Revision 104617716 of "Portal:Machalilla culture" on dewiki

The '''Machalilla''' were a [[Prehistoric man|prehistoric people]] in [[Ecuador]], in southern [[Manabí Province|Manabí]] and the Santa Elena Peninsula. The dates when the culture thrived are uncertain, but are generally agreed to encompass 1500 [[common era|BCE]] to 1100 BCE.<ref name="met">[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/03/sa/ht03sa.htm Timeline of Art History: South America, 2000–1000 b.c.] Met. Accessed August 2, 2007</ref> 

==Machalilla Culture==
The Machalilla were an [[agriculture|agricultural]] people who also pursued [[fishing]], [[hunter-gatherer|hunting and gathering]]. Like many prehistoric cultures of coastal Ecuador, the people practiced [[artificial cranial deformation]] by using stones to flatten and lengthen their skulls.<ref name="lonely">[http://www.lonelyplanet.com/shop_pickandmix/previews/ecuador-the-galapagos-background-information-preview.pdf Ecuador/The Galapagos Background] ''[[Lonely Planet]] Accessed August 2, 2007.</ref> 

[[Archaeologist|Archaeologists]] focus on the unusual [[cemetery|cemeteries]] of the Machalilla, in which bodies were settled beneath a ceramic turtle shell,<ref name="exploring">[http://www.exploringecuador.com/museum_bce/machalilla.htm Exploring Ecuador: Machalilla] Accessed August 2, 2007</ref> and on their [[ceramics (art)|ceramic work]] in general, which represented artistic and technological advances in the art.<ref name="cultural">[http://www.ecuador.org/cultural.htm Pre-Columbian Art] Embassy of Ecuador in Washington DC. Accessed August 2, 2007.</ref> The Machalilla are credited with adding to the ceramic bottle the stirrup spout, in which two spouts join together into one opening: an invention that would be prominent in northwest [[South America|South American]] [[pottery]] for centuries.<ref name="met"/> Archaeologists have also excavated ceramic pots, pitchers, whistles, candlesticks and human figures from Machalilla digs.

The date range of the culture is obscured. It is sometimes listed as early as 1800 BCE and as late as 800 BCE.<ref name="cultural"/><ref name="exploring"/>. One of the problems with determining the proper date range is the method of cultural termination. According to archaeologists Betty Meggers and Clifford Evans, the Machalilla culture was altered by [[Mesoamerica|Mesoamerican]] contact until it blended into the Chorrera culture.<ref>Meggers, Betty J. and Clifford Evans. "The Machalilla Culture: An Early Formative Complex on the Ecuadorian Coast." ''American Antiquity'', Vol. 28, No. 2 (Oct., 1962), pp. 186-192.</ref>

Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo [[UEES]] in Guayaquil, Ecuador has a collection of Machalilla artifacts.

== See also ==
*[http://www.exploringecuador.com/museum_bce/chorrera.htm Chorrera Culture]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources and external links ==
*[http://www.utpl.edu.ec/museo/arqueologia/faceta09.html Patrimonio Artistico del Ecuador]
*[http://www.edufuturo.com/educacion.php?c=1724 Machalilla]
*[http://www.usfq.edu.ec/1PROFESORES/Hoeneisen/Ecuador_2050/raices.htm Raíces culturales del Ecuador]
*[http://www.puertolopez.net/paginas/machalilla.htm Parroquia Machalilla]
*[http://www.exploringecuador.com/museum_bce/machalilla.htm Exploring Ecuador: Machalilla]
*[http://www.ecuador-travel.net/biodiversity.parks.machalilla.htm Machalilla National Park]
*[http://parksinperil.org/wherewework/southamerica/ecuador/protectedarea/machalilla.html Parks in Peril: Machalilla National Park]

[[category:Prehistory]]
[[category:Pre-Columbian cultures]]
[[category:Archaeological cultures]]

[[ca:Cultura Machalilla]]
[[es:Machalilla]]
[[qu:Machalilla mama llaqta parki]]
[[ru:Национальный парк Мачалилья]]
[[fi:Machalillan kulttuuri]]