Tumaco La Tolita Culture

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With Tumaco-La-Tolita culture one is in archeology pre-Columbian culture called that on the Pacific coast of northern Ecuador and Südkolumbiens was widespread. It existed between the 10th century BC. BC and the 4th century .

Etymology and type localities

The Tumaco-La-Tolita culture was named after its two eponymous type localities Tumaco on the south coast of Colombia and La Tolita on the north coast of Ecuador . La Tolita is derived from Spanish tola or the diminutive tolita , meaning small mounds of earth (in which the deceased were buried).

Geographical expansion and discovery

Distribution of pre-Columbian cultures in south-west Colombia. The area of ​​the Tumaco-La-Tolita culture is identified by the number 7

The area of ​​spread of the culture extended over the Colombian Department de Nariño as well as the Ecuadorian provinces Esmeraldas and Manabí .

The first finds of the culture were identified by the monk Juan de Santa Gertrudis in the 18th century . Subsequently, the Colombian archaeologist Julio César Cubillos discovered other works of art.

Timeframe

The La Tolita site, located in the estuary of the Río Cayapas , was, according to de Boer (1996), in the period 650 BC. Populated until 400 AD. Tumaco is much younger and does not begin until around 300 BC. A.

However, recent studies have a much higher age for early Tumaco-La-Tolita culture ( Engl. Early La Tolita Culture or abbreviated ELTC ) provided. Dumont et al. Give a maximum age for dated cultural waste from the neighboring El Indio site to the south of 2868 years BP , which corresponds to 918 BC. However, this age is still conservative, as it is below a flood deposit created by a huge earthquake , the minimum age of which is 2960 years BP or 1010 BC. BC, early traces of civilization were also found. An age of around 1000 BC. BC appears to be entirely plausible, as several ELTC sites south of El Indio are lined up on the cordon of a beach deposit dated 3000 years old and running 5 kilometers in the hinterland .

According to Valdez (2006), the heyday of the actual ceremonial center La Tolita began from 2778 years BP or 828 BC. A.

Trade relations

The Tumaco-La-Tolita culture ran roughly at the same time or overlapped with other, complex cultures in South America. Examples are the Jama-Coaque and Guangala cultures in Ecuador , as well as the cultures of Chavín de Huántar , Paracas , Nazca , Vicús and the Moche in Peru .

Trade relations reached 1000 kilometers south to Friar in northern Peru. This is evidenced by metal objects characteristic of the Tumaco-La-Tolita culture, which were discovered at this Vicús site in the late 1960s. Obsidian , which comes from the Andes east of Quito , appeared as early as 1000 BC. BC for the first time in the La Tolita region. In return, clay ceramics and finely polished, round emeralds were exchanged, which are proven in the highlands around Quito from 350 AD.

Trade between the coastal region and the Andean hinterland is likely to have started as early as 1000 BC. Took place, but its climax was only in the period 650 BC. Reached AD 350. Trade relations are documented as far as Cumbayá in the valley of Quito as well as with the province of Carchi and the canton of Otavalo .

Art and ceramics

Gold figure from the 1st century BC Chr.

The goldsmith's art of the Tumaco-La-Tolita culture made use of the Tumbaga . Very beautiful masks and figurines were made, which indicate a hierarchical society with complex rites. These finds come from the tolas , whose rich burial offerings were often victims of grave robbers.

Ceramic figure from La Tolita, 1st century BC BC to 1st century AD

The ceramic finds express the customs, religion, clothing and jewelry of the different ethnic groups on the Pacific coast. Examples are earrings , nose rings, ribbons and breast jewelry. In addition to everyday objects, ceremonial objects and statuettes were made from clay.

religion

The traditional religion of the Tumaco-La-Tolita culture was polytheistic and animistic . The religious practices were directed by the rulers or overseers. Animal deities such as the jaguar , snake , eagle , harpy and alligator were worshiped. The cult acts were very demanding because they included shamanic practices such as the ingestion of hallucinogenic plants. For this purpose, the priesthood used specially built structures.

Social organization

The society was structured in a socially stratified way due to the work-specific organization and consisted at its head of a ruling class, which was led by religious authorities. This ruling class, which emerged from the heads of the most influential families, exerted a controlling influence on the economy and politics, but was not involved in production and therefore materially dependent on supplies from farmers, fishermen, hunters, potters, weavers, etc.

literature

  • Bouchard, Jean Francois & Usselmann, Pierre: Trois millénaires de civilization entre Colombie et Equateur: La région de Tumaco La Tolita . CNRS Editions, París 2003.
  • Coe, Snow y Benson: América Antigua. Civilizaciones precolombinas . Barcelona, ​​Círculo de Lectores 1989.
  • Gutiérrez Usillos, Andrés: Dioses, símbolos y alimentación en los Andes . Quito: Abya Yala 2002.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lucia Rojas de Perdomo: Manual de arqueología colombiana . Bogotá 1985, ISBN 958-9044-09-3 .
  2. ↑ De Boer, W .: Traces behind the Esmeraldas Shore. Prehistory of the Santiago-Cayapas Region, Ecuador . The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 1996.
  3. ↑ Dumont, Jean François, Valdez, Francisco, Santana, Tihay, Jean Pierre, Usselmann, Pierre and Navarrete, Edison: Did the flowering of the La Tolita culture 3000 BP result from a natural disaster? In: Cybergeo: European Journal of Geography [Online], Environment, Nature, Landscape . document 507, 2010, doi : 10.4000 / cybergeo.23305 ( revues.org ).
  4. ↑ Santana, E., Dumont, JF et al: Método morfo estructural para la identificación de paleo eventos tecto-sísmicos: aplicación a la zona costera de San Lorenzo, norte de Ecuador . In: Acta Oceanográfica del Pacifico . 13, No. 1, 2006, p. 224-242 .
  5. ↑ Valdez, F .: Drenaje, camellones y organización social: Usos del espacio y poder en La tola, Esmeraldas . Ed .: Valdez, F. Agricultura ancestral camellones y albarradas, contexto social, usos y retos del pasado y del presente, Abya-Yala. Quito 2006, p. 189-223 .
  6. ↑ Jones, J .: Mochica Works in Art in Metal: a review . Ed .: Benson E. Pre-Columbian Metallurgy of South America. Washington DC, Dumbarton Oaks 1979, p. 53-104 .
  7. ↑ Burger RL, Asaro, F. et al.: An initial consideration of obsidian procurement and exchange in Prehispanic Ecuador . In: Latin American Antiquity . 5, No. 3, 1994, p. 228-255 , doi : 10.2307 / 971882 .
  8. ^ Doyon, L .: La secuencia cultural Carchi-Narrio vista desde Ecuador . Ed .: Cristóbal Gnecco: Perspectivas regionales en la arqueología del Sur occidente de Colombia y Norte de Ecuador. Editorial Universidad de Cauca, Colombia, Popayán 1995, pp. 59-84 .
  9. ↑ Buys, J. and Domínguez, V .: Excavaciones arqueológicas en Cumbayá, provincia de Pichincha, Ecuador . In: Miscelánea Antropológica Ecuatoriana . tape 7 , 1987, pp. 31-48 .