Stothert, K.E., 1985 PDF

Society for American Archaeology
The Preceramic Las Vegas Culture of Coastal Ecuador

Author(s): Karen E. Stothert
Source: American Antiquity, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Jul., 1985), pp. 613-637
Published by: Society for American Archaeology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/280325 .
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THE PRECERAMIC LAS VEGAS CULTURE OF COASTAL ECUADOR

Karen E. Stothert
This article begins with a description of excavations in the Las Vegas type site on the Santa Elena Peninsula,
Ecuador. A pre-Las Vegas phase (11,000 to 10,000 B.P.) is defined provisionally, and the Early Las Vegas
(10,000 to 8000 B.P.) and Late Las Vegas (8000 to 6600 B.P.) phases are described from artifacts, burials,
settlement data, faunal remains, pollen, and phytoliths. The Las Vegas people were unspecialized hunters, fishermen, and gatherers living in a littoral zone who added plant cultivation to their subsistence system before 8, 000
years ago. Evidence for bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) and primitive maize (Zea mays L.) was found in the
Las Vegas type site. The differences between the modern, semiarid environment and the environment of the
preceramic period are accounted for without hypothesizing climatic change. Las Vegas is interpreted as a local
manifestation of an early tropical forest cultural tradition out of which developed the ceramic-stage cultures of
the Ecuadorian coast.
The Las Vegas culture is known from 31 sites, located on the Santa Elena Peninsula of south
coastal Ecuador (Figure 1), which were occupied between 10,000 and 6600 B.P. The Las Vegas
people were comprehensive hunters, gatherers, and primitive farmers whose cultural affiliation was
with preceramic groups distributed primarily along the coasts of western Panama, Colombia, and
northern Peru. Las Vegas culture represents an early, sedentary adjustment to an ecologically complex
coastal environment, and is another example of an early post-Pleistocene sedentary adaptation to
environments with high biotic potential (see also Niederberger 1979).
In this report Las Vegas is interpreted as a local variant of early Tropical Forest culture (Lathrap
1970; Ranere 1980), and a likely antecedent for the ceramic-stage Valdivia culture. The Las Vegas
evidence has permitted the first detailed reconstruction of a preceramic culture in Ecuador. It is
particularly important that the Vegas finds include the largest group of human skeletons of such
great antiquity in the New World, and evidence that bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) and primitive
maize (Zea mays L.) were utilized by these preceramic people as early as 8000 B.P.
This research also has some implications for the ongoing controversy over the impact of climate
change on the prehistoric peoples of southwestern Ecuador. The evidence indicates that the Vegas
period climatic patterns were very similar to modern ones, and the differences between the Vegas
paleo-environment and the modern desert environment are accounted for without a hypothesis of
climate change.
Las Vegas was defined originally by Lanning (1967), but this description and interpretation is
based on my research carried out between 1977 and 1982. This article summarizes the excavation
of the Vegas type site (OGSE-80), and treats the analysis and interpretation of Las Vegas floral and
faunal remains, artifacts, burial and settlement patterns, paleo-environment, and culture history.
SITE OGSE-80
The Excavations
Site 80 (2?13'S; 80?52'W) is located near the western tip of the Santa Elena Peninsula, about 4
km from the modern beaches of Santa Elena Bay. The site lies about 33 m above sea level on a
Karen E. Stothert, Division of Behavioral and Cultural Sciences, University of Texas at San Antonio, San
Antonio, TX 78285 and Museo Antropol6gico, Banco Central del Ecuador, Guayaquil, Ecuador
American Antiquity, 50(3), 1985, pp. 613-637.
Copyright ?) 1985 by the Society for American Archaeology
613

[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]
AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
614
COLOMBIA
VALD I VI A
ECUADOR
PALMAR
a 1d
20
a30r
km
i
ara
th dark ms1
Figure 1. Map of southwestern Guayas Province, Ecuador, showing the Santa Elena Peninsula, the modern
towns, and the major river systems.
depth.~~~~~~~~
small hill near the origin of the seasonal Las Vegas River (Figure 2). Erosion has reduced the extent
the
300
of the site from perhaps 13,000 M2 of midden to about 2,250 M2 of which about m3hou
deepest deposits have been excavated (Figure 3). Whilere e cultural deposits in sandy soil reached
i to1n 0 cm in
a depth of 300 cm in a restricted area, the dark midden deposits ranged from1d0
depth.
This dark midden is gray in color, homogeneous in texture, and shows no visible stratification
mixed
except for the occurrence of aeolian deposits at the surface and the appearance of shelsoils
with sand just above sterile (Figure 4). Ancient pattens of habitation, rubbish disposal, and burial
obscured both living floors and activity areas, and resulted in a nearly homogenized midden with
few preserved features. Probably people continued to build shelters and dig pits throughout the
occupation of the site, but only the earliest features were identified during excavation because they
intruded into the underlying sterile soil. As expected, no evidence for seasonal differences in subsistence was recovered, and no periods of abandonment were obvious in the midden.
The intact midden soil consisted of organic sediments and sand, which contained shell, animal
bone, artifacts, stone manuports, phytoliths, charcoal, and pollen. Large clam shells appeared as
discrete individuals in the walls of the excavations (Figure 4), and the density of these mollusks
was low except on recently eroded ground surfaces. While a few Valdivia and Guangala ceramic
sherds were recovered in superficial contexts, the bulk of the midden at Site 80 was aceramic.
Although not visibly stratified, the radiocarbon dates from Cut F-H/8- 11 (Table 1 and Figures 3

REPORTS
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BAY OF SANTA ELENA
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Figure 2. The western part of the Santa Elena Peninsula showing modern towns (hexagons), the Las Vegas
type site (large dot), other preceramic sites (small dots), the 10 m contour line (dotted lines), hills above 50 m
(broken lines), and intermittent rivers (heavy solid lines).
and 4) are in good stratigraphic order, indicating that the 100 cm of deposit in the northeastern
part of the site accumulated regularly from about 9,500 to 7,000 years ago. Although no living floors
were identified, I did discern a discontinuous shell layer, which I traced across the exposed profiles
of several cuts in the northeastern portion of the site (Figure 4). This marker was not well defined
and it was very disturbed by burial features, but the validity of a stratigraphic discontinuity was
supported by other evidence: the faunal remains from below and above the stratigraphic marker in
Cut F-H/8- 11 showed a change in subsistence between the earlier and later occupations of the site.
Cut F-H/8- 11 also presented evidence of a Vegas shelter. A narrow circular trench was discovered,
which had been excavated to a depth of 10 to 25 cm into hard, sterile sand and back-filled with
midden and sand. The trench would have been suitable for supporting the wall poles of a structure
about 180 cm in diameter. An interruption in the northeast side of the trench (Figure 5) may
correspond to an ancient doorway. Since the wind never blows from the northeast on the peninsula,
but can blow strongly from other directions, it is reasonable to interpret this feature as the wall
trench of a shelter.
Within the postulated wall trench was a pit filled with midden soil; a skeleton was found just
above the base of the midden under the doorway of the shelter. Two meters away, just above sterile
sand, was a hearth (Feature 62) containing animal bone, fire-altered rock and shell that gave an age
of 8,920 ? 120 years: 6970 B.C. (Tx-4460, Table 1). The location of these features, other pits, and

