View source for History:Chorrera culture

{{Infobox archaeological culture
| name = Chorrera
| region = Ecuador
| map = Ecuador_Blue_Marble.png
| mapcaption = Location of the Chorrera culture
| period = [[History:Formative stage|Formative]]
| dates = {{circa}} 1300 - 300 BCE
| precededby = Machalilla
| followedby = Bahía, Tuncahuán
}}
[[File:Chorrera Auch 1.jpg|thumb|Chorrera human effigy fragment, Musée d'Aucha]]
[[File:Affe in Opferhaltung Ekuador Chorrera Slg Ebnöther.jpg|thumb|Chorerra zoomorphic whistling spout effigy bottle, 23 cm high, Museum zu Allerheiligen]]
The '''Chorrera culture''' or '''Chorrera tradition''' is a Late Formative indigenous culture that flourished between 1300 BCE and 300 BCE in Ecuador.<ref name=early>White, Nancy. [http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/saa/saa_mod05.html "Early Horizon, First Civilization."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630230552/http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/saa/saa_mod05.html |date=2007-06-30 }} ''South American Archaeology.'' (retrieved 1 June 2011)</ref> Chorrera culture was one of the most widespread cultures in pre-Columbian Ecuador, spanning the Pacific lowlands to the [[Place:Andes|Andean]] highlands,<ref name=z468>Zeidler 468</ref> and even into southern Colombia.<ref name=early/>

==Regional divisions==
Due to variations in ceramics and other material culture, Chorrera culture is divided into regional variants. These include:
*Mafa Phase, northern Esmeraldas Province
*Tachina Phase, southern Esmeraldas Province
*Tabuchula Phase, northern Manabí Province
*Engoroy Phase, Santa Elena Peninsula and Guayas coastal region
*Chorrera proper, Guayas River Basin
*Early Jubones Phase, southeastern Guaya and western Azuay Province
*Arenillas Phase, El Oro Province.<ref name=z468/>

Other regions exhibit a strong Chorrera influence.

==Ceramics==
The hallmark of Chorrera culture is its ceramic traditions, which features whistling<ref name=Ayala>{{cite journal|last1=Ayala Esparza|first1=MA|last2=Gallardo Carillo|first2=GF|last3=Molina-Alarcón|first3=M|title=The song of air and water: Acoustic experiments with an Ecuadorian Whistle Bottle (c.900 BC–100 BC) |date=2019 |journal=Internet Archaeology|issue=52|accessdate=18 November 2019 |doi=10.11141/ia.52.2 |doi-access=free|url=https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue52/2/|hdl=10251/157919|hdl-access=free}}</ref> animal and plant effigy Stirrup spout vessels and human figurines made from molds. Everyday utilitarian pottery was still very fine with thin decorated walls and red or black slips polished to a high sheen. Surfaces of bowls, bottles, [[Engineering:Olla|olla]]s, and other ceramic pieces were incised, painted, pattern burnished, or decorated with rocker stamps.<ref name=z468/> Ceramics were used in personal adornments as well, examples being ceramic ear spools and rocker stamps used for body painting.<ref>Zeidler 468-9</ref>

Unusual decorative features of Chorrera ceramics include resist-painting and iridescent slips.<ref name=early/>

==Use of metals==
Chorrera craftsmen produced some of the earliest metal objects in Ecuador. Numerous metal objects and fragments were excavated at the coastal site of Salango. Objects from copper, silver and gold were made, mostly elite goods like jewelry.<ref>Dorothy Hosler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cB-PLQpbk-4C&pg=PA106 ''The Sounds and Colors of Power: The Sacred Metallurgical Technology of Ancient West Mexico.''] MIT Press, 1994 {{ISBN|0262082306}} p106</ref>

==Diet==
Crops cultivated by Chorrera people include achira (''[[Biology:Canna indica|Canna indica]]''), arrowroot (''[[Biology:Maranta arundinacea|Maranta arundinacea]]''), corn (''[[Biology:Zea mays|Zea mays]]''), common beans (''[[Biology:Phaseolus vulgaris|Phaseolus vulgaris]]''), as well as gourds and squash (''[[Biology:Cucurbitaceae|Cucurbitaceae]]''). They also gathered wild tree fruits, sedge (''[[Biology:Cyperaceae|Cyperaceae]]''), and palm (''Palmae'').<ref name=z470>Zeidler 470</ref>

Chorrera people fished and hunted as well, catching game such as armadillo, deer (including white-tailed and brocket deer) duck, frogs, lizards, peccary, and various rodents.<ref name=z470/>

==Trade==
This culture continued the brisk trade network established by [[History:Valdivia culture|Valdivia]] and Machalilla cultures. Chorrera fisherman traded spiny oyster shells (''[[Biology:Spondylus|Spondylus]]'') and other marine shells with people from the Quito basin for [[Chemistry:Obsidian|obsidian]].<ref name=z470/> Gold is traded in the latter centuries BCE.<ref name=early/>

==Decline==
In 467 BCE, the Pululahua Volcano north of [[Place:Quito|Quito]] erupted, sending volcanic ash over much of the western Ecuadorian lowland regions, which greatly reduced the expressions of Chorrera culture; however, some Chorrera settlements in the far north and south continued for several centuries. These evolved into more complex cultures of the Regional Developmental Period of 200 and 300 BCE.<ref>Zeidler 471</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Bibliography ==
* Zeidler, J. A. "The Ecuadorian Formative." Helaine Silverman and William H. Isbell, eds. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yZr-lxQgJiAC&dq=Chorrera+culture&pg=PA468 ''Handbook of South American Archaeology.''] New York: Springer, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-387-75228-0}}.

== External links ==
* [http://www.nmai.si.edu/searchcollections/results.aspx?culid=2726 Chorrera ceramics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430002503/http://www.nmai.si.edu/searchcollections/results.aspx?culid=2726 |date=2011-04-30 }}, National Museum of the American Indian
* [http://www.exploringecuador.com/museum_bce/chorrera.htm Chorrera Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122043844/http://exploringecuador.com/museum_bce/chorrera.htm |date=2009-01-22 }}

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{{Pre-Columbian}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Chorrera Culture}}
[[Category:2nd millennium BC]]

{{Sourceattribution|Chorrera culture}}