excavated at the coastal site of Salango. Objects from copper, silver and gold were made, mostly elite goods like jewelry.^[4]

Diet

Crops cultivated by Chorrera people include achira (Canna), arrowroot (Maranta), corn (Zea mays), common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), as well as gourds and squash (Cucurbitaceae). They also gathered wild tree fruits, sedge (Cyperaceae), and palm (Palmae).^[5]

Chorrera people fished and hunted as well, catching game such as armadillo, deer (including white-tailed and brocket deer) duck, frogs, lizards, peccary, and various rodents.^[5]

Trade

This culture continued the brisk trade network established by Valdivia and Machalilla cultures. Chorrera fisherman traded spiny oyster shells (Spondylus) and other marine shells with people from the Quito basin for obsidian.^[5] Gold is traded in the latter centuries BCE.^[1]

Decline

In 467 BCE, the Pululahua Volcano north of Quito erupted, sending volcanic ash over much of the western Ecuadorian lowland regions, which greatly reduced the expressions of Chorrera culture; however, some Chorrera settlements in the far north and south continued for several centuries. These evolved into more complex cultures of the Regional Developmental Period of 200 and 300 BCE.^[6]

Notes

1 2 3 4 White, Nancy. "Early Horizon, First Civilization." South American Archaeology. (retrieved 1 June 2011)
1 2 3 Zeidler 468
↑ Zeidler 468-9
↑ Dorothy Hosler, The Sounds and Colors of Power: The Sacred Metallurgical Technology of Ancient West Mexico. MIT Press, 1994 ISBN 0262082306 p106
1 2 3 Zeidler 470
↑ Zeidler 471

References

Zeidler, J. A. "The Ecuadorian Formative." Helaine Silverman and William H. Isbell, eds. Handbook of South American Archaeology. New York: Springer, 2008. ISBN 978-0-387-75228-0.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chorrera culture.

Chorrera ceramics, National Museum of the American Indian
Chorrera Culture

Pre-Columbian civilizations and cultures
Americas	Paleo-Indians · Genetic history · Archaeology of the Americas · Indigenous peoples of the Americas
North America	North American pre-Columbian cultures – Caddoan Mississippian – Chichimeca – Hopewell tradition – Coles Creek – Fremont – Marksville – Mississippian – Mogollon – Plaquemine – Plum Bayou – Poverty Point – Troyville – Weeden Island
Mesoamerica	Mesoamerican pre-Columbian chronology – Capacha – Cholula – Coclé – Epi-Olmec – Huastec – Izapa – Mezcala – Mixtec – Olmec – Pipil – Quelepa – Shaft tomb tradition – Teuchitlan – Purépecha – Teotihuacan – Tlatilco – Tlaxcaltec – Toltec – Totonac – Veracruz – Xochipala – Zapotec
South America	South American Indigenous people – Pre-Columbian chronology – Cañaris – Chachapoya – Chancay – Chavín – Chimú – El Abra – Hydraulic culture of mounds (Bolivia) – Las Vegas – Lima – La Tolita (Tumaco) – Manteño-Guancavilca – Mapuche – Moche – Mollo – Muisca (Chibchas) – Nariño – Nazca – Norte Chico – Quimbaya – San Agustín – Shuar – Sican – Taíno – Tairona – Tiwanaku – Tierradentro – Valdivia – Wari
	Aztec	Maya civilization	Inca Empire – Andean civilizations
Language	Nahuatl	Mayan languages	Quechua
Writing	Aztec writing	Maya script	Quipu
Religion	Aztec religion	Maya religion	Inca religion
Mythology	Aztec mythology	Maya mythology	Inca mythology
Calendar	Aztec calendar	Maya calendar
Society	Aztec society	Maya society	Inca society
Infrastructure	Chinampas	Maya architecture	Inca architecture (road system) Incan agriculture
History	Aztec history		Inca history Neo-Inca State
People	Moctezuma I Moctezuma II Cuitláhuac Cuauhtémoc	K'inich Janaab' Pakal Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil Jasaw Chan K'awiil I	Manco Cápac Pachacuti Atahualpa Manco Inca Yupanqui Túpac Amaru II
Conquest	Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (Hernán Cortés)	Spanish conquest of the Maya Spanish conquest of Yucatán (Francisco de Montejo) Spanish conquest of Guatemala (Pedro de Alvarado)	Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (Francisco Pizarro)
See also
Portal:Indigenous peoples of North America – Portal:Mesoamerica – Columbian Exchange – Mesoamerican writing systems – Native American cuisine – Native American pottery – Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas – Pre‑Columbian art – Painting in the Americas before European colonization

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.