AMERICANANTIQUITY
616
[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]
5m
Figure3. Plan of Site OGSE-80 showingtopographicrelief and excavationsmade between1977 and 1980.
Contourlines show 50 cm intervals.Extent of intact middenis indicatedby stippling.Locationsof Cuts F-H/811, in the east, and B-E/110-113, in the west, are indicatedin black. A gully originatesjust west of the site.
some flat-surfaced artifacts within a few meters of each other at the same stratigraphic level suggested
that when the site was first occupied the people built a shelter, cooked near their doorway, and
excavated storage and refuse pits nearby.
The intact midden contained several concentrations of fire-altered rock at various levels, and two
groups of pits were distinguished in the yellow, sterile stratum beneath the midden. These ranged
from 20 to 65 cm in diameter and contained dark midden soil. One group of pits was associated
with the shelter and living floor described above, and a second group clustered over a similar-sized
area, under leached midden, where there was no other evidence of a living floor.
While much of the site consisted of shallow midden disturbed by many burials, another interesting
area was excavated at the western edge of the site where a meter of leached midden overlay deep
yellow sand that contained some cultural materials and evidence of a fossil gully. Charcoal and
shell from the leached midden and the cultural levels within the yellow sand yielded three radiocarbon
dates (Stratigraphic Series B-H/109-114, Table 1) all earlier than 10,000 years, indicating that this
was the oldest part of the site (Figure 3). The cultural remains were insufficient to permit either a
description of the early occupation or a distinction between the early remains and the preceramic
materials found elsewhere in the site.
Most of the following reconstruction of Las Vegas culture is based on the analysis of the midden
contents without phase distinctions. However, a series of dates, as well as the bulk of the organic
remains analyzed, came from Cut F-H/8- 11 in which two chronologically distinct units have been
recognized and are described below.

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]
AMERICANANTIQUITY
618
Table 1. Radiocarbon Dates from Site OGSE-80.
Provenience of Sample
Stratigraphic Series F-H/8-11
G-H/8-9, 90-95 cm
G-H/9, 95-100 cm
G-H/8-9, 105-110 cm
Feature 62 (J/8, 115-125
cm)
G-H/8, 140 cm
F-H/8-11, 100-140 cm plus
G-H/1-5, 90-100 cmb
Central Midden
SC/9, 100-110 cm
OGSE-80c
OGSE-80c
Burials
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
86d
24d
34e
25Ae
Stratigraphic Series D-H/109-114

CH 111-112, 150-170 cm
D-E 110, 185-205 cm
B-D 112-113, 210-300 cmb
a Only remains of the shellfish
b A composite sample.
Material
Dated
Laboratory
Number
Radiocarbon Age
(years B.P.)
shella
shell
shell
Tx-3313
Tx-3314
Tx-3315
7440 ? 100
7150 ? 70
8170 ? 70
shell
shell
Tx-4460
Tx-3316
8920 ? 120
9550 ? 120
charcoal
I-10,097
8810 ? 395
shell
shell
shell
Tx-3772
L-1042F
L-1042A
9800 ? 100
7600 ? 100
8600 ? 200
bone
bone
bone
bone
Tx-3898
Tx-3413
Tx-3318
Tx-4463
7710
8250
6750
6600
shell
charcoal
charcoal
Tx-4461
Tx-3770
Tx-4706
?
?
?
?
240
120
150
150
10,100 ? 130
10,840 + 410
10,300 + 240
Anadara tuberculosa were dated.
c The sample was excavated by Edward P. Lanning and its exact provenience
is unknown.
d
Primary burial.
e Massive secondary burial.
Summary of Dating
The preceramic occupation of the peninsula was dated on the basis of the radiocarbon determinations listed in Tables 1 and 2. The dates were neither corrected nor calibrated because they were
all older than 6,000 years. Although they may not be translated directly into calendar dates, they
do inspire confidence because (1) they form a relatively coherent series; (2) the assays were made
on three different organic materials (shell, charcoal and human bone); (3) the dating was done by
three different laboratories with substantial agreement in the results; and (4) the dates agreed with
independent stratigraphic interpretations. In Ecuador, Anadara tuberculosa (a mangrove mollusk)
has been used frequently for dating and the resulting determinations have been both internally
consistent and in agreement with assays of other organic materials. Eight dates from the central
part of Site 80 indicated that midden accumulated there from about 9,800 to 7,150 years ago
(Table 1).
On the basis of a stratigraphic break in Cut F-H/8-11 (Figure 3), this occupation was divided
into two phases. The Early Las Vegas phase was defined by the deep strata dated between 9,800
and 8,000 years ago (Tx-3315, Tx-3316, 1-10,097, Tx-3772, L-1042F, L-1042A). The Late Las
Vegas phase was defined on the basis of more superficial deposits and from the burials that intruded
into the early midden. Seven radiocarbon dates spanned the period from 8,250 to 6,600 years ago
(Tx-3313, Tx-3314, Tx-3315, Tx-3989, Tx-3413, Tx-3318, Tx-4463). These were used to date the
Late Las Vegas phase. For convenience this was assigned a beginning date of 8,000 years ago and

619
REPORTS
10
Tu
F
::
..............
;eA.;
Figure 5. The wall trench (Feature63) of a Las Vegas shelter. The stakes do not indicate post holes. The
maze-effect
in the sandy soil was caused by root penetration.
A hearth (Feature
62) is seen in the foreground
and two flat-surfacedartifactsappearin the left foreground.
an ending date of 6,600. No midden deposit corresponded to the end of this period: only burials
testified to human activity at Site 80 after about 7,000 years ago.
The western zone of Site 80, where anomalous deep cultural deposits were discovered, provided
evidence for the earliest occupation of the site. Three dates from the deep excavation did not overlap
the series of dates from the rest of the site, and all of these were earlier than 10,000 years (Tx-446 1,
Tx-3770, and Tx-4706). I have provisionally designated a Pre-Las Vegas occupation dated 1 1,000
to 10,000 years ago.
Faunal Remains
The terrestrial animals identified from bones preserved in the midden were deer (probably Mazama and less frequently Odocoileus),fox (Dusicyonsechurae),rabbit, small rodents, weasel, anteater, squirrel, one peccary, opposum, frog, boa constrictor, indigo snake, parrot, and lizard (Byrd
1976; Chase 198 1; Wing 198 1). These animals were exploited for food. All of the species are common
in, or can invade, semiarid environments, and all are found today within 70 km of Site 80.
The fish in the faunal assemblage were marine species still found in the waters of the peninsula.
Most could be caught in inshore waters, and especially in tidal estuaries, with a baited hook (Byrd
1976). Such species may have been taken with fish poison, which is a traditional technique on the
peninsula. While some of the species in the Vegas assemblage were also found offshore, there was
no evidence to support the idea that the Vegans were skilled in offshore navigation.
The invertebrate assemblage was dominated by conchaprieta (Anadaratuberculosa)which does
not occur in any numbers outside mangrove swamps. Intertidal species and crab were also harvested
in relatively small quantities by the Vegans.

