T h e trait diffusions traced in the foregoing can be classified into four general categories based on place and time of first appearance in the Americas, and as to time and apparent method of their spread.
1. Groups of features, principally ceramics, trans- ported by sea during establishment of small colonies during the Colonial Formative. With the exceptions noted, all ceramic features could have been derived from the Valdivia and MachalUla complexes.
a. Valdivia (3000-1500 B . C ) , coastal Ecuador.
Apparently derived from the Middle Jomon Phase of southwestern J a p a n .
b. Puerto Hormiga (3000-1900 B . C ) , north coast of Colombia. Principally derived from Valdivia, coastal Ecuador. Trait of vegetable fiber tempering and boat-shaped vessels not accounted for.
c. Stallings Island (2400-500 B.C.), coast of Georgia, south Atlantic coast of the United States.
Fiber tempering derived from Puerto Hormiga;
vessel shapes and decorations from Valdivia.
d. Puerto Marquez (ca. 2400 B . C ) . Pacific coast of Mexico, state of Guerrero. Published descrip- tion not very detailed, but similar to Purron.
e. Purron (2300-1500 B . C ) , central highland Mexico. Probably the result of an inland diffusion from an unknown coastal settlement. Shapes derived from local stone vessels.
f. Machalilla (2000-1500 B . C ) , coastal Ecua- dor. Origin unknown.
g. Orange (2000-400 B . C ) , St. Johns River region, Florida, south Atlantic coast of the United States. Early phases related to Puerto Hormiga and Barlovento, north coast of Colombia; vessel shapes, Purron related. Majority of ceramic decorations resemble Machalilla, coast of Ecuador, Ayangue engraved tradition.
h. Monagrillo (ca. 2000 B . C ) , Panam.a. In part related to Purron, in part to Valdivia, but with an unexplained decoration motif.
i. Kotosh Waira-jirca (1800 B . C ) , highland Peru. In part related to Valdivia, but not so directly as coastal localities. Part of ceramic complex unexplained.
j . Negritos (probably ca. 1500 B . C , no radio- carbon dates), north coast of Peru. Valdivia related.
k. Guafiape (1200 B . C ) , Virii Valley, Peru.
Purron vessel shapes; decorations, Valdivia related.
2. Traits that are earliest in the Valdivia and Macha- lilla Phases of coastal Ecuador, but which diffused subsequent to the Colonial Formative, principally between 1000 and 1 B . C
a. Ring-shaped villages.
b . Sandstone saws.
c. Reamers for enlarging drilled holes.
d. Rectangular celts.
e. Clay figurines.
f. Small wide-mouth pots with cambered rims.
g. Composite silhouette bowls.
h. Simple bowls with rounded, convex bases.
i. Simple bowls with flat bases.
j . Bowls with four solid feet.
k. Low ring bases (begin in Ecuador, Chorrera Phase).
1. Bottles with small necks, m. Stirrup-spout bottles, n. Bridge-spout botdes.
o. Red slip and red painted areas, p. Rocker stamping,
q. Excised designs with red pigment rubbed into cutout areas,
r. Thickened flat lips, decorated.
s. Wide-line incised decorations, t. Double-line break,
u. Line zoned hatching.
V. Incised and modeled faces on vessel shoulders and necks,
w. Line zoned crosshatched decorations.
3. Traits that are earliest in North America (including Mexico) and diffused principally between 1000 and 1 B.C.
a. Nutting stones.
b. Milling stones.
c. Metate and mano.
d. Tubular drUling.
e. Tubular pipes.
f. Full and three-quarter grooved stone axes.
149
J-
Tecomate or large neckless jar.
Pottery flat-base pan.
Stone flat-base pan.
Negative painted decoration.
4. Traits that first appear in the Theocratic Formative and diffuse between 1200 and 1 B . C
a. Mound building and ceremonial centers.
b. Beads made of hard rare stone; disk, tubular, round, and barrel-shaped.
c. Lapidary industry. Small carvings made of hard rare stone.
d. Solid drUl bit for hard stone (may go back
earlier but diffused at this time) related to lapidary industry.
e. Earspools of stone and metal.
f. Mirrors made of jet or mica.
g. Finger rings: stone, pottery, shell, bone, or copper.
h. Combs.
i. Flat and cylindrical stamps.
j . Bark beaters.
k. Petaloid celts.
