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.
Among the most prominent cultures that
flourished in the wake of the Chorrera are the
cultures of Bahia, Jama Coaque, and La Tolita.
Around 400 B.C. the culture of La Tolita
emerged, centered on the island of La Tolita,
from which its name derived, lasting until
roughly 400 A.D. The island was a great
ceremonial center to which flocked worshippers
from varying regions of Pre-Columbian Ecuador
to pray to their gods and bury their deceased. As
a result, a sophisticated artistic tradition
developed in order to provide pilgrims with
sculptural offerings, luxurious festive attire and
funerary apparels.
This stout woman figure from the La Tolita
region of Ecuador carries a message of fertility.
She cradles a small child in her arms and holds
one breast, alluding to her role as mother and
nurturer. Made from an artist’s mold, and placed
long ago in an ancient tomb, she may have
offered the hope of fertility in its time and
rebirth in the afterlife. The unusual swept back
rendering of this woman’s head probably refers
to the cultural practice of skill deformation or
binding. Intentional modification of the cranium
was practiced in the Tumaco—La Tolita region,
and is known to have been practiced from as
early as 1500 B.C., in Ecuador. In the presence
of this mother figure, we are reminded of the
strength and endurance of women throughout
the centuries.