[Vol. 50, No. 3,1985]
AMERICANANTIQUITY
620
Table 2. Radiocarbon Dates from Non-Ceramic Sites on the

Santa Elena Peninsula.
Site
(OGSE- Provenience
of Sample
No.)
202
38A
Cut 2
0-20 cm
Cut 2
0-25 cm
Cut 2
Level 5
Surface
Test pitb
203
213
Surface
Surface
201
78
38B
63
80
Cut 3
20 cm
Range of 13
dates
from central midden
Material
Dated
Radiocarbon
Age
Laboratory
(years B.P.)
Number
Cultural
Affiliation
shella
Tx-3774
9460 ? 100
Vegas
shell
Tx-3775
8600 ? 100
Vegas
shell
Tx-3773
8100 ? 130
Vegas
shell
shell
shell
shell
shell
Tx-3776
L-1042B
L-1042E
Tx-3777
Tx-4485
7780
7250
4800
6900
5830
shell
1-7069
4685 ? 95
shell, charcoal, human bone
6600 to 9800 Vegas
?
?
?
?
?
90
150
150
80
80
Vegas
Vegas
Valdivia?
Vegas
post-Vegas?
Valdivia?
In all cases only remains of the shellfish Anadara tuberculosa were dated.
by Edward P. Lanning in 1964.
bExcavated
Calculations of the caloric value for the minimum number of individuals of each animal species
represented in an excavated sample permitted estimation of the relative contribution of terrestrial
animals, marine fish, and shellfish to the diet of the people of the Late Las Vegas phase (Byrd 1976:
Table 30; Stothert 1981). In this small sample, terrestrial animals accounted for about 54% of the
calories consumed from animal sources, fish contributed about 35% and shellfish about 11%. Fish
is probably underestimated in the calculations because the small bone that passed through the 0.5
cm screen has not been analyzed, and shellfish are over-represented because of the relatively good
preservation of shell. These data indicate that the Las Vegans were broad-spectrum hunters and
gatherers. Since there is little seasonal variation in the availability of fish, shellfish, small animals
or deer on the coast, it is likely that the Vegans enjoyed a constant supply of animal protein.
A comparison of the faunal assemblages from below and above the stratigraphic break in Cut
F-H/8- 11 (Figure 4) showed a subtle evolution of exploitation patterns from the Early to the Late
Las Vegas phase. The earlier people concentrated on land animals, principally deer, while the later
people were slightly more involved in fishing. Similarly, the invertebrate assemblages from the two
distinct stratigraphic units showed that the Early Vegans exploited Anadara tuberculosa more exclusively (81 to 87% of the early assemblages) than did the Late Vegans whose assemblages consisted
of 57 to 70% Anadara t. and up to 43% intertidal species.
Plant Remains
Vegetable fibers were not preserved in the soils of the peninsula, but the outline of the fruit of
bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) was identified in yellow, sandy soil at Site 80 when a dark stain
was sectioned and allowed to dry. This ghost feature appeared in a deep stratum with an age of
10,840 + 410 years: 8890 B.C. (Tx-3770). The overlying midden was also older than 10,000 years
(Tx-446 1, Table 1). On the basis of the dates and the stratigraphy, I concluded that bottle gourd
was utilized as early as 10,000 years ago.
A few pollen grains from the Vegas soil were identified by Robert Kautz (Stothert 1981). The 72

REPORTS
621
grains were assigned to the following plant families, all of which are represented on the peninsula
today: Gramineae, Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae, High Spine Compositae, Nyctaginaceae, Low
Spine Compositae, Bromeliaceae, Malvacea, Campanulaceae, Nymphaeceae and Umbelliferae. These
families include plants common in semiarid environments, although they are not necessarily restricted to such zones, and while they include economic plants such as cotton (Gossypium barbadense
L.) specific identifications could not be made. Two pollen grains were identified as Acacia, a leguminous tree found on the peninsula today, and one grain was identified as Typha or cattail, which
can be found today near Site 80 after heavy rains.
A preliminary examination of the charcoal from Site 80 suggested that some leguminous woods
were being used as fuel (Thomas Steams, personal communication). The identification of Acacia in
the pollen assemblage makes it likely that that tree was exploited for fuel.
The Vegas soil showed a high concentration of phytoliths from the epidermal cells of grass, while
few other kinds of plants were represented (Piperno 1981). Using size criteria designed by Pearsall
(1978, 1979), Piperno initially concluded that the large and extra-large cross-shaped phytoliths
found in both features and stratigraphic levels corresponding to the Late Las Vegas phase were
evidence for maize (Piperno 1981). Piperno (1984) has recently developed morphological criteria
for the separation of maize and wild grass silica: the basis of the distinction is the three-dimensional
structure of the cross-shaped phytoliths. A re-analysis of the Vegas soils (Piperno 1981, addendum
to the main paper) showed that Late Las Vegas excavated soils were characterized by phytolith
three-dimensional morphologies like those of maize, while the pre-8000 B.P. deposits showed
morphologies characteristic of wild grasses. Piperno concluded that we should not rely on the
radiocarbon determination of 8170 B.P. (Table 1) to fix the date of maize introduction on the Santa
Elena Peninsula because a level only 10 cm above provided an assay 1,000 years younger. However,
on the basis of the present evidence, we can say with some confidence that between 7,000 and 8,000
years ago the inhabitants of Site 80 began cultivating a primitive maize.
While an 8000 B.P. date for the presence of maize in Ecuador seems too early to some scholars,
it coincides with the opinions of some botanists (Pickersgill and Heiser 1978) and archaeologists
(Lathrap 1977; Pearsall 1978) who have supported the thesis that there existed an early movement
of a primitive form of maize from its home in Mesoamerica to South America.
In addition to bottle gourd and what could be primitive maize, the Vegans had probably added
other cultivated plants to their subsistence system by 8,000 years ago. Examples might have included
squash, beans, cotton, and root crops. There is no evidence of the wild plants used for food, raw
materials or medicine in Vegas times. One imagines that, like modern hunters and gatherers, the
Vegans depended on wild plants for much of their subsistence even if they did do gardening.
Artifacts
Just as the Vegas subsistence focus was very broad, so the technology was unspecialized. The
problem remains, however, that only a small portion of the material inventory of these preceramic
people was recovered. Bone was well preserved in Vegas sites, but few bone artifacts have been
recovered. These included three finely pointed objects about 2 cm long that may be broken dart
tips or parts of composite fishhooks (Julio Montane, personal communication). An incomplete blunt
object 5 cm long and a broken spatula-shaped bone about the same length may have served as tools
for making nets or textiles.
Mollusk shell was worked into scoops or dishes, beads, tiny closed containers, and other shaped
objects. Some tiny univalves and conch shells may have served as whistles and trumpets. Some
large conch shells found with burials were perforated and probably hafted for use as digging tools.
Quantities of red and yellow ocher and some black pigments were processed at Site 80, and
diatomaceous earth, a fine abrasive, apparently had industrial applications there. Pieces of low-fired
clay showing the impressions of small twigs and grass were found in the midden and were interpreted
as burned daub from shelters that were constructed of plant materials and mud.
The rest of the tool kit consisted of lithic objects. Chert flakes and chunks abounded in Vegas
sites and no doubt served for preparing food and for making other tools and equipment from wood,

622
AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]
Figure 6. A flattened quartzite pebble with edge-grindingalong one side and two ends. Early Las Vegas
phase.
bamboo, reeds, 'and bark. About 5% of the chert flakes over 1 cm long showed some edge retouch
designed to regularize short segments of edge or to change the angle of the cutting edge. No definable
formal types were produced in this fashion. The flaked chert assemblage included no bifacially
worked artifacts and stone projectile points were absent.
Natural,5 water-worn quartzite pebbles or cobbles showing only minor modification due to use
were common in the Vegas refuse. These were used as percussors in knapping chert and in battering
durable materials. Some served as anvils and others showed distinct edge-grinding (Figure 6). Similar
edge wear has been identified on artifacts all over America, particularly at early coastal sites in
Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama. These tools probably served for processing plant matter (Ranere
1976).
Two ground stone axes and one flaked axe were recovered at Site 80 and a single flake from a
polished stone artifact was found deep in the midden. The smaller ground stone axe (Figure 7) was
found in association with a Vegas burial and is likely to be of Late Las Vegas age. It is not similar
to later axes from the peninsula. The other two artifacts are similar to some from later, ceramic
cultures, and they are likely to be intrusive in the preceramic midden. Several pebbles with smooth
bevels were found at Site 80; they might have been used for polishing stone axes (Cooke 1977).
Several flat-surfaced, circular stone artifacts were recovered, ranging from 10 to 14 cm in diameter.
Although these did not show heavy wear patterns, they probably served to grind small amounts of
food, drugs, or pigments. The largest of these artifacts was found apparently stored within a pit
excavated into sterile soil beneath deep Vegas midden.
Some Vegas containers were fashioned from shell, and bottle gourds may have been used as
receptacles also. A few burial bundles were so neatly rectangular in outline that the bones must
have been arranged in boxes or baskets.

