Damp Early Valdivia Village AA 1984

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Architecture of the Early Valdivia Village

Author(s): Jonathan E. Damp

Source: American Antiquity, Vol. 49, No. 3, (Jul., 1984), pp. 573-585

Published by: Society for American Archaeology

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/280361

Accessed: 26/05/2008 10:55

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ARCHITECTURE OF

THE EARLY VALDIVIA

VILLAGE

Jonathan

E.

Damp

The architecture

f early

Valdivia

3300-2300

B.C.)

communities

provides

nformation

about the structure

f

early village life

on the Ecuadorian

Pacific

coastal lowland. Household units

rom

the sites

of

Real Alto and

Loma Alta seem to exhibitdomestic

patterning

n

sleeping

areas,

cooking,

ool

working,

otton

spinning,garbage

disposal,

and burial

of

the

dead. The

village ayout

provides

a

plan

for

settlement n the

shape

of

a letter U. The

Valdivia

U-shaped

village

is

briefly

examined in its

prehistoric

ontext.

Together,

house

and

village

patterns

at

Real Alto and Loma Alta

reflect

he

beginningsof

settled

ife

in the context

of

an

agricultural conomy.

The

Early

Formative Valdivia

culture of coastal Ecuador has

long

been

on

e most controversial

cultures of New World

prehistory.

The

reputation

of

Valdivia

is derived from the earliness of its

ceramics,

which are

among

the oldest

in

he

Americas and date to around 3300 B.C.

(Damp 1979).

Two schools of

thought

have evolved

concerning

the

origin

and

nature of Valdivia. One side

(e.g.,

Lathrap 1970; Zevallos 1971) maintains that the Valdivia culture can be characterized as a tropical

forest,

riverine-oriented

agricultural society

that

developed

in

northwestern South America

during

the

fourth millennium B.C.

This

differs

considerably

from the

original

position

of

Meggers,

Evans,

and

Estrada

(1965)

that ceramic

technology

was

imported

to Ecuador from Neolithic

Japan

by

fishermen of the

Jomon

culture who were lost at sea.

The

emphasis

on the

ceramic

inventory

has deferred

study

from

other

parts

of

the

culture such

as economic and social issues.

For

example, despite

much of the

controversy

and statements

to the

contrary, relatively

little effort has been

made to recover

paleobotanical

remains. At

present,

only

three Valdivia sites have

yielded

pertinent

data.

A

fortuitous

discovery

of a carbonized corn kernel

was made at San Pablo

just

south

of the modern town of Valdivia

(Zevallos

and Holm

1960).

Real

Alto

(Figures

1

and

2) yielded

evidence

of corn and achira

phytoliths (Pearsall

1978, 1979),

Canavalia

plagiosperma

seeds

(Damp

et al.

1981),

and cotton textile

imprints

(Marcos 1973).

In

addition,

numerous specimens of currently unidentified seeds were excavated at Loma Alta in 1980 (Damp

1982a).

Field research

in

Ecuador since 1975 has

attempted

to

rectify

this

problem

and has concentrated

on the identification of domestic features such

as

hearths,

storage

pits,

activity

areas,

household

units,

and

village layouts.

The results of these

efforts,

which are

presented here,

have

begun

to

answer some of the

questions

about the nature of the Valdivia

culture.

TIME/SPACE

SYSTEMATICS

The Valdivia culture lasted from about

3300 to 1500 B.C. This

period

was first divided into four

parts (A,

B, C,

and

D) by

Meggers

et al.

(1965)

but more

recently

Hill

(1975)

revised the

sequence

to

reflect

a more refined

ordering comprising eight

phases

(I-VIII).

I

consider

early

Valdivia to

mean the first two phases (I and II) of Hill's sequence. These two phases have been subdivided into

five

sub-phases (Ia, b,

c, IIa,

b)

by

Norton

(1977),

but this scheme has not

yet

been tested.

Valdivia

I

and

II

signify

the first

appearance

of

pottery

in

southwestern Ecuador.

I

estimate that

Valdivia

I

lasted from

approximately

3300 B.C.

(uncorrected

radiocarbon

years)

to 2700 B.C. and

that Valdivia

II

continued to

approximately

2300 B.C.

The most

unifying

element is

the

similarity

of ceramic

motifs and vessel

shapes

in

the two

phases

(Hill 1975; Damp

1982b).

Valdivia

chronological problems

have been addressed elsewhere

(e.g., Meggers

et al.

1965;

Bischof

Jonathan

E.

Damp,

1911-51

St.

NW, Calgary

AB,

Canada

T3B

IC]

American

Antiquity,

49(3), 1984,

pp.

573-585.

Copyright?()1984 by the SocietyforAmericanArchaeology

573



AMERICAN

ANTIQUITY

Figure

1.

Map

of

southwestern

Ecuadorand

selected

early

Valdiviasites.

1973;

Damp

1979:15-26,

1983)

and

need not concern

us

overly

much here.

