Es ya casi un cliché decir que, en el Ecuador de gran parte del siglo 20, el estudio del pasado estuvo en manos de coleccionistas conscientes de que sus adquisiciones representaban parte de la historia de las sociedades precolombinas. Luego de la importante contribución que hiciera a su estudio el Obispo Federico González Suárez, Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño, un ávido coleccionista de arte, incursiona en el tema, pero a diferencia del primero, decide construir su colección arqueológica, a partir de excavaciones que realiza de manera personal. Por lo general, elige para estos trabajos sus extensas propiedades, y en algunos casos, excava en zonas ajenas, como los sitios de la provincia de Manabí y el sitio peruano de Maranga. El trabajo de campo despierta en él la necesidad de dar explicación y contenido histórico al material recogido, recurriendo a informes y publicaciones arqueológicas de varias regiones del mundo. Jijón sufre entonces la metamorfosis de un mero acumulador de bienes (coleccionista) en un arqueólogo de tradición coleccionista explicativa. En aquellos tiempos, eso de deambular por el territorio buscando piezas arqueológicas era definitivamente un hobby aristócrata practicado por varios personajes; empero Jijón, a diferencia del resto, trató de explicar el proceso cultural a través de los objetos.

In 1980, anthropologist Frank Salomon published a book (“Los señoríos étnicos de Quito en la época de los Incas”), which gave a tremendous boost to the emerging Ecuadorian ethnohistory. Basically, the book deals with the study of chiefdoms (llactakuna) in the region of Quito (the famous "township of the five leagues of Quito”, which corresponds roughly to the present-day province of Pichincha). Key to understanding the functioning of these political entities was the control, the lords had over the circulation of goods produced within the chiefdom and those obtained from other ecological zones, through regional exchange.

The present Andean way of thinking is a strong cultural continuum of pre-Hispanic roots, which basically have come down to us through oral means. When we excavated in the mountains of Tacna (February 2010), Justino, a villager from Vilavilani, after explaining how the Tacora volcano had "appeared" (in the neighboring region of Arica-Chile) said that the story was told to him by his father and that he already had passed it to his son. The words or ways to tell a myth or a story can change, but its essence remains, and is transmitted through generations. Hereafter we will try a brief essay in which we will review, based on ethnographic work, the meanings that are handled in contemporary times about lightning, rain and rocks. As we shall see, these features are associated with the current concept of ushnu (1) as they probably were during the Tahuantinsuyo; not identically but in a similar manner.

There are fake mummies here and there. Actually, they mostly, like the Egyptian ones, are pastiches, bits from various bodies and objects from various burials all put together into one fraudulent whole. Such is the poor "Cañari lady" of the Museo del Banco Central in Quito. The Museo del Banco Central is, essentially, the national museum of that country. The museum was founded on private collections and selective buying from looters, so most of the pieces have little in the way of a reliable or detailed provenience. The alleged mummy, if actually Cañari, would have come from the southern highlands; this is especially problematic since the area is a generally damp place with few dry caves or other such mummy-preserving amenities.

Two cultures must carefully be recognized in Ecuadorian prehistory: the Inca culture, and the culture genuinely Ecuadorian. The first one was brought by the Inca to Ecuador, when they conquered Ecuadorian provinces; the second one was achieved by the aborigenes of Ecuador, by means of their own efforts.

Federicio Gonzalez Suárez, 1915, Notas Arqueológicas, p. 11.  Imprenta del Clero, Quito.

When archeology gets out of hand from conventional theories and becomes an avant-garde of ethnogenesis in the Americas, ethics, professional practice and the subject of study are confronted in a power struggle. How to look and use ancestors, to rebuild the indigenous history in the continent? Archaeological sites become spaces that respond to local policies in a post-colonial globalized world. Readings of post-processual criticism in archeology, of Andean literature interested in pre-columbian past, and of the indigenous movement in the Americas, may help to identify all the various ways for using the past. In Ecuador, both historical and prehispanic consciousness have changed little, since 1995, when Salazar presented the conclusion that the majority of highland (Sierra) indian groups pointed to the Inkas as their direct ancestors. Today, the inventory of archaeological sites registers a resounding minority of Inka sites and it cannot go, without questioning, the fact that current indigenous thought promotes a prehispanic past with an Inka background, which contradicts the physical evidence from the archaeological record. The selective use of archaeological data is becoming the norm, thus limiting the possibility for indigenous movements to challenge the reconstructions of colonial and western history. How far can we talk about ethics and liberties?

PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DEL ECUADOR
SCHOOL OF HUMAN SCIENCES - SCHOOL OF ANTHROPOLOGY
CULTURAL CENTRE

PETROGLYPH SYMPOSIUM OF ECUADOR
October 4-8, 2010

Ernesto Salazar (PUCE) and Josefina Vasquez (USFQ), coordinators

Calling

The cultural inventory conducted by the Coordinating Ministry of Heritage has allowed to register a significant number of sites with petroglyphs, some already known, and most unknown in the archaeological profession. Amateur domain for some time, the archaeological study of petroglyphs has taken another dimension, as new techniques for recovery and preservation of information have developed as well as new methods of correlation and interpreting cultural iconography.

In Ecuador, the systematic study of the petroglyphs has barely begun; therefore it is necessary to obtain an overall view of the immense rock-art in the country, the material conditions in which they are found and the projections its research has.

On this matter, we are calling for colleagues and interested people to a symposium held at the PUCE, from October 4 to 8, 2010. In parallel, the Cultural Centre of the PUCE has planned a photographic exhibition of Ecuador`s petroglyphs, the same will host graphic contributions of participants wishing to contribute to this event.

Information:

Archaeology Laboratory, PUCE Cultural Center, 2nd floor, tel. 2991-700, ext. 1434

Coordinators: J. Vasquez ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), E. Salazar ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Photographic exhibition: Gaby Costa ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Almudena, Hernando, 2008, Arqueología de la identidad, Editorial Akal, Madrid.

Bahn, Paul, 2009, Arqueología, conceptos clave, Editorial Akal, Madrid.

Bahn, Paul; Douglas Palmer, 2006, Unearthing the past, Editorial Mitchell Beazley, Londres.

Bancroft-Hunt, Norman, 2004, Atlas histórico de Mesoamérica, Edimat Libros, Madrid.

Barros, Cristina; Marco Buenrostro; Michael Calderwood, 2003, Cocina prehispánica, continuidad cultural: recetario, textos y selección de recetas y citas, 2003, Edición especial de la Revista “Arqueología Mexicana”, Nº 12, México.

Bass, George F., 2007, Bajo los siete mares, Editorial Blume, Barcelona.

Bermúdez de Castro, José María, 2009, El chico de la Gran Dolina, Editorial Crítica, Barcelona.

Bruhns, Karen O., and Nancy L. Kelker, 2010, Faking the Ancient Andes, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Bruhns, Karen O., and Nancy L. Kelker, 2010, Faking Ancient Mesoamerica, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Campbell, Chryl, 2009, Arqueología, Editorial Blume, Barcelona.

Cordero Ramos, María Auxiliadora, 2009, El cacicazgo cayambi. Trayectoria hacia la complejidad social en los Andes septentrionales, Ediciones Abya-Yala, Quito.

Chapa Brunet, Teresa, 2008, Arqueología del trabajo, Editorial Akal, Madrid.

Drennan, Robert D., and Santiago Mora, comps., 2002, Investigación arqueológica y preservación del patrimonio en las Américas, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.

Flegenheimer, Nora; Cristina Bayón, and Alejandra Pupio, 2008, Llegar a un nuevo mundo. La arqueología de los primeros pobladores del actual territorio argentino. Editorial Antropofagia, Buenos Aires.

Francovich, Riccardo; and Danielle Manacorda. 2004, Diccionario de Arqueología, Editorial Crítica, Barcelona.

López, Gabriel; and Marcelo Cardillo, 2009, Arqueología y evolución. Teoría, metodología y casos de estudio. Editorial Sb, Buenos Aires.

Manzanilla, Linda; and Luis Barba, 2003, La arqueología: una visión científica del pasado del hombre, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.

Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, 2003, Vida y muerte en el Templo Mayor, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.

Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, 2008, Muerte a filo de obsidiana, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.

Pastrana, Cruz; Rafael Alejandro, 2007, La distribución de la obsidiana de la Triple Alianza en la cuenca de México, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.

Politis, Gustavo, Luciano Prates S., Iván Pérez, 2009, El poblamiento de América, Editorial Eudeba, Buenos Aires.

Ratto, Norma, 2009, Entrelazando ciencias, Editorial Eudeba, Buenos Aires.

Schavelzon, Daniel; and Ana Igareta, 2007, Viejos son los trapos. De arqueología, ciudades y cosas que hay debajo de los pisos, Editorial Siglo XXI, Buenos Aires.

Schavelzon, Daniel, 2008, El laberinto del patrimonio cultural: cómo gestionarlo en una gran ciudad, Editorial APOC, Buenos Aires.

Schavelzon, Daniel; and Jorge Ramos, 2009, El caserón de Rosas: historia y arqueología del paisaje de Palermo, Editorial Corregidor, Buenos Aires.

9 de marzo. Estanislao Pazmiño (INPC), Investigaciones arqueológicas en la tola Huataviro, Imbabura. Centro Cultural, PUCE, Quito. Organizado por Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Escuela de Antropología, PUCE.

29 marzo-2 abril. Taller DNA Antiguo. Laboratorio de Genética Molecular de la Cruz Roja Ecuatoriana, Quito. Organización IFEA, Embajada de Francia.

30 marzo. Café Scientifique: ADN humano el secreto de nuestro origen y diversidad. Panelistas: Bertrand Ludes, Christine Keyser, Marie Lacan, Nancy Sáenz Ruales. Moderadores: Tania Delabarde, Francisco Valdez. CAFÉLIBRO, Quito.

7 de abril. Jonathan Damp, La vivienda valdivia. Métodos para la investigación del Formativo ecuatoriano. Organizada por Museo Nacional, Quito.

29-30 Abril. Tania Delabarde (IFEA), Cursillo de Antropología Forense para Arqueólogos, Laboratorio de Arqueología, PUCE, Quito. Cartilla de Trabajo “Taller teórico y práctico de Antropología física y forense” por Tania Delabarde, IFEA.

29 abril- 12 mayo. Jonathan Damp, Ciclo de talleres sobre “Sistema Nacional de sitios arqueológicos y ciudades patrimoniales”. Ministerio de Cultura del Ecuador, Quito.

4 de mayo, Josefina Vásquez, Arqueologías y etnogénesis de las Américas. Organizado por Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, en el Museo Nacional, Quito.

4 de mayo, Tamara Estupiñán, Rumiñahui, guardián del mallqui de Atahualpa. Organizado por Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, en el Museo Nacional, Quito.

17 mayo, Taller internacional sobre gestión del Patrimonio Inmaterial. Ministerio Coordinador de Patrimonio, INPC, NN.UU., en Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar, Quito.

The Archaeology Laboratory is grateful to Dr. Robert D. Drennan and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh for the donation of a collection of Latin American Archaeology Reports to be used by students of Archaeology at the School of Anthropology.

The term Venus comes from the Roman deity of love and beauty, and its use has become popular, at the ancient art level, to designate female iconographic representations, both in painting and sculpture. Throughout prehistory, there has being many and diverse human representations, both male or female, many of which have being found in cave paintings, stone and metal materials, particularly on clay, the raw material from which thousands of "figurines" were manufactured during pre-Columbian Ecuador. These representations, primarily female in our country, have been the subject of numerous studies, mainly morphological, lagging far behind gender studies, among which is worth mentioning those of Yepez (2002) and Di Capua (1994).

Grandes montículos se avistan a orillas del río Mississippi. Mientras sus numerosos habitantes realizan sus tareas diarias, en la plaza central se oyen varios dialectos. Hay gran movimiento en el río; en lo alto de los templos se observa el humo de las ceremonias; diversos productos llegan desde lejos a la imponente ciudad de los mississippianos; Cahokia está en todo su esplendor…