REPORTS
._
623
.~~~~~J-
Figure 7. Polished andesite axe with a peckedwaist foundin associationwith a Late Las Vegas burial.
This material inventory gives the impression of a rather impoverished technology. The impression
may be false however, because of the lack of evidence for structures, equipment, containers, art
works, and textiles made of vegetable materials. Furthermore the evidence for possible technological
change was also weak since the artifact samples were so small.
SETTLEMENT PATTERN
Lanning and Stothert discovered 31 nonceramic sites on the western peninsula that were assigned
to the Las Vegas complex. Although erosion and construction destroyed some perceramic sites, it
is unlikely that any have been submerged, since tectonic uplift has more than kept pace with marine
emergence since the end of the Pleistocene. Although extensive survey was conducted in several
zones further east, aceramic sites were not identified there. Preceramic people may have inhabited
the inland zone, but the absence of shell would make the inland sites difficult to identify.
The known sites were reduced in size by erosion. Today they consist of midden and surface scatter

624
AMERICANANTIQUITY
[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]
covering areas ranging from 50 m2 to about 400 M2. None of the sites was a shell midden, although
some shell was present in all cases. Small excavations (from 2 m2 to 10 m2) were made in 12 of
these.
Table 2 presents radiocarbon dates from eight nonceramic sites. Six of the sites had dates that
ranged from 6900 to 9460 B.P., effectively spanning the Early and Late Las Vegas periods. Only
one site, OGSE-213, which was a surface scatter of artifacts and shell, produced a date that fell in
the post-Las Vegas period. Another late date indicated that some of the midden at Site 38A accumulated in the Valdivia period. Site 63, originally assigned to the Achallan complex, which is
now in doubt (Stothert 1983), yielded a late date, which also implied a ceramic-stage occupation.
Sixteen securely identified Las Vegas sites were located more than 10 m above modem sea level,
usually on small hilltops overlooking either the bay, the estuary of the Rio Grande, or the hills and
ravines of the upper Las Vegas River (Figure 2). When the less-confidently defined Las Vegas sites
were added to the sample, their geographical distribution followed the same pattern. There was a
maximum distance of 6 km between any two sites, and all were located relatively close to all the
resource areas of the western peninsula.
A comparison among these sites, including Site 80, showed that a wide variety of animals was
exploited at each, and the evidence did not support a hypothesis of economic or seasonal variation
among the sites. Nor did the lithic inventories suggest specialization in the activities at any site.
The evidence does not support Lanning's idea that these sites represented the coastal and inland
settlements of a group of people that moved seasonally (Lanning 1967; Willey 1971). There were
no economic differences among the sites, and the distances between them were very small. Lanning's
interpretation rested on the lack of shell in the surface sites south and east of Santa Elena (Figure
2). While he attributed this to economic differences, I believe that it was the result of erosion, which
left only lithic artifacts scattered on the denuded surface after the rest of the midden, including
shells, had washed into the ravines.
HUMAN PHYSICAL REMAINS
Ubelaker (1980) studied the remains of at least 192 individuals who, based on the radiocarbon
ages of four skeletons (Table 1), died in the Late Las Vegas period between 8250 and 6600 B.P.
This is the largest group of skeletons of such great age reported in the New World.
Ubelaker concluded that the "Demographic and pathological inferences from the [Las Vegas]
sample generally match with those expected from a pre-intensive-agricultural population" (1980:
23). Ubelaker compared Las Vegas samples with later samples from Ecuador and noted that the
Vegas people did not suffer from the deleterious effects of intensive agriculture, and that no examples
of porotic hyperostosis were found in the Vegas population, whereas bones from both the late Ayalan
site and from the Buena Vista Valdivia site did show such lesions as may result from vitamin
deficiency anemia related to dietary dependence on maize (Ubelaker 1980:23).
BURIAL PATTERNS
Analysis of the burial patterns was based on 65 burial features containing at least 192 individuals.
Supplementary data came from 22 additional burials from which the skeletal material was not
analyzed. The sample contained 122 adults and 70 subadults, with a relatively even representation
of males (55) and females (63).
The Las Vegas burial practices included the primary burial of one or two individuals, the secondary
burial of bone material in irregular or regular bundles, and the secondary burial of large numbers
of disarticulated skeletons in ossuaries. On the basis of stratigraphy and radiocarbon ages (Table
1), the burials were assigned to the Late Las Vegas phase.
Primary Burial
Single skeletons were often found flexed and resting on their sides in deep midden just above
sterile ground. The degree of flexion and the position of the feet of some skeletons indicated that

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625
the bodies had been wrapped or stuffed into small pits. The actual pit was identified in only one
case where it had been excavated into sterile sand and filled with soil of contrasting color. In this
feature two adults of undetermined gender were arranged in a round hole just large enough to
accommodate their flexed bodies, which were oriented in opposite directions. Most burials were
removed from the midden where they were unassociated with other features. One exception was
the skeleton of a female over 45 years old found beneath the doorway of the Vegas shelter described
above.
Most individuals were buried lying on their right or left sides, with the right side being about 1.5
times more popular than the left side. There were no differences between males and females with
respect to burial position, but subadults were found more frequently flexed on their left sides. An
analysis of the orientation of 34 single, primary burials showed that males tended to be buried with
their heads toward the west or southwest (75% of a sample of 8), while females (a sample of 17)
were oriented in all directions without preference. The male pattern contrasted with that of the
subadult population in which only 11% (one individual out of nine) were oriented toward the west.
Of the 26 primary, single burials of known gender, only eight were male (33%) and 18 (66%) were
female. Since the overall sex ratio at the site was near equality, this sexual imbalance in the primary
burials indicates that females and males were given different treatment: females apparently received
or remained in primary burials more frequently than males. Males may have been exhumed and
kept elsewhere more often than females.
Two primary burials contained pairs of individuals. One such feature was described above, and
the other consisted of a male and a female, both in their early twenties (Douglas H. Ubelaker,
personal communication 1978), who were buried at about the same time. Both skeletons were
oriented east, which is unusual for a male, and six large stones were arranged on top of the two.
Stones were also found on top of an infant burial. Some tropical forest people place heavy objects
on top of burials to protect the deceased from evil (Nimuendaju 1948:292), and large stones have
also been found in top of subadult skeletons in preceramic sites in Peru (for example, Castro de la
Mata and Bonavia 1980:515).
Small Secondary Burial
The small secondary burials were the results of the reburial of bones without flesh, and these
contained the fragmentary or relatively complete remains of one or more adults or subadults.
These secondary burials were found in deep midden, in shallow contexts, and in association with
primary burials. Some had very rectangular forms, indicating that the bones were arranged originally
in perishable containers (Figure 8), and others took the shape of irregular piles of bones. Isolated
skulls, clavicles and innominate bones may have been separated intentionally from other skeletal
material, manipulated, and given secondary burial. However, the bones represented in the assemblage as a whole do not show a clear pattern of cultural selection (Ubelaker 1980:15).
Massive Secondary Burial
Four massive secondary burials (ossuaries) were excavated near the center of the site (Figure 9).
These were round in outline, ranging from 1 to 2 m in diameter and resting on a few centimeters
of refuse just above sterile sand. Probably the bones were heaped into pits to a depth of 30 to 50
cm, and then the holes were back filled. However, the size and shape of the largest ossuaries recall
the plan of the hypothesized Vegas structure. This similarity suggests the possibility that these burials
were made in shelter.
One of the ossuaries, Feature 25A, contained the partial remains of at least 17 adults and 21
subadults. Within the feature were distinct groups of bones that may have been stacked in perishable
containers. In one such arrangement, all the skulls were oriented facing east. Two articulated subadults (8 and 9 years old) were interred within the bone pile, a partially articulated adult male also
was found among the bones, and another subadult was articulated and buried immediately beneath
the ossuary. In all of the massive burials adult males and females are about equally represented.

