WARES OF KNOWLEDGE AND HISTORY: SOCIAL INTER-REGIONAL INTERACTION IN THE JUBONES RIVER BASIN, ECUADOR (CA. 1,000 BCE) By MIRIAM EDITH DOMINGUEZ A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 © 2017 Miriam Edith Domínguez To Jacob ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation has come to fruition thanks to several individuals and organizations. I must first thank my adviser, Neill Wallis, who took me on as a student even though we have different geographic areas of specialization and guided me through the process of fieldwork and dissertation writing. This work has taken form thanks to Neill‘s advice and assurance. For this and Neill‘s generosity and collegiality I thank him. I am also indebted to my committee members, Ken Sassaman, Michael Moseley and Mark Brenner who guided me through this process with enthusiasm, encouragement and useful critique. I am, however, responsible for any errors or omissions in this work. In Uzhcurrumi, Ecuador, I enjoyed the trust, friendship and assistance of the owners of Potrero Mendieta, Doña Rosa Chávez and her son Luis Mendieta. The fieldwork was carried out with the help of Marco Asanza and Manuel Sánchez who shared with me shoulder to shoulder the joys and travails of the field investigation. Joel Sánchez was instrumental in the identification of the site and I am grateful to him and to his mother, Doña Barbarita Velepucha, who lodged us during our time in Uzhcurrumi. I must also acknowledge the moral support throughout the field seasons at Potero Mendieta provided by the Uzhcurrumi‘s town council ―La Junta Parroquial.‖ The permit to perform these investigations was granted by the Institute of Cultural Patrimony, Region 7; archaeologist Cecivel Abril inspected these investigations and visited the site the field seasons of 2014 and 2015. After fieldwork, the petrographic analysis of a sample of the ceramics was performed by Ann Cordell, from the Florida Museum of Natural History. I am grateful to Ann for her generosity with her expertise and tremendous patience throughout the process. Ryan Morini, from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at UF, provided insightful commentary and discussion on the theoretical portion of this research. Michael Perfit and John Jaeger from the 4 Department of Geological Sciences at UF helped me by identifying the volcanic tephra from the deposits after the first field season, and Dr. Perfit also provided advice during the petrographic analyses. I also thank Will Gilstrap, formerly at MURR, for his work with the NAA analysis. I want to heartily thank the individuals who have helped me one way or another to manage the hurdles of this process, especially Larry Burton from Burton Instruments, Juanita Bagnall from the Department of Anthropology at UF, and in the Jubones my friends Doña Matilde Serrano, Don Honorio Ordoñez and Doña Graciela Sánchez. Also, at the University of Florida, I have been encouraged and revitalized by the friendship of my colleagues Ryan Morini, Ashley Sharpe, Andrea Palmiotto and Michelle Eusebio. My parents and mother-in-law have seen me through my academic career and have been as supportive and patient as they can be. My mother, Miriam Seminario, has continuously supported my efforts and even helped fund five of the six AMS dates. Finally, I thank my husband, Jacob Lawson who has not only provided support at the home front, but shared with me the investigations in the Jubones and the fieldwork in Potrero Mendieta. Jacob, who is not a professional archaeologist, involved himself with the totality of this project, from the logistics of the field to the discussions on the research design. I am humbled by his intellectual and practical input in all this – to him, I dedicate this work, with love and gratitude. The investigations of Potrero Mendieta were partially funded by the Center for Latin American Studies Tinker Foundation Research Grant, the Paul and Polly Doughty Research Award from the Anthropology Department at UF, the MURR subsidy program sponsored by NSF grant #1415403, and personal funds. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................9 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................11 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................15 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................17 The Elusive Modes of Interaction and Mobility in the Andes ................................................18 Organization of the Dissertation .............................................................................................20 From Field Research to Interpretation ....................................................................................22 2 REGIONAL BACKGROUND ...............................................................................................23 Forming the Ecuadorian Formative ........................................................................................23 The Southern Ecuadorian Highlands ...............................................................................27 The Central and Southern Ecuadorian Coast ...................................................................40 The Northern Ecuadorian Andes .....................................................................................47 The Amazonian Piedmont ...............................................................................................48 The Social Emergence of the Physical World ........................................................................55 The Physical World in Time ...................................................................................................59 Geological Setting of the Jubones River Basin ......................................................................66 The Jubones Basin During the Formative ..............................................................................68 3 SITE DESCRIPTION AND FIELD REPORT .......................................................................70 The Site ...................................................................................................................................70 Disambiguation of the Archaeology of the Jubones River Basin ...........................................72 The Fieldwork .........................................................................................................................77 Identification and Preservation State of the Site .............................................................77 Team of Investigators ......................................................................................................79 Mapping of the site ..........................................................................................................80 Layout of the Architectural Complex ..............................................................................80 Archaeological Excavations ............................................................................................84 Structure 1 .......................................................................................................................89 Structure 2 .......................................................................................................................94 Structure 3 .....................................................................................................................103 Trench BF -71, BF -72: The Pavement ........................................................................109 Sector BQ -51; BR -51; BQ -52; BR -52 ......................................................................113 STP 10: The Reservoir ..................................................................................................116 6 Test Unit FX 83 .............................................................................................................119 STP 11: Unit αH 1 .........................................................................................................119 Dating of the Site ..................................................................................................................121 Samples ..........................................................................................................................121 Interpretation of the Results ..........................................................................................121 Artifacts Overview ................................................................................................................124 The Construction Practices at Potrero Mendieta ..................................................................132 Notes .....................................................................................................................................133 4 SOCIAL INTERACTION AND GEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE: AN APPLICATION OF CERAMIC PETROGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE WARES AND CLAYS FROM THE POTRERO MENDIETA SITE (~1,000 BCE) ................................................134 Petrographic Analysis