Archaeological culture · c. 3800–1500 BCE
Valdivia culture
One of the earliest settled, pottery-making cultures of the Americas, on the coast of Ecuador around the Santa Elena peninsula. Valdivia villages such as Real Alto had houses around plazas and ceremonial mounds; people farmed, fished and gathered shellfish.
Their pottery is among the oldest in the Americas, and they made many small clay figurines, each with its own hairstyle.
See Valdivia culture on the map in 3800 BCE
- On the map
- 3800–1500 BCE
How we know
No writing existed; known from village sites, pottery and small stone and clay figurines, dated by radiocarbon.
Sites
- Real Alto Valdivia village c. 3800–1500 BCE (earlier traces)