[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]
AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
626
wWi
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REPORTS
2V
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Figure 9. Detail of part of the excavations at Site 80 showing the distribution of burials in the midden and
the location of Cut F-H/8-1 1 (the corresponding grid squares are marked). Unexcavated and disturbed areas are
stippled. Feature 63, the wall trench of a Las Vegas shelter, is shown by broken lines.
Burial Associations
Few mortuary offerings were preserved and, in the case of primary burials, it was difficult to
separate offerings from accidentally associated items since the fill of the burial pits could not be
distinguished from the surrounding midden. Primary burials had the foll'owing clear associations:
neatly rectangular secondary bone bundles, two containing defleshed bones and one containing
cremated bones; shell spoons; perforated conch shells; a polished stone axe head; a compact pile of
soft limestone balls or marbles; traces of red pigment; cobbles and cobble percussors; flat pebbles,
round in outline; small white pebbles; groups of mollusk shells, sometimes forming a pillow or nest
for the deceased; and lithic flakes.
Because the sample of primary burials is small, it is not possible to argue for sex or age differences
in the distribution
of grave
goods.
However,
females
(74%
of 19 burials)
and subadults
(78%
of 9
burials) were more likely to have durable offerings than males (only 56% of 9 burials).
The small secondary burials did not have apparent associations, but the massive secondary burials
contained small pebbles rubbed with red pigment; a pair of immature tun shells (Malea ringens)
perforated as if to make small containers; a shell charm; the canine tooth of a peccary; a group of
fox teeth; cut shell receptacle or spoon; flat-surfaced stone resembling a grinding stone; and shaped
and modified pebble tools. A compact group of 25 colored beach pebbles also was interred intentionally in the bottom of one ossuary before the bones were heaped on.

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]
Summary of Burial Practices

The variety of burials recovered suggests that the Vegans disposed of their dead in a complex
manner. Probably single, primary burial was the normal first step in the disposition of the deceased.
Later the bones were exhumed, manipulated in various ways, and reinterred in one of several
manners. Of the 192 individuals identified in the burial features studied, 157 received secondary
burial. Since all categories of individuals were represented in the secondary burials, it can be
concluded that manipulation of the defleshed skeletons was part of the mortuary treatment for all
segments of the society.
It seems likely that the dead were exhumed systematically for ritual purposes, but the evidence
offers only hints about the magico-religious ceremonies that may have been involved.
Comparison of Burial Practices
A review of ethnographic burial practices in Central and South America showed a great array of
customs and divergent practices within the same ethnic group and among distinct ethnic groups
(Lowie 1948:38). Primary inhumation in the flexed position was widespread, showing continuity
with the archaeological past. Also the ethnographic record showed that the practice of the manipulation of defleshed bones was widespread. Bones were variously exposed or temporarily interred,
then exhumed and scraped, bundled, dyed, burned, pulverized, drunk with chicha, re-buried in
urns, kept in baskets, hung in houses, carried around by widows, reinterred together, or separated,
in which case the skull was buried or retained apart from the rest.
The Vegas burials were similar to those recovered at Valdivia sites (Klepinger 1979; Lathrap et
al. 1977:9-10; Meggers et al. 1965:19-20). Both peoples practiced primary and secondary burial
and in neither case were abundant grave goods buried with the primary, flexed skeletons-although
polished stone axes were used occasionally as offerings in both cultures. It is particularly noteworthy,
however, that at Real Alto, a Valdivia site near Chanduy (Figure 1), and at Site 80, an adult female
was interred under the threshold of an east-facing circular structure.
The Vegas burial customs were similar to those reconstructed from the early site of Cerro Mangote,
Panama. Both sites had primary and secondary burials, but it is more significant that the neatly
arranged bundles of bones occur in identical form at Site 80 and at Cerro Mangote. McGimsey's
description of one of these bundles perfectly fits the example from Site 80 (Figure 8):
The skull was placed at one end of the rectangle, the pelvis at the opposite end, and the long bones along the
two remaining sides. The small bones were placed in the center and the ribs arranged on top extending from
the margins of the rectangle to, and interdigitating along, the major axis of the bundle [McGimsey et al. 1966:
11].
This form of bundle was sufficiently complex and specific that it was not likely to have been
invented by both groups independently. Hence it provides evidence for the relationship between
the peoples who lived at the two sites. The date from the midden at Cerro Mangote was 6800 B.P.,
just overlapping the youngest Vegas dates.
There was very little information on burial practices of other peoples in this early period, but
there is greater similarity between the burial practices evinced at Cerro Mangote and Site 80 than
between either of them and early burial practices in Peru. The secondary burial of disarticulated
bones was not as important in Peruvian sites, while it made up an important aspect of burial at
Cerro Mangote, Real Alto, and Site 80. Since the burial patterns in these early sites in Ecuador and
Panama are most similar to those of ethnographically known people of the tropical forest areas of
Central and South America, I interpret these patterns as part of an early tropical forest tradition
that has persisted in northwestern South America since before 8000 B.P.
THE ENVIRONMENT
In the following section, evidence for the reconstruction of the Las Vegas paleo-environment is
discussed in detail in order to support the argument that the environmental conditions in the early
post-Pleistocene period were similar to today's when the recent effects of deforestation are taken

