Juan Andrés Jijón Porras

This study presents the results of archaeoastronomical research begun in 2018 at the archaeological site known as "Pucará de Rumicucho," located north of Quito, Ecuador. It is hypothesized that the site served as an astronomical observatory—a function that shaped its architectural design and gave rise to its multiple roles, including agricultural, religious, and even military purposes. Various studies over the past four decades have analyzed the site's characteristics, construction techniques, chronology of occupation and abandonment, and the modern destructive processes it has undergone. However, there has yet to be a successful integration of the empirical evidence, data, measurements, and visual records—which demonstrate its role as an observation post for agro-astronomical phenomena—that would allow for a clear and straightforward understanding of how the system functioned.

La construcción social del patrimonio es un proceso dinámico donde diversos actores —Estado, comunidades, academia— negocian significados, valores y derechos sobre bienes culturales y naturales. Lejos de ser una mera designación técnica, implica luchas de poder, jerarquías epistémicas y tensiones entre memoria oficial y saberes locales. El territorio ancestral, en contraste, trasciende la noción occidental de "espacio delimitado". Para los pueblos originarios y comunidades tradicionales, es una entidad viva y relacional que encarna la memoria de los antepasados, sustenta prácticas culturales y establece vínculos sagrados entre humanos y su ecosistema —montañas, ríos, plantas—. El Cerro Picoazá (Manabí, Ecuador), ilustra esta tensión. Mientras el Estado lo declara "Patrimonio Cultural Nacional" basado en ruinas arqueológicas, las comunidades lo defienden como territorio ancestral y los grupos hegemónicos lo depredan, ejemplificando así los desafíos de la patrimonialización en Ecuador y, en general, en América Latina. Esta divergencia evidencia que el patrimonio no es un hecho, sino una construcción social en disputa. La gestión sostenible exige, por tanto, diálogos de saberes y consensos. El potencial de este bien cultural es enorme y el proceso de reconocimiento de la identidad cultural de sus comunidades sigue en continua transformación. El Cerro Picoazá no es un “gigante dormido”, sino un territorio en diálogo constante entre su grandeza ancestral y los desafíos de la modernidad. Este estudio analiza críticamente su gestión desde un enfoque decolonial y de cartografía crítica para revelar tensiones entre las políticas estatales, los intereses económicos y los actores comunitarios. Demuestra, así, que el patrimonio en Picoazá no se decreta, se co-construye y que, en esencia, el patrimonio es un proceso de re-existencia, donde los pueblos revitalizan su memoria frente a amenazas como el extractivismo o la homogenización cultural.

Ecuador is a key area in South America when it comes to understanding the economic, social and archaeological aspects of pre-Hispanic cultures in the northwestern region of the Andes. Among the most complex societies to have inhabited this territory is the so-called Manteño culture (AD ∼800–1530), which spanned across most of Ecuador’s central Pacific coast. Ongoing research at the site of Ligüiqui (Manta, Manabí) has enabled us to obtain a more complete overview of the chronological sequence of the Manteño period as well as contributing further data on the advanced stage of social development reached during the period; characterized by the hierarchical arrangement of sites, the use of extensive settlement models, and semi-circular stone fish traps (corrales). In order to understand the role played by this coastal site in the complex Manteño culture, a detailed radiocarbon study was performed in the sequence of the Ligüiqui site. In addition, using a detailed review of available Manteño settlement radiocarbon data (13 sites and 64 dates), we established a chronostratigraphic framework for the culture. Our data indicate that Ligüiqui probably acted as a supply centre for marine-origin products from the twelfth century onwards with activity peaking during the Late Manteño period. A multisite comparison using Bayesian modeling indicates an early onset of the Manteño culture in Ligüiqui around AD 700, and a general demise in most of the sites AD ∼1500 or slightly before. This culture finally collapsed before AD ∼1600 during the early Spanish colonial period. Only one site, La Libertad, shows potential evidence of having remained a Manteño settlement after that date.

