THESIS CERAMIC ANALYSIS OF THE TABUCHILA COMPLEX OF THE JAMA RIVER VALLEY, MANABÍ, ECUADOR Submitted by Corey A. Herrmann Department of Anthropology In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Fall 2016 Master’s Committee: Advisor: Mary Van Buren Co-Advisor: James Zeidler Christopher Fisher Catherine DiCesare Copyright by Corey Alexander Herrmann 2016 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT CERAMIC ANALYSIS OF THE TABUCHILA COMPLEX OF THE JAMA RIVER VALLEY, MANABÍ, ECUADOR Archaeological excavations by the Proyecto Arqueológico-Paleoetnobotánico Río Jama (PAPRJ) in the Jama River Valley of northern Manabí, Ecuador, have established a cultural chronology spanning over three millennia of prehispanic occupation. One of these occupations, the Tabuchila Complex of the Late Formative Period (1000 – 500 BCE), remains poorly understood. Excavations at three sites in the Jama Valley in the 1990s recovered ceramic, lithic, obsidian, paleobotanical, archaeofaunal, and human skeletal remains from Late Formative Tabuchila contexts, with the goal of orienting Late Formative occupation of the northern Manabí region to its contemporaries in western lowland Ecuador. This study employs modal ceramic analysis to recognize and catalogue formal and stylistic variation within the recovered Tabuchila ceramic assemblage. Through this analysis the Tabuchila assemblage is compared to other studies of Late Formative Chorrera assemblages to understand how Tabuchila represented a regional variant of and contributor to the formation of the Chorrera ceramic tradition. In addition, a sovereignty-based theoretical approach explores how this ceramic assemblage reflects deeper processes of emergent social complexity and early attempts at establishing inequality in northern Manabí’s regional mound center of San Isidro. Results and discussions of the analysis examine a community connected with its Middle and Late Formative contemporaries across the western lowlands and engaged in feasting activity in the vicinity of the central mound of San Isidro. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: A SOVEREIGN ARCHAEOLOGY OF LATE FORMATIVE ECUADOR ...... 11 CHAPTER 3: PAST EXPLORATIONS OF CHORRERA CERAMIC CULTURE ................... 29 CHAPTER 4: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS IN THE JAMA VALLEY, MANABÍ 54 CHAPTER 5: MODAL ANALYSIS OF LATE FORMATIVE CERAMICS OF THE JAMA RIVER VALLEY.......................................................................................................................... 72 CHAPTER 6: RESULTS OF MODAL ANALYSIS OF THE JAMA VALLEY TABUCHILA ASSEMBLAGE ............................................................................................................................ 88 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................. 147 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 163 APPENDIX A: EXCAVATION REPORTS FROM THE JAMA RIVER VALLEY ............... 175 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. Major periods in prehispanic Ecuador as established by Estrada (1957) and Meggers (1966), and general cultural chronology of regions of the western lowlands. After Zeidler and Pearsall 1994: Figure 1.2. ............................................................................................................. 32 Table 4.1. Radiocarbon dates from Late Formative sites in the Jama Valley region of northern Manabí. All dates from Zeidler, Buck and Litton 1998. ............................................................... 63 Table 5.1. Diagrams of rim modes and lip modes in the Jama Valley Tabuchila assemblage. ... 82 Table 5.2. Diagrams of shoulder modes and base modes in the Jama Valley Tabuchila assemblage. ................................................................................................................................... 83 Table 5.3. Diagram of decorative motifs in the Jama Valley Tabuchila assemblage. ................. 87 Table 6.1. Diagram of modal combinations which characterize the variability of the Jama Valley Tabuchila assemblage. .................................................................................................................. 89 Table 6.2. Design statements reconstructed in the Tabuchila Complex. ................................... 137 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Map of Ecuador, with sites discussed in text labeled. ................................................. 3 Figure 4.1. Map of San Isidro, with 1981-1983 season units labeled. Reprinted from Zeidler 1994............................................................................................................................................... 56 Figure 4.2. Profile drawing of Unit XII/C, establishing site stratigraphy. Reprinted from Zeidler 1994............................................................................................................................................... 57 Figure 4.3. Excavation units of the PAPRJ at M3D2-001, San Isidro. Reprinted from Zeidler 1994............................................................................................................................................... 60 Figure 4.4. Ceramic vessels found at M3D2-001, San Isidro. Reprinted from Zeidler and Sutliff 1994............................................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 4.5. Late Formative sites identified in the course of survey in the Jama River Valley. Reprinted from Zeidler and Isaacson 2003. .................................................................................. 65 Figure 6.1. Three examples of Vessel Form #1. Drawing by Evan Engwall. .............................. 91 Figure 6.2. Photos of two representative sherds of Vessel Form #1. Photos by author............... 92 Figure 6.3. Vessel Form #1 sherd with uncommon “piecrust” scalloped/nicked rim treatment. Photo by author. ............................................................................................................................ 93 Figure 6.4. Drawing of two examples of Vessel Form #2. Drawing by author. .......................... 95 Figure 6.5. Profile and bottom views of polipod plate sherd from El Mocoral. Photos by author. ....................................................................................................................................................... 96 Figure 6.6. Complete polipod plate from a private collection in San Isidro. Photo by author. ... 97 v Figure 6.7. Two photos of orejeras from Dos Caminos (outside and inside). First row: Context 47. Second row: Context 50. Third row: C48 (left three) and C52 (right three). Photos by author. ....................................................................................................................................................... 99 Figure 6.8. Drawing of three examples of orejeras, showing both conical and hyperbolic contours. Drawing by author....................................................................................................... 100 Figure 6.9. Photo of paired flat-walled cups, from a private collection in San Isidro. Photo by author. ......................................................................................................................................... 101 Figure 6.10. Drawing of two representative inflected open bowls. Drawing by Corrie Herrmann. ..................................................................................................................................................... 102 Figure 6.11. Two photos of open inflected bowl sherds. Photos by author. .............................. 103 Figure 6.12. Photo of exterior surface of annular base with body inflection present. Photo by author. ......................................................................................................................................... 104 Figure 6.13. Top and near-profile views of a complete example of Vessel Form #6, from a private collection in San Isidro. Photos by author. ..................................................................... 105 Figure 6.14. Drawing of two examples of Vessel Form #6. Drawing by author. ...................... 106 Figure 6.15. Photo of sherd representing Vessel Form #6, with marked similarities to complete example from Figure 6.13. Photo by author. .............................................................................. 107 Figure 6.16. Photo of Vessel Form #6 sherd with some similarity to Machalilla forms and decoration. Photo by author. ....................................................................................................... 107 Figure 6.17. Drawing of simple closed bowl from Finca Cueva. Drawing by author. .............. 109 Figure 6.18. Photo of simple closed bowl with extensive exterior gouging, creating a scaly appearance. Photo