The earliest

radiocarbon

dates indicate the

following

situation

based

upon

27

currently

available radiocarbon

assays

on

charcoal

samples

from Real Alto and

Loma Alta: dates

range

from

4245

?

215 B.C.

(GX-5269)

to

2190

?

190 B.C.

(ISGS-467),

but

I

dismiss the

earliest date as

being

out

of

stratigraphic

context

and

too

early (Damp 1979:22).

Two

dates

hovering

around

3600 B.C. are

also

perhaps

a bit too

early although they appear

in the

right place

in

the

stratigraphy (at

the

bottom).

Also at the

bottom,

a hearth from the

very

base of

cultural

deposits

at

Loma

Alta

provided

a date of 3325

?

175

(GX-

7704),

and

this

precedes

a

cluster

of

eight

dates between

3100 and 2800

B.C.,

which

marks a well

established Valdivia

I

occupation.

Valdivia

I

pottery begins

to

give way

to Valdivia II

pottery

in

deposits

that have been dated to

approximately

2700 B.C. at

both Real Alto and

Loma

Alta. The

end of the

early

Valdivia

phases

is

simply

a transition

in

ceramic

style

that

took

place

around 2300

B.C.,

although

one

or two dates

deviate

slightly.

At

this

moment,

I

consider it

sufficient to

place

the

beginning

of Valdivia

I

sometime

in the last half of

the fourth millennium

B.C.,

probably

around 3300 B.C.

(Damp

1983).

HISTORY OF INVESTIGATION

Real Alto

was found

by Jorge

Marcos in 1971

and first excavated

in

1974-1975

(Lathrap

et al.

1977).

The site

lies

along

the

floodplain

of

the

Chanduy Valley

about 1.5

km from the coast but

4.5

km

up

the

Rio

Verde.

The site was

occupied

throughout

the

entire

Valdivia

sequence

and into

574

[Vol.

49,

No.

3,

1984]



REPORTS

Figure

2. Plan of Real Alto.

the

following

Machalilla

phase.

The first excavations at Real Alto

provided

the initial

evidence of

domestic

architecture

in

Valdivia,

and

continued work

brought

to

light

the former existence of

a

Valdivia ceremonial center

with houses and two mounds

distributed around a

plaza

(Lathrap

et al.

1977;

Marcos et

al.

1976;

Marcos

1978).

The

remains

of

several houses from the Valdivia

I

oc-

cupation

were found

in

1975 at the bottom of the midden

in

the northern

portion

of the site.

Loma Alta was discovered

by Presley

Norton who

submitted his

findings

as evidence that the

earliest

Valdivia sites were located

in

the

interior and not on the

coast

(Norton 1971,

1972).

The

site lies some

12 km

inland from the

type

site of Valdivia on the coast. It

rests

on a

flattened,

low

hill

next to the

Rio Valdivia

just

below the

rugged

and

heavily vegetated

terrain of the Colonche

hills. The

Valdivia

Valley

is about 50

km

north of

Real

Alto,

but a series of

passes

in

the Colonche

hills forms a network that

connects these coastal

valleys.

Although

the full

spectrum

of Valdivia

phases

is

represented

at Loma

Alta,

the site was

occupied

primarily during Valdivia I and II times. The later occupation was sparse and the settlement's

importance

was,

no

doubt,

eclipsed by

a

growing

population

at the

Valdivia

type

site at the

mouth

of

the

valley. Thus,

while Real Alto

was to become a

ceremonial

center,

Loma Alta

maintained its

position

as a small

village

or hamlet.

In

early

Valdivia,

however,

the sites were

quite

similar

(Damp

1984).

The

only

other

early

Valdivia

sites that have

been excavated are

Punta

Concepcion

on the

Santa

Elena Peninsula

(Stothert

1976;

Hill

1975),

El

Encanto on

the Isla de

Puna

(Porras 1973; Spath

1980),

the Valdivia

type

site

(Meggers

et al.

1965;

Bischofand Viteri

1972;

Bischof

1979),

possibly

OGDa-34 in

the

Guayas

Basin

(Raymond

et

al.

1980),

and

undocumented

portions

of a few other

sites in

southwestern

Ecuador. Punta

Concepcion

is

about 100

m in

diameter

and

composed

of

three low

eroded

mounds;

the

ceramics do not

differ

stylistically

from

those at Loma

Alta

(Stothert

1976:93-94;

Hill

1975:2).

At

El

Encanto

the

stratigraphy

seems to

pose

more

questions

than it

answers (Spath 1980) and at the Valdivia type site the deposits have been so disturbed by vandals

that ceramic

sherds alone indicate the

former

presence

of

a

Valdivia

I

occupation (Bischof

1979:

575



AMERICAN

ANTIQUITY

Figure

3. Plan of

Loma

Alta.

360-370).

