Interregional Interaction and Craft Production at Las Orquídeas, Imbabura, Ecuador, during the Late Formative (800 - 400 cal BC)
Open Access
- Author:
- Dyrdahl, Eric R
- Graduate Program:
- Anthropology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 12, 2017
- Committee Members:
- Kenneth Gale Hirth, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Kenneth Gale Hirth, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Webster, Committee Member
Sarah Barbara Mcclure, Committee Member
Maureen Feineman, Outside Member
Matthew Bennett Restall, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Archaeology
Ecuador
Late Formative
Craft Production
Interregional Interaction
Gift Economy
Obsidian
Spondylus
Mother-of-Pearl
Anthropology
Latin American Studies
Highlands - Abstract:
- Studies of interregional interaction long have been a focus in Andean archaeology. Our understanding of the nature of these relationships has been limited by the lack of craft production evidence for many of the exotic artifacts found far from their raw material source. The discovery of an intact sequence (800 – 400 cal BC) of refuse deposits at Las Orquídeas, Imbabura, Ecuador, filled with waste from crafting both local and non-local materials provides an unparalleled opportunity to better characterize interregional interaction in the Ecuadorian Late Formative. I argue that a gift economy based in household craft production and down-the-line exchange networks best explains the documented evidence at Las Orquídeas and contemporaneous sites throughout the northern Andes. At Las Orquídeas, refuse from the production of items such as rectangular Spondylus adornments, mother-of-pearl plaques, gold adornments, and stone beads is found alongside dense concentrations of domestic waste. This suggests that craft production on site was conducted in household contexts. Las Orquídeas was a central node in Late Formative exchange networks as demonstrated by the wide array of objects found in excavations. A reconsideration of recent radiocarbon dates suggests that La Tolita on the northern Ecuadorian coast might have been another key center in these systems. Prehispanic populations living between major sites added various products to the networks as coastal and highland items moved through. Examples of these additions would be coca, land snail shells, and cotton. I propose that the reason that the Late Formative population at Las Orquídeas wanted shell raw material (e.g. Spondylus and mother-of-pearl) rather than finished jewelry was to produce geometric adornments for exchange in a north-south network. Beyond this central argument, a number of other topics are considered. A chaîne opératoire analysis of crafting in obsidian, Spondylus, and mother-of-pearl at Las Orquídeas constitutes a major component of this research. I also address the issue of change over time in craft production and interregional interaction within Las Orquídeas as well as the greater northern Ecuadorian highlands. One important discovery is that crafting with non-local raw materials first appears at Las Orquídeas from 550 – 400 cal BC.