Research in the Jama Valley by Zeidler and Pearsall (1994) has defined the chronology for the Jama-Coaque culture in northern Manabi Province placing it within both the Regional Developmental and Integration periods (355 BC to AD 1532). Jama-Coaque I, which corresponds to the local Muchique 1 phase and the Regional Developmental Period, spans 755 years and is marked by an expansion of population from the dry tropical forests of the coastal strip to humid upland interior valleys. The research has also identified a series of ash falls based on tephra analysis which may explain the break in cultural continuity in the area between Chorrera and Jama-Coaque (Zeidler and Pearsall 1994). The site of San Isidro located in the middle reaches of the Jama Valley (Figure 25.1), approximately 25 km from the coast, also assumed a role of central place during this period and remained the center of a settlement hierarchy. Mound building at the site continued with a recapping of the central platform mound measuring 17 m above the modern surface and approximately 100 m in diameter, totaling a calculated volume of 88,458 m3. This central platform mound is the basis for the interpretation of the site as a regional ceremonial and administrative center at least during the Jama-Coaque occupation. Other characteristics support this assessment. The site is the largest and deepest in the immediate alluvial area as well as the entire Jama drainage, placing it at the top of a regional settlement hierarchy. The platform is in an area of high site density and the mound is considered to be an expression of monumental architecture by Zeidler. The excavators conclude that Jama-Coaque represented a form of complex chiefdom that emanated from a single ceremonial center with sufficient surplus production to support the dense residential population and the construction of the mounds in the valley (Zeidler 2001). The chiefly polity may have controlled a large sector of a river
Valley possibly 15-18 km in diameter, that at times included two or more secondary mound centers. The sources of power for the possible paramount chiefdom would have been foci of competition and points of conflict between regional organizations, which would work against any long-term territorial domination of the valley system by a single authority.
These sources of power would have had access to prime agricultural land, precious materials, and maritime and highland trade routes (Zeidler and Pearsall 1994; Zeidler 2001).
Much of the attention focused on the Jama-Coaque tradition is due to the large number of looted figurines characterized by elaborate decoration representing complex apparel as well as ritual paraphernalia and possessions that mark social and political rank (Cummins 1994) (Figure 25.3). Similar to Bahia and La Tolita, Jama-Coaque figurines are decorated with elaborate personal ornament, adornments including headdresses decorated with birds and agricultural products, full-face masks, pectorals, clothing flaps, ear spools and nose rings on seated figures. These features support the assessment that
Figure 25.3. Seated masculine Jama-Coaque figurine with apparel suggesting high rank. (Private collection; photograph from Valdez and Veintimilla 1992: fig. 78).
Figurines portray high status individuals. Furthermore, as in the other areas, these elaborate hollow ceramic figurines suggest some degree of craft specialization. Cummins (1994) finds it difficult to imagine their creation by household production of occasional artisans rather than a group of specialists. Archaeological evidence for workshops, however, has not been found.
World History
