INTRODUCTION

The discussion of inter-zonal relationships must necessarily begin by stating what is to be understood by the concept of relationship in a culture history archaeological sense. In simple terms I will refer to relationship as the interaction—direct or indirect—between two or more individuals (groups or communities) living in close proximity or far apart. Interactions are, in turn, defined as the consequence of human encounter, through physical or ideological contact, in which there is a social exchange of ideas, goods, or information that can be said to be sought by the involved individuals as an agency to supplement or complement their material or symbolic life ways. Social interactions are a very important part of past and present lifeways. They take many forms and can be expressed in a variety of ways that are not always archaeologically evident, as they may or may not leave material traces. Unfortunately, unless there is a way to substantiate such interactions, one cannot establish or infer such relationships.

In general, the presence of exotic goods (raw or processed materials) can be considered evidence of past relationships. The same can be said of technological traditions, ceramic objects, or any other items that can be defined as pertaining to a given cultural affiliation different from that ascribed to the archaeological contexts in which they were found. The nature of these relationships is often difficult to establish, nonetheless, the connection between separate groups can be recognized and its causes and consequences hypothesized.

In the past forty years the concept of interaction sphere has known great popularity with a variety of specific meanings. Originally the term was launched by Caldwell (1964) to describe a process of long distance exchange of ideas and objects related to religious or esoteric concepts that were shared, and were expanding throughout a given territory. The area of interaction is occupied by a number of different polities that contribute to the maintenance of the shared ideology. This concept has a series of ideological and economic implications that have proven to be very useful in the inference of past relationships.

Handbook of South American Archaeology, edited by Helaine Silverman and William H. Isbell.

Springer, New York, 2008

Ethnology shows that exchange relationships can take various forms involving utilitarian and symbolic items. These may be linked in the mechanisms of exchange systems through functional or ritual forms. The procurement of salt, cotton, wool, textiles, feathers, skins, dried fish, meat, coca or other drugs, stone, and metals is well known. Such items may have played a role in the larger context of acquisition of spouses, shamanic power aids, or exotic status symbols. Exchange systems are complex and dynamic. Their routes are constantly established and abandoned, but some persist and become hallmarks of certain regions. For instance, Salomon (1980) speaks of Yumbos mindala routes in northwest Ecuador (Yumbos: an ethnic group of the tropical lowlands; mindala: an elite specialist group of merchant Indians). The traffic of goods or ideas may take formalized modes as in the case of emissary trade, or it may be a simple down-the-line barter system between different neighboring groups (domestic units or specialized intermediaries).

Regardless of its manifestations, the reciprocating role that interactions fulfill is crucial to local economies and politics (Bruhns 2003: 168). The limited possibilities of organic matter conservation in the majority of the humid environments that prevail in Ecuador reduce the archaeological indicators mostly to mineral or micro-organic evidence. Stone, shell, ceramics, metal, and pollen or phytoliths give direct or indirect signs of past inter-zonal relationships. These clues enter the archaeological record and serve to visualize the related mechanisms and routes of past interactions. In Ecuador, these clues become recurrent in different contexts by the end of the Middle Formative period, and are commonplace in all geographical regions by Late Formative Chorrera times.

Finally, there is another important fact that must be kept in mind: Andean people have a sense of traditional high mobility, which has characterized them ever since their first arrival on the continent. The continual movement between the different ecological zones and niches has not been hindered by the sedentary agricultural lifestyle that prevails from the Early Formative period. The internal variability and the ecological complementarity of the progressively inclined environments promoted regular visits to the neighboring territories. If one adds to this the social or even the ritual aspects of the Andean lifeways, the need to move cyclically increases even more. The distance range of these movements varies from region to region, but everyone had, at one time of his life, some form of interzonal contact.