The use of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology has revolutionised pre-Hispanic archaeology in large tracts of Central America (Canuto et. al. 2018; Fisher et al. 2016; Garrison et al. 2019; Chase & Weishampel, 2016). This contribution is particularly significant in areas in which jungles and a complex orography had precluded the implementation of large-scale landscape archaeology studies.Although this technology has not been used in South America as intensively as in Central America (Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, among others), LiDAR is beginning to be used to answer questions concerning the interaction between the landscape, pre-Hispanic societies and their economic exploitation strategies (Amazonia, Peru) (Van Valkenburg et al., 2020). This work analyses one of the most important archaeological areas in central Ecuador, Cerros de Hojas-Jaboncillo (Figs. 1 & 2), which has traditionally been identified as a major centre of the Manteña culture. This culture spanned the current provinces of Manabí, Santa Elena and Guayas between the 8th and 15th centuries AD.Although the site was discovered in the early 20th century (Saville, 1907 & 1910; Estrada, 1957) on the slopes and summits of the Chongón-Colonche and Balzar hills range (formerly called Sierra de Bálsamo), it has not been until recent moments that the characterization of its extension, its spatial conformation, as well as the main geoarchaeological characteristics of the site have begun to be possible (López, 2008; Delgado, 2009; Tobar, 2012; Lunniss, 2012; Veintimilla-Bustamante, 2012). The limitations of previous studies were largely due to the prevalence of thick sub-tropical forests, whose trees are sometimes 14 m tall.In 2016, a large-scale LiDAR flight covering 147.78 km² at a density of 9 ppm² has revealed the main features of the archaeological complex, including various sites that illustrate a multi-nuclear settlement pattern (Figs. 5, 8 & 10). The study suggests that settlements, between 0.5 and 3 ha in size (Fig. 8), followed a common pattern, standing on small long hilltop plateaus. The complexes were visually connected and were linked by a road network.There is little doubt that one of the most important discoveries concerns the relationship between archaeological sites and complex agrarian systems, which point to the exploitation of wide areas. These had irrigation systems that involved rainwater retention and water resources maximisation (Figs. 6 & 8). The system made intensive rainwater use during the humid season (December-May); it also took advantage of the coastal mists that ensure precipitations on the hilltops.At the same time, the LiDAR survey has established differences between the settlement pattern in the north-eastern sector, in which the interaction between settlements and the agro-system is not so obvious, and the south-western sector, whose settlements are clearly related to wide terraced systems.These results will allow for comparisons between Cerros de Hojas-Jaboncillo and other known Manteño sites, such as Japotó (Bouchard, 2010), Agua Blanca (McEwan & Silva, 1992) and Ligüiqui. All of them point to the continued occupation of the same areas, and the continuity of some sites at least between the Guangala period (500 BC.-600 AD) and the late Manteño period (12th-15th centuries), as seen in Salango and its territory (Béarez, Gay & Lunniss, 2012).Most research in the 20th century has argued for an increase in social complexity during the classic Manteño period (8th-11th centuries), following a diffusionist explanatory pattern (Estrada, 1957). However, the LiDAR analysis of the Cerros de Hojas-Jaboncillo site points to prolonged periods of stable management of the environment, a response to the need to make use of the available resources. Archaeology, through large-scale landscape studies and the in-depth characterisation of sites through wide-ranging sampling methodologies can contribute to answering the question as to whether environmental management led to the formation of a “Manteño state” or whether this society can be better defined as a chiefdom (Touchard-Houlbert, 2010).Highlights:The study focused on the LiDAR research of the Cerro de Hojas-Jaboncillo, the most important pre-Hispanic site in the Manabi province (Ecuador).LiDAR technology has allowed users to identify an intense occupation in a forest area, where until now, it was impossible to detect archaeological structures.The study has established the close relationship between the pre-Hispanic occupation model and the use of complex irrigation systems.