Food and Society at Real Alto, an Early Formative Community in Southwest Coastal Ecuador

Abstract

We investigated foodways at Real Alto, an early Formative (4400–1800 BC) Valdivia site in coastal Ecuador, using starch and phytoliths recovered from 50 stone tools from three residential and two ceremonial structures, as well as 46 human dental calculus samples, to explore how food reflects the social relationships and economy of the community. Maize was important in daily meals and ceremonial foods by the Middle Valdivia (2800–2400 BC), but it was only one component of an agricultural system that included yuca, arrowroot, llerén, canna, yam, jackbean, squash, gourd, chili, and cotton. Ceremonial and everyday foods at Real Alto did not differ: actions surrounding food were both domestic and ceremonial, depending on context. Households had equal access to annual crops and to root-tubers with longer growing seasons. Gelatinized starch was commonly recovered on tools, indicating the processing of cooked foods. Dental calculus residues confirmed common consumption of cooked foods, fruits, and root-tubers. Cultivating crops with different water and growing season requirements necessitated diverse practices, potentially including selection of short-season varieties, hand watering, and growing crops over multiple rainy seasons. The latter two practices required increased labor inputs: access to labor was likely a key element supporting the nascent social hierarchy that emerged by the Middle Valdivia.

Por que a sociedade sambaquiana deve ser considerada como de meio termo?

“…3.500 a 2.300 BP (KILLION, 2013;VANDERWARKER;KRUGER, 2012); na cultura Valdivia, do litoral do Equador, entre ca. 6.300 e 3.700 BP (PEARSALL et al, 2020); em Caral, na costa central do Peru, entre ca. 4.000 e 3.600 BP (SHADY SOLÍS, 2014;SHADY SOLÍS et al, 2001); e no litoral sul do Peru de ca.…”

“…Sociedades de meio termo foram extremamente comuns nas Américas, desde milhares de anos atrás até períodos mais recentes (CAROMANO et al, 2013;CHANCA et al, 2021;CORTELETTI et al, 2015;HILBERT et al, 2017;IRIARTE, 2009;IRIARTE et al, 2004;PEARSALL, 2009;PEARSALL et al, 2020;PIPERNO, 2011;PIPERNO;PEARSALL, 1998;WATLING et al, 2018). Um conjunto substancial de dados sugere que a sociedade sambaquiana tenha sido uma delas, tendo adotado uma economia 1 Embora o termo "sambaquieiro" seja dominante na literatura nacional como forma de se referir às pessoas relacionadas aos sambaquis, nossa equipe tem privilegiado o termo "sambaquiano/a".…”

Clay embodiments: Materializing Asymmetrical Relations in Pre-Hispanic Figurines from Ecuador

“…First, the settlement contains collective spaces that likely were associated with ceremonial, public activities, alongside domestic spaces that contain little evidence of differentiation. Recent archaeobotanical studies have shown that there was no difference between public, ceremonial, and domestic spaces in the way that agricultural products were processed and consumed (Pearsall et al 2020). This finding points to a sort of democratized ceremoniality where all members had similar access to resources in all spaces of the settlement.…”

Unraveling Island Economies through Organic Residue Analysis: The Case of Mocha Island (Southern Chile)

“…On the Pacific coast of South America, the productive Humboldt upwelling system (3°24 ′ S-54°55 ′ S) has sustained coastal adapted populations since the Late Pleistocene. Throughout the Holocene, coastal communities developed mixed economies with distinct degrees of reliance on marine and terrestrialbased resources (Dillehay et al 2022;Knudson et al 2015;Pearsall et al 2020). In southern Chile the intensification of food production during the Late Ceramic period (950-400 cal BP) led to sedentarism and a remarkable demographic upsurge (Campbell and Quiroz 2015).…”