OGDa-34 is

a site

deeply

buried

in

river

sediments;

testing

yielded

ceramic

sherds

in

the

general shape

of

early

Valdivia

pottery

and dates

around

2535 B.C.

(Raymond

et al.

1980:701).

Both

Real

Alto

and

Loma

Alta

have

extensive,

relatively

undisturbed cultural

deposits

that have

yielded

evidence

of

domestic

structures

and

village

planning

for

the

early

Valdivia

community.

BACKGROUND TO THE MOST RECENT WORK

The

1974-1975 Real Alto

Archaeological Project

of

the

University

of

Illinois,

which initiated

excavations

at Real

Alto,

was

co-directed

by

Don

Lathrap

and

Jorge

Marcos

(Lathrap

et

al.

1977;

Marcos et al.

1976).

Excavations

by

the

University

of

Calgary

under

my

direction

in

1977 inves-

tigated

further the

evidence

of

early

Valdivia

or

pre-Valdivia

occupation

that had been

noted

during

the

initial

years

of

excavation

(Damp 1979).

These

excavations

were

supported

by

a Canada

Council

grant

to

J.

Scott

Raymond.

Field

personnel

included

a crew

of

up

to

8 individuals

over

a

three

month

period.

The

objectives

of the

Real Alto

excavations

in 1977

were

to seek evidence of

early

house structures and related

features,

and to note

their association with

paleobotanical

remains,

shell,

faunal

remains,

and

ceramics. The

project

was

too limited

in

scope

to

probe

for

evidence

of

early

Valdivia

village

patterning.

The 1980 excavations at Loma Alta were also made under my direction (Damp and Clarkson

1980;

Raymond 1980)

and were intended to

document household units

fully,

to find

paleobotanical

576

[Vol.

49,

No.

3,

1984]



REPORTS

9M43/16'

cn

go-van,4

roa44

aeCiJrn

.

4

-7

..

.

.. -T

7

-F*

?

-7T

.

...

- B

' 4

.

--.

X

*

0

7*;r-

*

*

;

cajmemwta

r*,

?

0. .*

0

:-j

?/WIfMfi7sLOPL

.4-7

.

.

*,

?

'

I:

10c

m

u

pit

1t'

34I/WN

N5411W9

Figure

4.

Structure2-77 and the

household

cluster

at Real Alto.

specimens,

and

to

map

the

village layout. Support

for

the Loma Alta

excavations

in

1980 came

through

a

grant

to

J.

Scott

Raymond

by

the Social Science and

Humanities Research

Council

(Canada)

and

by Presley

Norton and the

Program

for

Ecuadorian

Anthropology.

The

1980

field

studies

lasted

for

six months

and included

up

to 15 to

20 individuals

mostly

from the

University

of Calgary and the neighboring towns of the Ecuadorian coast.

Architecture

at Valdivia

sites is

reflected

in

the

domestic

patterns

and

village

layouts.

Domestic

patterns

include house

structures

and

the

accompanying

debris

of

occupation.

This,

the household

cluster

(Winter

1976:25)

or

the

household unit

provides

evidence

for food

production

and

shelter

and also

important

behavioral

information. On a

larger

scale,

the

way

a

village

is

laid out

conveys

information about how the

society

was ordered.

To obtain

information

on these

issues,

we

oriented

excavations

appropriately,

and

concentrated

on

identifying

domestic

features.

Several factors are

critical

in

this

regard: (1)

caution

must

be

taken

to discern

both the horizontal and

vertical distribution of

associated

artifacts;

and

(2)

culturally

significant units,

such

as house

structures,

post holes,

living

floors,

and

storage pits

that cut

through

artificial

levels

of

excavation,

must be

identified

in

order to define the

areal

distribution of

associated

artifacts

(Brown

1975:159). Thus,

feature

oriented

excavations were

the

governing

methodology

in

the

study

of Real Alto

in

1974-1975 and 1977

(Damp

1979),

and at

Loma Alta in

1980

(Damp

and

Clarkson

1980).

Attempts

to

reconstruct the

village

layout

were

handled

differently

at

the two

sites.

For

example,

the

extensive

middle and late

Valdivia

occupations

at Real

Alto masked

the

underlying

earlier

deposits,

and

available

labor

and time were

insufficient

to conduct a

systematic

sampling

program

for

below-surface,

early

Valdivia

deposits.

I

believe it

likely

that the

layout

of the

early

Valdivia

village

established the

geometrical

foundation for

the

subsequent

construction

at Real

Alto that

was

mapped

by

the

University

of

Illinois

project

in

1974-1975

(Figure

2).

At Loma Alta the

investigation

of

the

early

village plan

was

accomplished

by simple

surface

collection

(as

described

in

Flannery

1976a:5

1-62),

shovel

testing

along

transects

(and

study

of

several

localized

vandals'

pits),

and,

most

importantly,

transecting

the entire

site in

two

directions with

controlled excavation units in order to depict the processes of deposition and village formation.