1. Tripod vessels, long as well as short legs.
m. Teapot-shaped bottles.
n. Flanges on bowl walls, often decorated.
Colonial Formative Diffusion in the Americas
In this chapter and the following one, the attempt will be made to evaluate the significance of the trait distributions selected for review by placing them in the context of the various cultural complexes to which they belong and comparing these complexes with one another.
According to the information avaUable at present, the making of pottery during the Colonial Formative (3000-1500 B.C.) was confined to a few rather smaU geographical areas that were widely spaced over the Americas. Doubtless additional groups or colonies of sites will be found, but it seems improbable that they wUl be numerous, or that they wUl have a continuous geographic distribution.
With the exception of two localities (Tehuacan, Mexico and Kotosh, Peru), all of the known Colonial Formative sites are coastal shell middens, obvious remains that should not be difficult to locate and identify, if the archeologist knows what he is looking for. For more than ten years investigators have been aware of this, and parts of the coasts of Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia have been surveyed in a fairly thorough fashion. In contrast, the coasts of Central America and Mexico have received little attention aside from limited areas in Panama and Guatemala. T h e Gulf and south Atlantic coasts of North America are com- paratively well known.
T h e Colonial Formative localities that are known at present are as follows:
ECUADOR
Valdivia Phase A-C (3000-1500 B.C.)
At least 30 localities, all shell middens, clustered principally along the coast of Guayas Province.
Machalilla Phase (2000-1500 B.C.)
Four localities, shell middens, three adjacent to Valdivia sites, one a few mUes to the north.
COLOMBIA
Puerto Hormiga (3000-1900 B . C )
One site, shell ring about 80 m. in diameter, 1.2 m.. in height.
PANAMA
Monagrillo Phase (ca. 2000 B.C.) Three sites, shell middens.
PERU
Negritos Phase (no date) Coastal site.
Guanape Phase (ca. 1200 B.C.) Coastal shell midden.
Kotosh Waira-jirca (ca. 1800 B.C.)
Inland site, stone terrace and building construction.
MEXICO
Puerto Marquez (ca. 2400 B . C ) One site, shell m.idden.
Purron (2300-1500 B . C ) O n e site, cave deposit.
SOUTHEASTERN U N I T E D STATES
Stallings Island Phase (2400-500 B . C )
Approxiro.ately 20 sites, shell middens, of which eight are shell rings.
Orange Phase (2000-400 B.C.)
Approximately 12 sites, large shell middens.
Bayou la Batre (1100 B.C.) Two sites, shell middens.
Poverty Point (1200-400 B.C.)
Two coastal sites, shell middens, date about 1500 B.C. About 25 interior sites probably date 1200- 400 B.C.
There are several conclusions to be drawn from a survey of Colonial Formative diffusion, and it seems 150
151 practical to state them at the beginning rather than
the end of this discussion.
1. T h e early spread of ceramics appears to have been by sea. T h e voyages were of considerable length and small colonies were established among local people. Meggers, Evans, and Estrada (1965) have postulated that early trans-Pacific contacts were probably the result of accident: a lost boadoad of fishermen. In the Americas there is reason to think that colonizing voyages were not only intentional, but that they were repeated and that contact continued.
Parallel sequences of traits supporting this view will be cited in the following pages.
2. In the colonized areas it may be expected that two things wUl happen to the ceramic tradition.
First, isolation and lack of stimulation may result in a gradual decline in the quality of the product. The second effect is diametrically opposite. Local people at varying distances from these centers of the new technology may begin tentative attempts at pottery- making. If their initial efforts were as crude as the first Basket Maker pottery of the Four Corners region of the United States Southwest, undecorated pottery might have been made for some time before compe- tence was achieved and the art began to approach
the level of the pattern. Ultimately, the ceramic industry probably would become stabilized at a lower level than in the donor region.
3. Only a portion of the complete donor complex was transported to each colony. Why this should be so is not clear. Possibly there was famUy specialization, so that the cluster of traits taught local people de- pended on the composition of the boat passengers.
4. There are a few new vessel forms found in colony regions that do not occur in the parent complex. In highland Mexico it seems clear that two shapes that became quite important, namely the flat-base pan and the neckless jar or "tecomate," were copies of traditional shapes of stone vessels. Probably the oval or "boat-shaped" vessel, which first appears in Puerto Hormiga and later became popular in Vene- zuela and the West Indies, had a wooden prototype.
