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Community, Place, and Identity in Middle Formative Coastal Ecuador: Human Burials at Salango, a Machalilla Phase Fishing Village

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2024

Richard M. Lunniss Open the ORCID record for Richard M. Lunniss [Opens in a new window]  and
Douglas H. Ubelaker
Richard M. Lunniss*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigación, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Portoviejo, Ecuador
Douglas H. Ubelaker
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
*
Corresponding author: Richard M. Lunniss; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Thirty-one individuals buried at Salango, a Machalilla phase fishing village, constitute the only significant Middle Formative funerary assemblage so far recovered for the coast of Ecuador. Our description and discussion of the burials in the context of the nature, location, and history of the settlement and a comparison with preceding coastal Valdivia and contemporary highland Cotocollao funerary practices show that, although they represent a new general tradition, Machalilla burial rituals at Salango reflected specific social conditions and concern with community identity. In particular, the elaborate burial of an adult female not only points to the continuing authority of women in coastal Ecuadorian Formative communities but also expresses the spiritual and economic importance of the sea for Machalilla phase Salango.

Resumen

Resumen

Treinta y un individuos enterrados en la aldea de pescadores de la fase Machalilla en Salango constituyen el único conjunto funerario significativo del Formativo Medio recuperado hasta ahora para la costa ecuatoriana. La descripción y discusión de los entierros a la luz de la naturaleza, ubicación, e historia del asentamiento, y luego la comparación con las prácticas funerarias precedentes de Valdivia en la costa y las contemporáneas de Cotocollao en las tierras altas andinas, muestran que, si bien representaban una nueva tradición general, los rituales funerarios Machalilla de Salango reflejaban condiciones sociales específicas y una preocupación por la identidad comunitaria. En particular, el elaborado entierro de una mujer adulta no solo señala la continua autoridad de las mujeres en las comunidades costeras del Formativo ecuatoriano, sino que también expresa la importancia espiritual y económica del mar para Salango en su fase Machalilla.

Keywords

human burialssea fisherssea turtlesMachalilla phaseEcuadorSalangoentierros humanospescadorestortugas marinasfase MachalillaEcuadorSalango
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , First View , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

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