Because

Valdivia sites are

typically

somewhat

deeply

stratified

(at

least 1

m in

depth),

it is

probably

577



AMERICAN

ANTIQUITY

most

rewarding

to seek the

pattern

of

household distribution

through

these

transect

samples

(Flan-

nery 1976b:68-72).

Two

transects

were

established

following

the

cardinal directions. The E-W

transect

sampled

the

entire width of the site

(Figure 3).

The

N-S

transect was

placed

with the aid of data from

the

simple

surface collection and the vandalized

deposits.

The

N

end of Loma Alta

has been

badly disturbed,

and

sherds

are

abundant

there,

but the area to the

S was unknown until

excavations revealed

the

limit of the

early

Valdivia

occupation.

Full

excavation

along

the

N-S transect was

suspended

in

the

N

section because

I

believed our

testing

there

had

provided

sufficient

information.

THE EARLY VALDIVIA

DOMESTIC UNIT

Real Alto

Seven

Valdivia

I

houses from Real Alto have been

identified,

primarily

on the

basis of

post

hole

distribution

in

sterile

clay

that lies at the base of

cultural

deposits

about

1

m

below the

present

surface. The most

carefully

and

completely

excavated Valdivia

I

house at

Real Alto is

Structure

2-

77 (Figure 4). The associated ceramics attest to a Valdivia I affiliation, and a radiocarbon date of

3545

?

200 B.C.

(GX-5267) pertains

to the associated refuse.

This, however,

may

be too

early

by

several hundred

years

and other dates from

higher

strata indicate that

Structure

2-77

is best

dated

at around 3250

B.C.

(Damp

1979:21;

1983).

The

early

Valdivia house

was a

simple

one-room abode

measuring

450

cm on

the

northwest to

southeast axis and

320 cm on the

northeast to southwest axis.

Thirty

post

holes of 5 to 10 cm

diameter

wer

ere identified

and several of them were

paired,

indicating

a

technique

of

placing

posts

that

presumably

increased the tensile

strength

of the structure.

A

center

post

served

in

conjunction

with end

posts

to

support

the framework. Three

post

holes and accumulated refuse are deflected

inwards from

the outer

edge

of Structure

2-77

and delineate an entrance

1 m

wide. The

distribution

of shell

in

the

entrance

demonstrates

a

relationship

to the

house,

and indicates that the Valdivia

inhabitants of Structure

2-77

tossed their shell refuse outside their dwelling, where it gradually

accumulated

in an

elliptical pattern

around the structure.

A

number of

sun-baked

clay

chunks was

also

recovered from

the level

of

the floor of Structure

2-77.

These indicate that wattle

in

the form

of local

grasses

was

applied

to the framework of the house

(see

also

Meggers

et

al.

1965:fig.

8).

The

average

size of Valdivia

I houses

was different

from

that

of the

middle

and

late

Valdivia

occupations

at Real Alto.

Later structures measured about

12

x

8

m,

but

were

also

elliptical.

On

the

basis

of size

alone

it

may

be

realistic to assume habitation

by

a

nuclear

family

for each

house

during

Valdivia

I and house

occupancy by

the extended

family

in

the

later,

larger

houses

(Lathrap

et al.

1975:43).

However,

early

Valdivia

houses were not small for

their

time.

For

example,

a

contemporary

but

preceramic

house from

Chilca, Perufi,

measured

approximately

240 cm

in

diameter

(Donnan 1964:139).

Several

features were

apparently

included within the Valdivia

I

household

cluster at Real Alto

if

Structure 2-77 is representative. The 10 cm thick concentration of shell and other refuse marking

the outer

edge

of the structure defines

a refuse toss zone. There was also

a

clean

area inside the

house

itself,

and a

pit

situated

within

the

wall

of the

northern

part

of the structure. Cairns of

unknown function

or

significance

were erected

bordering

the

structure,

and a

milling

stone was also

found

on

the structure's

periphery.

The refuse zone extended

about 150 cm

away

from

the house to the

north,

but

the

extensions

in

other directions were

obscured

by adjacent

houses

or

by

unexcavated

portions

of the

site.

The

beginning

of the accumulated

refuse

about 40 cm

away

from

the

post

holes

suggests

an

intervening

space

that

was at least

partly

filled with

the

wattle and

daub

applied

to the framework

of

posts.

The

shell and

other

garbage

apparently

accumulated around

and

against

the

house.

A

refuse

pit,

Feature

14-77,

was

placed

below

the northern wall

of Structure

2-77.

It was 10

cm

deep

and excavated

into sterile

clay;

included

within the 89

x

70 cm area of the

pit

were bits of

refuse

and

severely

shattered

fragments

of

a

human

cranium

(Burial 3-77).

The feature was

pene-

trated

by

a

post,

probably

when

the wall of

the

house was

moved to enable

digging

the

pit

for the

578

[Vol.

49,

No.