This is a very practical shape for containers made from small tree trunks. In the history of American ceramics, it is remarkable how rare are such "new"
vessel shapes. The transfer of decorations from gourds, textiles, or other perishable material is also a possi- bUity, but appeal to this level of explanation rarely seems necessary.
A R C H E O L O G I C A L C O M P L E X E S
The Valdivia and Machalilla Cultures of Coastal Ecuador
The discovery of the highly sophisticated Valdivia ceramic complex with an apparent initial date of about 3000 B . C in shell middens on the coast of Ecuador, has been an unexpected surprise to Ameri- can archeologists. In the Valdivia sites underlying preceramic levels have not been found. Neither do there appear to be any simple early developmental stages. This well-polished pottery with an unusually wide variety of incised, engraved, excised, punctated, applique, brushed, red-slipped, impressed, and rocker- stamped decorations appears suddenly, and nowhere in the Americas have possible antecedents been found.
Meggers, Evans, and Estrada (1965), the discover- ers of Valdivia, have cited a number of ceramic simUarities in the coeval Middle Jomon pottery of western Japan, particularly from the island of Kyu- shu. On this basis, a trans-Pacific voyage from Japan to Ecuador is postulated.
The features of Valdivia ceramics will not be summarized, nor wUl the similarities to Jomon be reviewed. The reader is advised to have Meggers, Evans, and Estrada's (1965) report conveniently at hand. In the following discussion, the Valdivia Phase wUl be accepted as having existed on the coast of Ecuador with a number of internal changes from 3000-1500 B.C.
An even more puzzling enigma is presented by the MachalUla ceramic complex which is found in sepa- rate villages scattered along the Ecuadorian coast among Valdivia sites, and which dates from 2000 to
1500 B.C. Any possible antecedents in the Americas or in Asia are unrecognized at present.
The problems of the origins of Valdivia and Machalilla are not directly germane to the theses presented here, which focus on events within the Americas. When an allusion is made to a similar feature in China or Japan, the writer is not presenting an argument, merely pointing out a parallel in need of further study.
152 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 11
T h e Puerto Hormiga Phase of North Coastal Colombia
Meggers, Evans, and Estrada (1965, p. 168) compare Puerto Hormiga ceramics to those of Valdivia and find a number of traits in common. Reichel-Dolma- toff (1965, pp. 50-51) concludes that the differences make relationship improbable. Since the final reports of both complexes were published in the same year, and were consequently not avaUable to these authors, the evidence may be usefully reevaluated here.
Fiber and Sand Tempering
Forty to fifty percent of the Puerto Hormiga pottery is heavUy tempered with vegetable fiber, has poor surface finish, and lacks decoration. Twenty to thirty percent has a smaller fiber content and shares decora- tion with the remaining pottery which is tempered with sand. T h e use of fiber tempering has not been observed in Valdivia ceramics, all of which contain fine or coarse sand.
Parenthetically it seems worthwhUe to quote J . E.
Kidder (1957, p. 7) in reference to the Jomon ceram- ics of J a p a n : " T h e pottery is always hand-made, often by the coding process, and is at first baked in an open fire at a temperature between 400° and 500° c T h e tempering material in the early periods is fiber, and later may be sand usually strongly micaceous in content. T h e sand varies from extremely coarse to fine; small quartz crystals are often clearly visible."
Vessel Shapes
Shapes of Puerto Hormiga vessels are limited. Most common are semiglobular bowls up to 30 cm. in diameter and 15 cm. deep, which have vertical or slightly incurved lips. Lips are simple and often thinner than vessel walls (fig. 8a). This form is very simUar to a popular Valdivia bowl form (fig. 8^;
Meggers, Evans, and Estrada, 1965, fig. 54, 3-5) that runs through the sequence. T h e oval- or boat- shaped vessels with modeled adornos on the ends that are a minor feature of Puerto Hormiga (fig. 8b), are not present in the Valdivia complex. It has already been suggested that this may be an imitation of a wooden form.
Scallop-shell Stamping
In comparing features, Reichel-Dolmatoff's discussion wUl be followed (1965, pp. 28-30). Additional data and Ulustrations are provided by Reichel-Dolmatoff (1961, pis. 1-2; 1965, fig. 3, pis. 3-5), and Meggers, Evans, and Estrada (1965, pi. 188). ScaUop-sheU stamping is zoned by broad incised lines in Puerto Hormiga (fig. 8c). These impressions are parallel,