The serpent's children, the iconography of the Late Formative ceramics of coastal Ecuador

grantor: University of TorontoChorrera ceramics represent the artistic climax of Formative Period Ecuadorian pottery. The creators of the ceramics were strongly innovative in their depiction of naturalistic representations on effigy vessels of human beings, animals and plants. These representations were a Chorrera hallmark before similar styles appeared in Peru and Mesoamerica. In this thesis I examine the underlying premise of the Chorrera assemblage by drawing on the works of Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff and Peter G. Roe. In Andean and Amazonian archaeology, the use of ethnographic analogy to decipher iconographic imagery on artifacts is well-established. This acceptance is based on continuities in cosmology and symbolism which are apparent in the archaeological record through time throughout the region. The figurative ceramics from the San Isidro and Río Chico areas of Manabí province were probably grave-goods. This study concludes that this function was reflected in the imagery represented on effigy vessels. Some of these vessels may also have served a ritual function before being interred in the graves. Bowls, jars and whistling bottles may have been used by the mourners for a number of these rituals, perhaps in the practice of some form of ancestor cult. Gourd-shaped (phytomorphic) whistling bottles form a large part of the corpus of these ceramics and these are metaphorically linked to death and rebirth. The zoomorphic ceramics represent most of the animal species which were found in the ecological setting of the Ecuadorian coast during the Late Formative Period, in particular bats, monkeys and birds. These were animals which were mythologically and symbolically related to death and the underworld. The anthropomorphic ceramics have obviously shamanistic characteristics which may be associated with their function as psychopomps. The appearance of what seem to be universal characters in New World mythology is also rather intriguing. Chorrera is significant both aesthetically and historically as the antecedent for the great art styles which appeared later in Pre-Columbian prehistory. An interpretation of its iconography is a step towards our understanding of the importance of Chorrera in the context of that narrative. The ritual processes of life and death in a culture are embodied in its material culture. This study of ancient mortuary ceramics is an important contribution to the archaeology of Northwestern South America. It is also one which has implications for iconographic studies of mortuary furniture in other areas of the world.Ph.D