3,

1984]



REPORTS

NT4

.

Et

4Z

t:

IE cert

perforaor

-I.

s

rA4nt

dOtW

w

?I

co

0

0H

o

Opt

^^

Figure

5.

Structure

4 and the

household

unit at

Loma Alta.

disposal

of

the human remains.

Marcos

(1978:39-42)

notes that human bones

buried

below the

walls

of Valdivia houses are

a

typical

feature at Real

Alto and

these,

he

infers,

were

dedicatory

or

guardian

burials

(Marcos

1978:39) serving

as

protectors

of the structure.

Loma

Alta

Several house

structures

were

unearthed

at

Loma

Alta

in

1980. Structure

4

(Figure

5)

is

the

best

preserved

in terms ofcontent

and feature/artifact

provenience.

The

ceramics

found with the

structure

579



AMERICAN

ANTIQUITY

are

stylistically

intermediary

to Valdivia

I

and II

and,

appropriately,

a date from a

nearby

hearth

(Feature

74)

is

2680

?

160 B.C.

(GX-7699).

Structure

4

at Loma Alta was also

a

small,

elliptical,

one-room

dwelling.

Its dimensions

of 310

x

230 cm

may appear quite small,

but

as

Wiessner

(1974:343) points out,

area under the roofs

of

dwellings

is not a

meaningful

measurement

for

groups

who

carry

out

most

household tasks outside

their small

dwellings.

The

Loma Alta data demonstrate that the

living

area

of

the household

unit

must

be considered

to include

the

dwelling

itself

and related

activity

areas outside

it.

The

occupational

surface of Structure

4

at

85-90

cm

below

the surface

was

carefully

brushed

and

continuously

sprayed

with a fine mist

to reveal

organic

stains

and color differences for the 36

m2

area that

was excavated

during

a

period

of

two months.

A

slight

change

in

construction

technique

from that

at Real Alto is observable

at Loma

Alta. Instead

of

placing

posts

into the

ground,

the

builders

dug

a

pit

about 60

cm

deep, placed

the framework

in

the

pit,

and then refilled

it with sterile

clay

to enable

subsequent bending

of the

posts

above

ground.

A

clearly

demarcated

periphery

of

decayed

organic

material

containing

some

post

molds forms a ribbon-like

feature that

exactly

parallels

the

shape

of

he

the

early

Real Alto houses.

(The

later and

larger

Valdivia

houses were also

erected after trenches were excavated to accommodate the framework of the structure; Lathrap et

al.

1977).

There are several

possible

activity

areas

represented

in

the features associated with Structure

4.

The most

conspicuous

include:

(1)

a sheltered area

within

the house that

probably

served as

a

sleeping

area

(Feature

88); (2)

a cotton

spinning

area

(Feature

86)

and a

cooking

area

(Features

25,

81,

83 and

85)

outside

the house

door;

(3)

a

lithic

work area

at Feature

19,

which is also associated

with a discarded

T-shaped

ax

(Feature 20);

(4)

a burial area near

the

door,

which recalls the similar

positioning

at

Structure

2-77

at Real

Alto;

and

(5)

two other hearths

(Features

74

and

80)

and

several

small filled-in

pits (Features

75,

76, 77, 78, 79,

and

82)

that contained

fragments

of bone

or shell and

firebroken

rock. These

last are

probably

small

pits

excavated

for refuse

disposal,

although

most

of the refuse

was

jettisoned

external,

or

downslope,

to the

village.

The sheltered

area inside the

house contained

several

post

molds,

a refuse

pit

dug

down

from

the

house floor

(Feature

84),

and

an area all but

devoid

of debris

and

discolored

in

a

shape

and size

suggestive

of a

decomposed

sleeping

mat

for

at

least two

people.

Another

pit

(Feature

72)

lay

adjacent

to this area

in the house

wall.

The

entrance

was

formed

by

a

discontinuity

in

the

ribbon of

organic

debris,

together

with

the

presence

of two

large

rocks

(Feature

87),

which

may

have served to

keep

an entrance

cover closed.

A

cotton

spinning

area

(Feature

86)

is

defined

by

the

presence

of two

stone

spindle

whorls

just

outside the

structure's

entrance. Similar

spindle

whorls

were found

throughout

the

early

occupation

of

the

site,

and

many

of them

appear

quite

typical

of the

more conventional ceramic

spindle

whorls

except

for

the

material

from which

they

were

manufactured.

Four hearths were

found

outside the

entrance

surrounding

Feature

86. The hearths

contain

charcoal, ash, sherds,

firebroken

rocks,

milling

stone

fragments,

shellfish

remains,

and butchered

bone

fragments,

in

other

words,

most of

the

debris

types that would be expected to occur in a cooking area. This, then, was probably a female specific

task area

in

which

food

was

prepared

and

cotton

was

spun.

