4000 BCE to 800 BCE

Early Ceramic Culture 4000 BCE to 1800 BCE
Valdivia Culture 3300 BCE to 1500 BCE
Pre-Ceramic Culture 3000 BCE to 1800 BCE
Kotosh Culture 2200 BCE to 900 BCE
Initial Period 1800 BCE to 800 BCE

Important Events:

3300 BCE Villages begin to coalesce along the coast of the Santa Elena Peninsula in southwestern Ecuador. The centers share cultural features that are known as Valdivian.  Small stone figures and ceramic vessels are used by the people.

2800 BCE Early settlements at Cerro Narrío in the Ecuadorian highlands have contacts with the Pacific coast to acquire spondylus shell and with the tropical Andes for coca leaves.

2700- 2500 BCE  Monuments on the central coast are arranged in a U-shape, including a large temple mound in the center and long linear mounds on either side of the temple mound. The opening to the U-shaped plaza faces the headwaters of the valley. Northern coast constructions however include large rectangular terraced mounds, sunken plazas and sunken circular court.

2400 BCE On Peru's Pacific coast, gourds are still used instead of ceramics. In the North coastal regions, cotton textiles are made with images of profile-headed raptors, double-headed birds, snakes, and crabs with claws transforming into snakes.

2200 BCE Kotosh, located in the north central region of the Peruvian Andes is built between tropical lowlands and the Pacific coast, giving the people access to an abundance of resources.

The earliest ceramics appear in coastal sites that were established during the Pre-Ceramic and continued to be used through the Initial Period, such as El Paraiso. Later Initial Period constructions are located inland roughly 10 miles from the coast. Agricultural improvements such as irrigation canals allowed coastal peoples to depend less on fish and slowly move farther from the coast into valleys that could now be farmed more effectively.  Construction techniques also changed dramatically during the Initial Period. Monuments were no longer constructed by small stones carried in shicra or fiber bags. During this period, adobe mud brick construction commonly decorated with plaster and colorful clay friezes starts to appear.

2100 BCE The Peruvian highland site of La Galgada has buildings of stone, plastered white. Important burials with well-preserved contents have been found in its chambers.

Works of Art:

Double-Headed Figure, end of 3rd millennium BCE 

Ecuador; Valdivia 

Ceramic
3 1/2 inches 

Female Figure, end of 3rd millennium BCE

Ecuador; Valdivia

Ceramic 

4 5/8 inches 

Late Initial Period 

Ceramic 

Frieze at Garagay 

Anthropomorphic imagery 

"South America, 8000–2000 B.C.". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=02®ion=sa (October 2000)
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/september-2011/article/ancient-peru-the-origins-of-culture

Andes from 10,000 BCE

During this time South America was composed of present day Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
 http://www.skimountaineer.com/ROF/SoAm/NorAndes/NorAndesMap.gif



This map is of the Northern Andes, home to Archaic cultures from around 10000 BCE to 4000 BCE.
Groups of people settled mainly near coastal areas because of the abundance of food; as agriculture became more developed communities spread out in search for arable land.

http://www.skimountaineer.com/ROF/SoAm/SoAndes/SoAndesMap.gif



This is a map of the Central and Southern Andes, home to Archaic cultures between 8000 BCE and 3000 BCE.

Important Events:

• 8000 BCE The presence of plants allowed people to create baskets out of the plant fibers.  The plants are found mainly in the central highlands of Peru in Callejon de Huaylas.  The baskets were made by twisting, looping, and knotting the plants. 
• 5000 BCE A Chilean group- the Chincorro- practice ritual burial and mummification of the dead. 
• 4000 BCE The early Ceramic Period begins with pottery from the lowlands of Colombia located at the Magdalena River Basin. 
• 3500 BCE Llamas and Alpacas are domesticated.

Map of Present Day South America

http://static2.123teachme.com/cms_images/wordsm/map_south_america.gif