REPORTS
629
into account. By rejecting any hypothesis of climate change, such as those suggested to explain other
patterns in the ceramic-period archaeology of the peninsula, then the Vegas adaptation can be
described within the familiar context of an environment not very different from the one observed
today.
Modern Conditions
The peninsula, defined as the land west of a line drawn from Playas to Valdivia (Figure 1), is
geologically new and consists of recently uplifted marine terraces. It lies in the tropics, in a zone of
abrupt transition between the dry regions to the south and areas of heavy rainfall to the north and
east. The western part of the peninsula is arid, getting about 250 mm of precipitation in most years,
and characterized by cactus scrub vegetation. Moving east, one encounters a quick succession of
zones ranging from semiarid to savanna to sub-humid. The normal vegetation and animal populations also change as one moves across this transition.
An important feature of the peninsula's climate is the seasonal variation in precipitation, with a
long dry season and a pattern of winter rainfall (January to April). A second salient feature is the
periodic but irregular occurrence of the El Nifio phenomenon, which brings especially heavy rains
and "anos de abundancia" (years of abundance) (Sheppard 1933). While the rains of El Nifio may
destroy roads, nonindustrialized fishing on the peninsula is not seriously interrupted and agricultural
production is greatly enhanced by the increased rainfall.
Earlier in this century, the peninsula was the home of farmers who located their gardens in low
areas where moisture was available after even light winter rains. Even in dry years, trees and shrubs
were exploited as fuel and raw material. However, in the last 50 years all of the large, native trees
adapted to semiarid conditions have been cut for domestic and industrial purposes. The results of
deforestation are well known: lowered water table, higher evaporation rates, soil erosion, and desert
conditions. The apparent aridity of the peninsula today is the result of human depredation, and the
occasional heavy rains are not capable of restoring the stable, mature vegetation of the recent past.
Until about 40 years ago mangrove vegetation persisted in the small estuaries of the western
peninsula. The critical conditions for the existence of a mangrove swamp are: a favorable minimum
air temperature, favorable ocean currents, protection from wave and tidal action, shallow shores,
salt water, favorable tidal range, and a favorable mud substrate (Chapman 1975:4-6). Since favorable
air temperatures, ocean currents and salt water still characterize the shores of the peninsula, it seems
reasonable that geomorphological changes that resulted in depriving the mangrove plants of their
other requirements for survival were the primary cause of the reduction of the mangrove stands of
the peninsula (Ferdon 1981; Stothert 1980). By the beginning of this century the lagoons and
estuaries, which offered protected tidal zones that the mangrove plants needed, were being closed
by tectonic uplift. The final destruction of the reduced mangroves was caused by human intervention
such as infilling and road building.
Today areas of low, scrubby mangrove vegetation are found at Palmar, about 28 km north of
Site 80. The river that feeds the estuary is seasonal. The swamp depends on tidal waters, and clams,
oysters, crab, and fish are harvested in the mangrove zone. Such productive environments were
common along the entire coast of the peninsula in this century.
In conclusion, the peninsula appeared more well-watered just a few years ago because the plant
communities were more intact and because mangrove estuaries dotted the coast. While environmental conditions were dramatically different, there is no evidence of climatic change to account
for the changes in the last 50 years. Rather, human intervention has been responsible for the
permanent transformation of the plant and animal communities.
Pleistocene Conditions
Paleontologists working with fossil assemblages less than 25,000 years old from the Santa Elena
Peninsula and the Talara region of northern Peru have concluded that the terrestrial environments
were relatively open grasslands with gallery vegetation along the river courses and standing water
and swamps along the coast (Campbell 1973; Edmund 1965; Lemon and Churcher 1961). Apparently

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seasonal rains were sufficient to maintain a high water table and vegetation along the drainage
courses while a long dry season resulted in savanna conditions in the zone between rivers (Lemon
and Churcher 1961). Compared to today, there may have been greater seasonal rainfall in the Late
Pleistocene because of the more southerly position of the Inter-Tropical Front (Campbell 1973:
5108 as quoted in Richardson 1978). But while the Talara region would have benefitted from greater
runoff from rivers originating in the mountains (Richardson 1978), the peninsula would have
received only local precipitation because the rivers do not originate outside the area itself.
But rainfall is not the only factor that accounts for environments. One of the major differences
between the contemporary and Pleistocene environments of the peninsula is that the land was much
lower with respect to sea level (Edmund 1965; Sheppard 1937). Both eustatic changes in sea level
and tectonic movement have modified the coastal environments significantly. Edmund points out
that the paleontological strata, which formed as swamps and estuaries at or near sea level, are now
located 8 to 20 m above modern sea level (Edmund 1965:4). Although there are no precise dates
for the uplift of the coast of the peninsula, most of the known river estuaries of the Late Pleistocene
are now well above sea level.
In summary, the Late Pleistocene climate had a long dry season and a short wet one resulting in
relatively open grasslands with forest vegetation only along rivers that may not have carried water
all year long. The coastline featured lagoons, bays, and estuaries. The seasonal rainfall was adequate
to maintain the water table and the gallery vegetation, and fresh water may have stood for periods
in the river estuaries. It may not have required a large amount of precipitation to maintain the
reconstructed conditions as long as the primeval plant community was undisturbed by human
activity, and as long as the relationship between the land and the sea was stable.
Direct Evidence for the Las Vegas Environment
The terrestrial vertebrate assemblage from the Las Vegas midden showed only species that could
invade semiarid lands. Today some of these species are most abundant in thorn-scrub environments.
That species such as rabbits prefer woodlands and thickets suggests that the paleo-environment
included heavy vegetation, probably along the river courses. Brocket deer (Mazama sp.) probably
were found in the mangrove swamps, where they are found commonly today. All Las Vegas
fauna still live in neighboring areas, within 70 km of Site 80. This supports the idea that the Las
Vegas environments were similar to those seen today and reconstructed for the recent past. In
addition, absent from the Vegas fauna were species characteristic of moist tropical forests such as
guanta (Cuniculus paca), tapir (Tapirus sp.) and monkey.
The occurrence of abundant grass phytoliths in the Vegas soil supports the view that open savanna
habitats were common in Vegas times, although the grasses represented may have dominated only
the disturbed areas immediately around the habitation site. The absence of palm phytoliths, which
are common in archaeological assemblages in humid, tropical regions, is a good indication that the
environment was sub-humid in Vegas times (D. Piperno, personal communication 1981). The pollen
and charcoal recovered in the midden at Site 80 also support the hypothesis that the paleo-environment was sub-humid (Stothert 1981).
Since Anadara tuberculosa (a mangrove clam) dominated the shellfish assemblages from the Vegas
sites, it is probable that mangrove swamps were common along the shores. The coast must have
been characterized by shallow lagoons or estuaries, or have had outlying sandbars or protective
spits. Certainly a heavy seasonal flow of fresh water out of the rivers would have benefitted the
development of the mangrove swamps, but such flow was not critical to their maintenance. The
remains of fish and shellfish other than Anadara tuberculosa indicated that the resources of the sea,
estuaries, rocks, and sandy beaches of Vegas times were much the same as they are today.
Lack of Climate Change
Some scholars have developed theories of climatic change to elucidate the prehistoric cultural
patterns of the peninsula (Byrd 1976:31-38; Lanning 1967; McDougle 1967; Paulsen 1971; Sarma
1974), however, the detailed evidence that has accumulated for the Vegas and the Valdivia (Pearsall