The lithic

work area

(Feature

19) lay

off to

the side

of

the

house and

contained

within

it

two

hammerstones,

a

core,

a

hearth with

firebroken

rock and

heat-treated

lithic

material.

In

addition,

a

T-shaped

ax

fragment

was found

nearby

and

was

probably

discarded in association

with

Feature

19.

The ax is

quite

typical

of

the Valdivia

variety

of

ground

stone

axes

(see Meggers

et al.

1965)

and it

was

probably

used for

clearing

fields

for

farming.

This association

of

a lithic

work area

and

the

ax

might

be taken

to

suggest

performance

of

two

normally

male

specific

tasks at or

near

this

locale.

Three

burials

were located

in

proximity

to

Structure 4.

One

of them

(Burial

9)

consisted

of a

disarticulated

skeleton

placed

in a

pit

behind

the house.

The two

other burials

(Burials

10

and

11)

were

fully

articulated

and within

50 cm

of one another outside

the entrance

to Structure

4. It

would

seem that burials associated with houses are such a commonplace feature as to be almost a diagnostic

component

of

the Valdivia

household

cluster.

580

[Vol.

49,

No.

,

1984]



REPORTS

Additional features include

small refuse

pits,

which

perhaps

contain the

garbage

of

single meals,

two hearths

(Features

74

and

80),

a small

pile

of rocks

(Features 68),

and a refuse

pit

with

another

T-shaped

ax

(Feature

47).

Other

artifacts were scattered across the

occupational

surface,

and include

two more stone

spindle

whorls,

perforators, milling

stone

fragments,

lithic flakes

and

sherds

(ubiq-

uitous).

Furthermore,

some

post

molds

that

originated

in

upper deposits

cut into this lower unit.

In

one case, Feature

44,

there is a

post

mold

centered

within a

pit

outline.

Perhaps

the

pit

was

excavated to facilitate

placement

of

the

post.

Summary

The

grouping

of

associated

activity

areas and house structures at Real Alto and Loma

Alta

provides

a clear

picture

of certain

aspects

of

daily

life

within

the

Valdivia

village.

The

household

cluster

reveals

activities

relating

to economic

pursuits

and social

groupings

on the small

household level.

The

two

household clusters

just

described

are

quite

similar

in

shape

and structure.

Early

Valdivia

houses

at both

Real Alto and Loma Alta

were

elliptically

shaped

with dimensions of 450

x

320

cm

and

310

x

230 cm.

Entrance

ways

were

similarly

located and at both sites

spaces

inside the

houses were

kept relatively

clean of debris.

Burials took

place

within the household either below

the

walls

or

just

outside the

houses. Stone

spindle

whorls were found outside

the entrance at Loma

Alta,

but were located

in

anomalous stone

cairns at

Real Alto

(Marcos 1977).

The cairns

may

be associated with

houses at

Real

Alto but

they

are not found with Structure

4 at Loma

Alta.

In

conclusion,

the

early

Valdivia house

was a

small

one room structure built with

posts

and thatch

and

covered with daub.

The

sleeping

area inside was

kept

clean and

the area

immediately

outside

was

used for activities such as

cooking,

stone

working,

burials,

and

perhaps

cotton

spinning. Thus,

as an

entity

the household unit delimits

economic

activity

and social

ordering

of a

small domestic

unit such

as a nuclear

family.

THE VILLAGE LAYOUT

Early

Valdivia

The

arrangement

of houses

within the

early

Valdivia

village

is not

perfectly

known,

but

the

general

shape

is clear at Loma Alta

(Figure 5).

As

previously

noted,

transecting

was

found to be

the most

efficient measure.

Our two

transects

demonstrated the

long

term

buildup

of

refuse

and

fine

ashy

sediments

on

the

west, north,

and east

edges

of Loma Alta. This

fine,

ashy

material

composes

a

10-15

m wide

strip

of

deposits

on the

edge

of the Loma Alta

hill

top.

Intermixed

with

the

ashy

deposits

were

early

Valdivia ceramics

from

approximately

50

cm below

the

surface

to

sterile

deposits

at

approximately

100 cm.

The

evidence

of

household units

lay

within

this same

zone. The

interior

of the site

is

nearly

devoid

of

early

Valdivia

material,

but the

external hillside

deposits

contain

early

Valdivia grinding stones, large sherds, and other artifacts discarded in abundance away from the

habitation area.

The

preliminary

documentation

from

Loma Alta indicates that the

early

village

formed a

horse-

shoe

or

U-shaped pattern

about 145

x

90

m in

Valdivia

I

and

that it

grew

to

about

175

x

115 m

by

the end of Valdivia II. Near the end of

Valdivia

II

at

least three

caches of

sherds

accumulated

at the

open

end

of

the U

in

the southern

portion

of

the site. These

caches,

measuring

1

or 2 m

in

diameter,

were concentrations of broken

pots piled

in at

least three discrete

locales.

