The Valdivia culture is one of the oldest settled
cultures recorded in the Americas. It emerged from
the earlier Las Vegas culture and thrived on the Santa
Elena peninsula near the modern-day town of
Valdivia, Ecuador between 3500 BC and 1500 BC.
Remains of the Valdivia culture were discovered in
1956 on the western coast of Ecuador by the
Ecuadorian archeologist Emilio Estrada, who
continued to study this culture. American
archeologists Clifford Evans and Betty Meggers
joined him in the early 1960s in studying the type-
site.
The Valdivia lived in a community that built its houses
in a circle or oval around a central plaza. They were
believed to have a relatively egalitarian culture of
sedentary people who lived mostly off fishing, though
they did some farming and occasionally hunted for
deer to supplement their diet. From the archeological
remains that have been found, it has been
determined that Valdivians cultivated maize, kidney
beans, squash, cassava, chili peppers and cotton
plants. The latter was processed, spun and woven to
make clothing.
Valdivian pottery, dated to 2700 BC, initially was
rough and practical, but it became splendid, delicate
and large over time. They generally used red and
gray colors, and the polished dark red pottery is
characteristic of the Valdivia period. In their ceramics
and stone works, the Valdivia culture shows a
progression from the most simple to much more
complicated works.
The trademark Valdivia piece is the "Venus" of
Valdivia: feminine ceramic figures. The "Venus" of
Valdivia likely represented actual people, as each
figurine is individual and unique, as expressed in the
hairstyles. The figures were made joining two rolls of
clay, leaving the lower portion separated as legs and
making the body and head from the top portion. The
arms were usually very short, and in most cases were
bent towards the chest, holding the breasts or under
the chin.
- (PH.0219)
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