Pottery related to unknown culture was found in Ecuador

[Judi Lynn]

NEWS RELEASE 24-JUL-2019
FAR EASTERN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY



This is a shard of an ancient ceramic vessel from the insufficiently studied San Pedro complex found on Real Alto site, Ecuador.

CREDIT
FEFU press office

Archaeologists of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS (Russia), Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) (Ecuador), and Tohoku University (Japan) found shards of ceramic vessels referred to the cultural sediments of early periods of Real Alto site. Findings date back to 4640 - 4460 BC, this period borders with Valdivia, one of the oldest pottery-featured cultures in North and South America. A related article is published in Antiquity.

During the excavations at Real Alto site (Ecuador), Russian scientists found fragments of ceramic vessels at a depth of 75 cm to 1 meter. They belong to the insufficiently studied San Pedro complex. Radiocarbon analysis by mass spectrometer showed the pottery dates back to 4640-4460 BC. This period borders or coincides with the first stages of Valdivia culture, the worldwide famous ceramic figures, a kind of symbol of Ecuador, relates to. At the same time, fragments of San Pedro pottery differ from the Valdivian by decorative composition and way of its application.

The shards of San Pedro pottery correlate with fragments from Real Alto and other places of archaeological excavations retrieved in the 70s and 80s but attributed to no particular culture. Thus, the researchers received additional arguments to speak about new archaeological culture related to formative period. The one existed and developed simultaneously with Valdivia on the Pacific coast of Ecuador.

'The mass emergence of pottery was a kind of technical breakthrough associated with many aspects of human life and the level of economic development in different parts of the globe. Ceramic vessels belonging to different cultures developed simultaneously confirm that our ancestors had evolved in terms of cultural diversity. It is curious that, despite the different vectors of human development, in the technological sense we were moving in the same direction.' Alexander Popov said, Head of the Russian archeological expedition to Ecuador, Director of the Educational and Scientific Museum FEFU of the School of Arts and Humanities of Far Eastern Federal University.

More:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/fefu-prt072419.php