Most

of

the

sherds were from

storage

or

cooking

pots

and not

from the other class

(bowls)

of

early

Valdivia

pottery

vessel

shapes

(Lathrap

et

al.

1975;

Norton

1977;

Damp 1982b).

The

surrounding

area

was

otherwise

kept

clean and excavation revealed no evidence of the

typical fine,

ashy

soil

that

char-

acterizes

the area

of

the house structures.

Evidence from Real

Alto

(Figure

2)

is not so

complete

as

for

early

Valdivia,

but

it

implies

a

similar situation. The northern limit of the Valdivia settlement yielded the early house previously

described,

but

no such information was

forthcoming

from the rest of the site.

However,

the

beginnings

581



AMERICAN

ANTIQUITY

of Valdivia

III-IV

mounds

( Fiesta

and Chamel

Houses )

were

delineated

by

a minor

buildup

of

cultural

debris,

and an accumulation of Valdivia II

sherds

(Marcos

1978)

quite

similar to the three

ceramic caches

at Loma Alta

at the

opening

of the U. It is

probable

that similar structures are

evident here and that the layout was similar. If this is the case, the extrapolated measurement for

Real Alto

during

Valdivia

II

from the

houses at

the north end to

he

orth end to

the

begnings

of the

ceremonial

mound to the south

along

the central axis

of

the

projected

U is 145

m,

with

the

surrounding

house

ridges

perhaps

90 m

apart.

The

similarity

in

predicted

measurements

between

Real

Alto and

Loma

Alta seems more than coincidental.

Any

population

estimate

for the

early

Valdivia sites of

Real Alto and Loma

Alta

may

be

premature

as

spacing

between

contemporary

houses is not known. An

estimate of 150 to

200

village

inhabitants

seems

reasonable,

and

equivalent

to the calculations of

population

sizes for

ethnographically-known,

tropical

forest

villages provided by

Roosevelt

(1980:217-219).

Interpretation

The

arrangement

of the houses within the

village may be interpreted structurally. Two distinct

spheres

are

represented

with the outer

part

of the

village

occupied

by

domestic refuse

and

house

structures and

the

inner

part kept

clean

and

seemingly

used

for

special

functions. Domestic refuse

does not clutter the inner

plaza

and

only

at the

open

end of the U is

there

any

cultural refuse

away

from the house

structures.

Thus,

two

opposing

realms

were

perhaps expressed

in

the

early

Valdivia

village.

The

similar

layouts

that are found

among

some

groups

today may

provide

a clue as to the

meaning

of the

dichotomy

between

the

center and the

periphery.

For

example,

the

Apinaye

village

of central

Brazil shows an

opposition

that

signifies

that the

sphere

of the

family,

economics,

and

socialization

of the

young

is a domestic and

daily

order;

while the ceremonial

order,

along

with the

groups

formed

to

conduct

it,

is a

public

order

essentially

outside

daily

routine

(daMatta 1979:98).

And the

village

of the related Kraho contains the same

dualism;

here

again,

the

plaza

(having

ritual

significance)

... is in clear opposition to the periphery of the village, where food is prepared, meals are eaten,

and domestic life takes

place (Melatti

1979:48).

Other

ethnographic examples

of

distinctions between

the

plaza-center

and the

house-periphery

include: the interaction of

moieties;

the association of females with the

periphery

and males with

the

center;

and the burial of the dead close to or

inside the

houses,

thus

asserting

the differences

between the

living

and the

dead,

and

the center

or

ideological

realm and the

periphery

or domestic

realm

(Melatti 1979:48).

The structural

relationships

are

only suggestive

for the

early

Valdivia

community

because the

study

of

village plans

in

Formative Ecuador

is still

undeveloped; however,

it is

hoped

that

the

suggestions

can be

tested

in

the future.

Thus,

I

interpret

the

early

Loma Alta and

Real Alto

U-shaped

villages

as

early

prehistoric examples

of

organized

communities

in

northwestern South America.

Although

rare,

there are

other

excavated

early

Valdivia sites that attest

to the

emergence

of

organized

village

life.

For

example,

Punta

Concepcion

was

laid out

in

the

shape

of a

ring, suggesting

that

family groups

distributed themselves

around an

open

area and

discarded their

rubbish

adjacent

to

their

living

areas

(Stothert 1976:94).

El Encanto

on the Isla de Puna

in

the Gulf of

Guayaquil

is another

early

Valdivia

site that was

probably arranged

in the same

way

(Porras 1973;

Spath 1980).

Unfortunately,

the most

telling

testimony

is that of the local

huaqueros

(looters)

who

know

the

archaeology

most

intimately. They

repeatedly

assert that there is

nothing

in

the middle

of

Valdivia

sites,

and

they

back

up

their

claims

by ravaging

the sites

in

U-shaped

patterns. Many

of

these

destroyed

sites

lie

in

the

vicinity

of the

Colonche

hills,

and their disturbed

deposits provide

an all-too-obvious

plan

of the

community

layout.

