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The Pre-Columbian cultures of Ecuador are
among the oldest in South America and
among the first to master the art of pottery.
Although we know little about the peoples
themselves or their traditions, historians have
been able to piece together a picture of life in
Ancient Ecuador thanks in part to the art and
artifacts left behind. The culture of Valdivia
created some of the oldest known works of art
in the Americas. Situated along the coastal
strip of Ecuador, the Valdivians established a
thriving society that flourished for around two
thousand years (from approximately 3500 to
1500 B.C.). Today they are famed for their
small fertility figures, believed to be the
earliest representational works of art in the
Americas, first carved from stone, later formed
from terracotta.
Hundreds of years later after the Valdivians
disappear from the archaeological record
appears another culture to which the name
Chorrera has been attached (lasting from circa
1100-300 B.C.). Little is known about this
culture; however, it is significant for its
widespread geographical reach. As such, their
artistic style greatly influenced those diverse
cultures that began to emerge in the final
centuries of the Chorrera period, a time
historians have labeled the Period of Regional
Development.
- (FJ.7302)
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