REPORTS
631
1979) phases indicates the existence of climates very similar to the modem one. It seems likely now
that the basic climate pattern characterized by a long dry season and a short, rainy winter has
persisted on the peninsula since the Pleistocene, and that people developed an adaptation to these
conditions at the end of the Pleistocene.
In the previous sections I have argued that the differences between the Las Vegas environment
and the modem one can be accounted for by the processes of deforestation and geomorphological
change along the coastline without resorting to a hypothesis of climatic change. Further I would
like to suggest that there has been a great deal of continuity between the modem traditional adaptation
of the campesinos of the peninsula and the early prehistoric people, and that climate change, for
which there is very little substantial evidence at this time, had little impact on the cultures of the
peninsula.
LAS VEGAS ADAPTATION
The Las Vegas social groups were small, but the local community probably had relations with
similar peoples across a wider region. Preceramic refuse has been found near Morro (Figure 1) in
the Guayas estuary about 75 km from Site 80 (Spath 1980). The Vegas people were healthy and
their way of life endured with little change for more than 3,000 years. The small size of the Vegas
shelter is evidence that the nuclear family may have been the main unit of production and consumption in Vegas times. Considerable social continuity and stability in the local group was indicated
by the orderly condition of the cemetery at Site 80.
Complex settlement pattern did not evolve in the Vegas period because the same economic
activities could be undertaken conveniently at all the habitation sites. Perhaps families and individuals moved from camp to camp depending upon personal preference rather than upon the strict
constraints of the subsistence system.
Within a 5 km radius of Site 80 were at least 75 km2 of territory, including about 8 km of shoreline
intersected by several small rivers. Before recent uplifting, these rivers had broader estuaries, which
supported mangrove vegetation and other plants and animals. The sand beaches and rocky points
found along the shore today also existed in Vegas times.
The terrestrial zone within a 5 km walk of Site 80 encompassed hills up to 60 m in height.
Grasslands, deciduous forest, and xerophytic vegetation surely were found there in Vegas times.
This zone probably was crossed by seasonal rivers, which had gallery forest growing along their
banks. Today the flood plains of the Tambo and Las Vegas rivers (Figure 2) that were farmed by
people throughout the ceramic period continue to be areas of cultivation. The Las Vegas gardens
may have been there also.
Water, which is today (or was in the recent past) found at springs or in shallow pits excavated
by hand in the dry river bottoms, was probably also accessible locally in Vegas times, even after a
sequence of very dry years. Today the zone within 5 km of Site 80 includes good spots for gathering
shellfish and octopus, and modem artisanal fishermen, operating from the beach and from small
boats without motors, still make a living on the Bay of Santa Elena.
Given the juxtaposition of productive marine, estuarine, riverine, and diverse terrestrial environments within 5 km of the Vegas sites, it surely was not necessary for the people to be mobile.
Although there is some seasonal variation in the accessibility of shellfish, fish, and terrestrial animals,
all of these resources were available year-round. Some edible plants were probably more seasonal,
but even in the dry tropics plant food tends to be available in all seasons (Pearsall 1979:186).
Although the picture of Vegas technology is incomplete, the Vegans seemed to have lacked the
special equipment that people develop as they become dependent on a particular resource. For
instance, the Vegans probably were less specialized fishermen than were the later coastal Valdivians
(Byrd 1976; Meggers et al. 1965) who depended more heavily on fish and who had shell fishhooks.
Similarly, the Vegans may have had simpler plant processing tools and cooking technology than
the Valdivians (Meggers et al. 1965).
The Las Vegas people were probably the most self-sufficient, simply-organized, and egalitarian
of the prehistoric peoples of the peninsula. They exploited a greater variety of resources than did

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the later peoples who emphasized fishing, horticulture, and trade. Compared with the later inhabitants, the Vegans probably invested little labor in satisfying their needs and they did not undertake
projects requiring major communal efforts as did later people.
While the ceramic period peoples produced commodities for exchange and participated in longdistance trade, there is only a hint that exchange was an important aspect of Las Vegas culture. The
small, polished stone axe (Figure 7) might have been produced from material available locally, but
it is probably a trade item since it was a unique specimen buried in pristine condition in a tomb.
The axe head is unlike later ones found on the peninsula, and it is most similar to axes made during
the Siches and El Estero periods in northern Peru (Richardson and Barrington Brown 1967:Figures
2a, 2c, and 3a). Large numbers of similar axe heads of similar material were found on the Peruvian
sites and it is likely that they were manufactured there. Since the Peruvian sites are only 270 km
from the peninsula by sea, there is some likelihood that the preceramic peoples were in contact
either directly or indirectly via trading networks around the Guayas estuary.
The evidence indicates that by Late Vegas times the people had increased their dependence on
fishing, were taking a broader range of shellfish species, and had added primitive maize and bottle
gourd to the list of plants they exploited. There is no ecological argument that would force the
rejection of the notion that the Vegans were cultivators: the people of the arid, western portion of
the peninsula have been farmers throughout its later history; but there is certainly no evidence of
a major commitment to agriculture in Vegas times. Rather, the Vegans probably found that gardening
increased the productivity of the river bottoms and expanded the variety of resources that they
relied upon.
As the Vegans experimented with gardening and increased their emphasis on fishing, they probably
experienced some social changes for which there is little evidence except the founding of the cemetery
at Site 80 late in the Las Vegas period. The fact that this large site served as a burying ground, and
may have had other ceremonial functions, suggests the possibility that it had a special role in the
integration of the local group. Taken together, these apparent changes in the Late Las Vegas phase
point toward an emerging Formative way of life.
CULTURE HISTORY
In this section, Las Vegas is interpreted as part of an early tropical forest tradition, which also
gave rise to the Valdivia culture of the Formative period. The temporal priority of Las Vegas,
combined with other evidence for continuity in southwestern Ecuador, is grounds for suggesting
that Valdivia had a cultural antecedent on the Ecuadorian coast.
Preceramic Cultural Affiliations
Las Vegas is the only preceramic complex now recognized from the coast of Ecuador (Stothert
1983). While the lack of a variety of preserved remains from the highland sites makes comparisons
difficult, it is clear that the contemporaneous preceramic adaptations differed from Vegas both
technologically and ecologically (see Bell [1965], Lynch and Pollock [1980], Salazar [1979], and
Temme [1982]). No archaeological culture from the Ecuadorian highlands can be considered ancestral to or even closely related to the Las Vegas culture.
Las Vegas is related to preceramic complexes known from tropical forest areas, from formerly
forested areas, and from mangrove coasts in northwestern South America and Central America.
For example, the pre-Las Vegas and Early Las Vegas phases correspond chronologically to the
Amotape phase (11,500-8000 B.P.) of northern Peru, which is characterized by simple lithic flakes
likely to have been employed in woodworking (Richardson 1978). The Siches complex (8000-6000
B.P.), which follows Amotape in the Talara sequence is contemporaneous with Late Las Vegas.
Siches features a simple flake industry like the Vegas one, but has cup-shaped mortars, grooved
pebbles, and abundant polished stone axes (Richardson 1973) which are not characteristic of Las
Vegas. Only limited comparisons can be made with the Talara complexes because only shell and
lithic artifacts were preserved in sites there. Nevertheless, the two geographical regions are very