Significance

Neither

space

nor available information are sufficient to document and

interpret fully

the role of

the

early

Valdivia

village

structure

in

the

evolution of

settled

and

planned village

life

in

the

Americas.

582

[Vol.

49,

No.

3,

1984]



REPORTS

However,

the

village topography

is

highly suggestive

of

certain

relationships

in

architectural

and

ideological

structure.

Lathrap

et al.

(1977)

have

interpreted

Real

Alto as

evolving

from a small

egalitarian

settlement

into a complex hierarchical society with ceremonial mounds and a sacred public plaza. Marcos

(1978),

following Wheatley (1971),

believes that

the ceremonial architecture

(precinct)

formed the

basis for

organizing

time and

space

at Real

Alto. The ceremonial architecture formed

the Axis

Mundi

or

pivot

around which the

society organized

itself

through

ideology.

Isbell

(1978)

has

extrapolated

certain

formal

relationships

and

meanings

of

U-shaped

structures

in

ceremonial centers in

South

America.

He

suggests

that the

early

ceremonial

sites of

Peru

(i.e.,

Chavin

de

Huantar,

Garagay,

etc.;

Rowe

1967;

Tello

1960),

the structure of Inca Cusco

(Zuidema

1964),

and the

cosmological

and

structural axes of the Desana

longhouse

of

Amazonian

Colombia

(Reichel-Dolmatoff 1971)

all

mapped

the

ideological

structure

of

the

community

into

a

U-shaped

configuration.

The

U-shaped

arrangement

of

the

early

Valdivia

village,

the

deposition

of ceramic

caches,

and

the

beginning

of mound construction

at

Real

Alto

imply

a

formal

relationship

between the

early

Valdivia village layout, the evolution of Valdivia ceremonial centers and the relationships of later

South American

ceremonial structures noted

by

Isbell

(1978).

Thus,

I

believe that

architectural

relationships

may

be

helpful

in

delineating

the

organizing principles

of secular and

sacred

existence

(Fritz 1978:55-56).

CONCLUSIONS

The

Valdivia

culture,

which

appeared

on the Ecuadorian coast between

3500 and

3000

B.C.,

marks the earliest known

appearance

of the

village

in

South America. Two

sites with

occupations

beginning

at this time were

partially

excavated. These

sites,

Real

Alto and Loma

Alta,

furnished

house

patterns

and other

archaeological

features referred to

as the household

unit or the

household

cluster. Household

units at Real Alto and Loma Alta show

great similarity

in

shape,

size,

and

content. Although the sample is small, these similarities pertain not only to construction techniques,

but also to

activity

area location and debris

distribution.

The

village

layout

is also under

investigation

in

order to

document the

relationships

among

clusters of domestic

units, refuse,

and ceremonial

places

within the

community.

The

results

from

Real Alto and Loma

Alta indicate that the

village

organization

was rather

carefully planned.

Further

field

testing

will

help

to

clarify

the

significance

of

the

U-shaped

village layout.

The

available

information

provides

a

-basis

for

delineating lifeways

in the

early

Valdivia

com-

munity.

The

analysis

of domestic structures

and economic data

may

be

added

to

a

study

of

the

geometrical relationships

of

settlement

plans

and

architecture. This

procedure

will

help

to

document

the

relationship

of house and

village

patterns

at Real Alto

and Loma Alta and how

they

reflect the

beginnings

of settled life

in

the

context of

an

agricultural

economy

in

northwestern

South

America.

Acknowledgments.

I

thank

Santiago

Bemabe,

Persis

Clarkson,

Tiburcio

Cruz,

Don

Lathrap,

Olaf

Holm,

Alison

Landals,

Jorge

Marcos,

PresleyNorton,

Deborah

Pearsall,

Scott

Raymond,

Karen

Stothert,

Jeff

Tilton,

Pablo

and

Guillermo

Torres,

Jim

Zeidler,

several

anonymous

reviewersand the

Editorof

American

Antiquity.

Other

representatives

f the

University

of

Calgary

ndthe

towns of

El

Real, Pechiche,

San

Pedro,

Valdivia,

and

Loma

Alta also

provided

assistance.

Funding

came from the Museo

del Banco Central

del

Ecuador,

Guayaquil,

the National

Science

Foundation,

he

Ford

Foundation,

Canada

Council,

he

Explorer'sClub,

he

Social

Sciences

and Humanities

ResearchCouncil

(Canada),

he

Program

or

Ecuadorian

Anthropology,

nd

the

administration

of the

University

of

Calgary.

REFERENCES

CITED

Bischof,

H.

1973 The

Origins

of

Pottery

n

SouthAmerica-Recent

Radiocarbon

Dates from

Southwest

Ecuador.

Atti

delXL Congresso nternazionaledegliAmericanisti1:269-281. Rome-Geneva.

1979 San Pedro und

Valdivia-friihe

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585

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