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633
similar, and the Ecuadorian and Peruvian sites were all located in the littoral zone adjacent to
mangrove swamps, which suggests that the preceramic peoples of both regions might have adapted
in similar ways.
The El Abra complex from the highlands of Colombia is also characterized by simple flakes and
cores with only limited edge-retouch (Hurt et al. 1976)-an apparent adaptation to a forested zone.
As early as 9,000-10,000 years ago, people at El Abra exploited a wide variety of resources without
specialization. Most archaeologists do not interpret El Abra as part of Willey's Andean HuntingCollecting Tradition (1971:50-60); instead they emphasize its affiliation with the complexes described here (Hurt 1977; Ranere 1972; Stothert 1976).
There are a few small sites on the Pacific coast of Colombia characterized by technically simple
flakes and a few edge-ground pebbles; and sites on the Caribbean coast, such as San Nicolas and
Pomares, show the same inventory of minimally retouched lithic flakes (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1965).
These people probably exploited the diverse resources of the coast, mangrove, estuaries, river
bottoms and adjacent savanna and forest zones as did their successors at sites like Puerto Hormiga
in the later period (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1971).
There are two important preceramic complexes known in central and western Panama that go
back at least 7,000 years (Ranere 1976). These are known from remains in inland rockshelters where
people who adapted to the forest environment used a variety of simple lithic tools for working
wood. According to Ranere (1976, 1977), the slightly later coastal adaptation known from Cerro
Mangote was a specialization that developed out of the original, inland, forest way of life. There
are several important similarities between Cerro Mangote and Las Vegas. Cerro Mangote, dated to
about 6800 B.P. (McGimsey 1958:434), is located on the seasonally-dry Pacific coast adjacent to
mangrove swamps, and it is characterized by simple lithic flakes, edge-ground cobbles, and burial
practices very similar to those of Site 80. On the basis of the occurrence of a certain style of secondary
burial package in preceramic sites in both Panama and Ecuador, I have concluded that the two
peoples shared a common burial tradition and were linked historically.
These complexes. including Las Vegas, represent early adaptations to the tropical forest. All feature
stone tools for working wood and all employed mixed subsistence strategies that were practiced in
at least partly forested environments. All lacked stone projectile points. Among these complexes
there is no hint of big game hunting and, though fishing and shellfishing were important at sites
like Cerro Mangote, I believe that their subsistence economies are best described as broad-based
and not specialized. Most of these preceramic sites were discovered in coastal zones only because
the presence of shell facilitated their identification. Eventually archaeologists will locate additional
habitation sites of the inland perceramic peoples as forested areas of South and Central America
are surveyed.
The preceramic complexes discussed here have been used to define a Northwest South American
Tradition (Stothert 1976) and an Edge-Trimmed Tool Tradition (Hurt 1977). These two formulations are quite similar, and neither treats the problem of the origin of the common preceramic
cultural pattern. At the present writing I believe that the similarities among these preceramic
complexes are due in part to convergence and primarily to their derivation from a "generalized,
early tropical forest tradition" that developed in the Late Pleistocene among immigrants into South
America who became adjusted to the forest as a result of their occupation of Central America
(Ranere 1976:118). This has been called the Tropical Forest Archaic (Ranere 1980:35). This hypothetical construct helps to account for the general similarities between Las Vegas and, for example,
geographically removed complexes of the East Brazilian Upland Tradition (Willey 1971:61-64;
Ranere 1972:123-125), and it helps to explain the very specific similarities between the sites of Las
Vegas and Cerro Mangote.
Alternatively, the Vegas evidence can be accommodated to the model presented by Lathrap (1970,
1977), according to which primitive cultivators expanded out of the Amazon basin into northwestern
South America and Central America before the end of the Pleistocene. These people fished, hunted,
and gathered a variety of animals and plants in addition to having a tradition of house gardens in
which they cultivated bottle gourd, cotton, and other tropical plants. Lathrap indicated (1 977:Map

634
AMERICANANTIQUITY
[Vol. 50, No. 3,1985]
1) that some of these early migrants followed a northern coastal route into Ecuador. The Las Vegas
remains may be evidence of those early seed cultivators.
The immediate origin of the Las Vegas people is unknown but data from the Las Vegas sites
support the hypothesis that the cultivation of domestic plants was a very ancient feature of human
adaptation to the tropical forest environment (Harris 1972; Sauer 1952).
In addition to the probable historical connections among the preceramic peoples of Central
America and northwest South America, it is likely that they participated in a network of exchange
and communication that was the forerunner of the long-distance trade system that linked Mesoamerica, northern South America and Peru as early as the third millennium B.C. (Lathrap 1973, 1975).
Only the stone axe from a Vegas tomb points to an earlier pattern of trade.
The Origins of Valdivia
In the Late Las Vegas period people were in the process of expanding their horticultural and
fishing systems while investing less labor in trapping land animals. Because of the probable subhumid conditions of the peninsula and the state of technology, these people soon may have reached
the limits of the agricultural potential of the local area, and the population remained small.
There is an apparent gap of nearly 1,500 years in the archaeological sequence after the Las Vegas
occupation. Only one shell scatter gave a date of 5800 B.P. (Site 213, Table 2), which indicated that
the peninsula may have been occupied in the post-Las Vegas period, but no distinct culture can be
described for that time. The gap could be an accident of preservation or of dating, or a degeneration
of the climate may have occasioned the abandonment of the peninsula (McDougle 1967; Sarma
1974). Whether there was a period of extreme dryness or not, it is probable that at least a small
population continued to occupy the peninsula. This area, however, was not the locus of important
culture change. It seems more likely that innovation proceeded and the population grew in the
riverine lowlands where agriculture could be practiced more extensively.
Around 5300 B.P. the Valdivia people, with expanded fishing technology, intensive agriculture,
developed ceremonialism, and long-distance trade (Lathrap 1975; Lathrap et al. 1977; Marcos et al.
1976; Meggers et al. 1965; Pearsall 1978, 1979; Zevallos 1971), occupied sites across the peninsula.
The Valdivians achieved more dense population in the well-watered regions of coastal Ecuador
(Jorge G. Marcos, personal communication 1982), but given their complex organization and adequate technology they found the peninsula habitable also.
Although there is no transition between Vegas and Valdivia on the western Peninsula, it seems
probable that a generalized preceramic culture of lowland Ecuador, which included Las Vegas as a
local variant, provided the context for the development of Valdivia. There was a continuity of
tradition: like Las Vegas, the Valdivia culture has been interpreted as part of Tropical Forest culture
(Lathrap 1970, 1975). Throughout the area of distribution of the Tropical Forest Archaic complexes,
the preceramic cultures gave rise to Formative cultures in the local area. This continuity is probable
between Cerro Mangote and Monogrillo in Panama, and is also likely to have held between the
known preceramic complexes and the Puerto Hormiga complex in Colombia.
The hypothesis of continuity between Las Vegas and Valdivia is supported by common basic
flaking technologies that are more like each other than either is like any of the other prehistoric
complexes of the peninsula (Stothert 1974). In addition, identical shell spoons were made by both
Vegas and Valdivia people, and the shelter identified at Site 80 is similar in size, shape, and probable
method of construction to the earliest houses of the Valdivia period at Loma Alta (Damp and
Clarkson 1980:2-3) and Real Alto (Damp 1979). Perhaps the most significant evidence of continuity
is in the burial patterns known from Real Alto and other Valdivia sites. These compare closely to
patterns reconstructed at Site 80. When this evidence is combined with the probability that the
Vegans grew primitive maize in the pre-Valdivia period, we have reason to suspect that we are
dealing with two phases in the development of a single cultural tradition.
The best interpretation of the existing evidence is that the flexible and successful preceramic
adaptation in lowland, western Ecuador developed into the Valdivia way of life characterized by
intensive maize agriculture, large villages, community ceremonialism, early pottery, and exchange

REPORTS
635
(Lathrap 1975; Marcos et al. 1976; Marcos and Norton 1981; Meggers et al. 1965; Pearsall 1979;
Zevallos 1971). The conditions under which the transition took place remain to be studied. The
present research on the Las Vegas culture supports the view that the early preceramic people of
western Ecuador were participants in a local cultural process that resulted in the emergence of the
Formative way of life.
Acknowledgments. This researchwas sponsored by the Museo Antropol6gico,Banco Centraldel Ecuador
(Guayaquil).Small grants from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, and from the Faculty Research
Council, Fordham University, helped supportthe fieldworkduring 1977. I am gratefulto Olaf Holm for his
unflaggingsupport of the Vegas project, and to Dena F. Dincauze and to anonymous reviewersfor critical
comments and suggestionson the manuscript.
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Society for American Archaeology

The Preceramic Las Vegas Culture of Coastal Ecuador

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THE PRECERAMIC LAS VEGAS CULTURE OF COASTAL ECUADOR

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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BAY OF SANTA ELENA

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

Table 1. Radiocarbon Dates from Site OGSE-80.

Stratigraphic Series D-H/109-114

Anadara tuberculosa were dated.

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in the sandy soil was caused by root penetration.

62) is seen in the foreground

and two flat-surfacedartifactsappearin the left foreground.

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[Vol. 50, No. 3,1985]

Table 2. Radiocarbon Dates from Non-Ceramic Sites on the

shell, charcoal, human bone

6600 to 9800 Vegas

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

Summary of Burial Practices

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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[Vol. 50, No. 3,1985]

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[Vol. 50, No. 3, 1985]

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