The Mysterious Ancient Lost Culture of Ecuador

In the mid-20th century, Ecuadorian historian Jacinto Jijón y Camaño set out to investigate the remains of a suspected pre-Columbian settlement close to the town of Manta on Ecuador's Pacific coastline. He did indeed find the ruins and remains of an ancient society that dated back as far as 600 AD, before being gradually assimilated into later cultures such as the Inca Empire up until the 1500s when European nations began to target native lands for themselves. He would name these people the Montaño, and their settlements would end up representing one of the latest surviving pre-Columbian cultures of South America. So who were the Montaño people? How did they live? How did their culture develop? And what are the biggest questions and mysteries raised by their eventual decline? In this video, we will be introducing you to these ancient communities, taking a look at the lifespan of the widespread Mantaño culture of coastal Ecuador. The Montaño were more of a collective group of people connected by their culture, rather than one specific nation or civilization of individuals. The Montaño collectively formed the prehistoric sites covering most of the Pacific coast of Ecuador as early as 500 to 600 AD, surviving until roughly 1531 AD. The Montaño culture was characterized by technologies associated with an oceanic lifestyle, including raft building, navigation, and maritime trade with neighboring cultures and tribes. The influence of the Montaño culture stretched from what is now the Ecuadorian city of Bahía de Caracas at the mouth of the Riochone River to the Gulf of Guayaquil in the south with its many islands, inlets, and abundance of marine life. In the early years of the Montaño's presence along the Ecuadorian coastlines, they very much presided over the region. Large numbers and adept usage of technologies meant that they were quick to influence and culture over neighboring lands, resulting in multiple conflicts that saw them assimilate less dominant cultures into their own. While the Montaño people were known to trade with their neighbors, they were also believed to have extracted tithes, both religious and commercial in nature, from those whom they conquered or intimidated. Ironically, the Montaño culture would likely have been heavily influenced in a similar way by the Inca Empire when they began to emerge and establish power in the 12th century. Around this time, the Incas formed the large capital city of Cusco, located in what is now modern-day Peru, and began conquering to expand their borders around the turn of the 15th century. While they did not specifically target coastal Ecuador, the presence of the Incas so close to the Montaño land would have caused an exchange of culture, money, and resources between the two populations. Within 100 years of Inca conquest in western South America, around 12 million Inca citizens lived in lands surrounding and within the realms of Montaño influence. The Montaño culture began to steadily disappear from Ecuador around the early 1530s. By this time, Spanish influence in South America had begun to cause problems for the native civilizations and cultures, and even the mighty Inca fell to their conquistadors throughout the 40 years that followed. The Montaño were victims of this onslaught too, and were eventually unable to resist the advanced weaponry of the invading Europeans. As is usually the case in cultures that have been subjected to the cruelty and dangers of colonization, all that is left of the Montaño now are selected ruins and small populated settlements along the coast of modern-day Ecuador. Early colonial sources stated that the Ecuadorian town of Picoasa was once the seat of Montaño power, with chieftains and their guards occupying the settlement. Confirmed Montaño dwellings have been discovered across coastal Ecuador, including sites such as Salengome, Hokai, Agua Blanca, La Libertad, Cerro de Yohas, Bella Vista, Olan, and Montecristi, amongst others. In terms of industry and production, one of the major artifacts associated with Montaño is the carving of large objects from stone, often for use in ritual and ceremony. Such artifacts included huge stone columns into which were carved the outlines of human beings and animals, often depicting cats or female figures. Stone seats decorated with the same sculpted images were placed in locations associated with religious significance, and were thought to have been reserved for a chief of a particular settlement and his closest allies. Such constructions have been found across several sites, and were made early with relatively basic tools, which serves to show the intricate knowledge and talents of those carving them. Another key indicator of Montaño culture is the presence of certain types of pottery within Ecuadorian settlements. Montaño pottery was typically black, made from grayware bowls, and decorated with anthropomorphic animal figures similar to the cats seen on their stone constructs. As well as decorations in pottery, the Montaño constructed standalone figurines, which are common across some of the known settlements in Ecuador. These figures are thought to either show religious characters, or were designed to represent chiefs and other high-ranking members of society, shown with painted tattoo designs, depicting lines and patterns on the bodies of these individuals. This is potentially a good historical source for showing that people living within the realms of Montaño influence did, since prehistoric times, decorate their bodies with an early tattooing system, similar to those seen in the South Pacific. Amongst the commodities traded by the Montaño people were metals such as gold, silver, and copper, crops such as cotton, and animal products such as wool, meat, and shellfish. Marine shells were collected and dyed to make chiquita, beads made from white and red shells found in coastal waters and those that had washed up on shore. These fetched a high price and were made in abundance throughout Montaño lands. The pots and figurines that Montaño craftspeople created were also traded with other communities, alongside stones such as lapis lazuli, turquoise, and greenstone. Trading with others via land or sea would have encouraged the spread of Montaño culture without the need for conquest. As their technology spread from settlement to settlement, more societies were developing goods akin to those made by the Montaño. Research on the settlements left behind by the long-lost Montaño culture have revealed several key ideas about how their communities were structured. Studies have shown that Montaño culture was focused in several key settlements, several of which we mentioned earlier in the video. Salangome and Hokai, close to the original discovery site of Manta, appear to have been some of the most widely populated and politically important settlements in the Montaño society, where chieftains would meet to discuss important economical, militaristic, and religious matters. Many important Montaño sites were built close to water, presumably to maximize the effects of trade and fishing for its local people. Montaño settlements were well organized with structurally sound buildings made from stone. Religious shrines or temples were present in several known Montaño settlements, which would have housed rituals and ceremonies as well as regular meeting points for communities. Rural settlements could be found inland, where small communities of Montaño farmers could make a living from growing crops from terrace farms built into the foothills of the Andes Mountains. These farms consisted of steps of flat land cut into the hillside, with crops that require irrigation, such as rice, being grown on the tops of each step. Such methods are used widely in East Asia today, where vast paddy fields can be found. This allowed the Montaño farmers to make the most of the difficult terrain in inland Ecuador, whilst providing a basis for trade and commerce, all the while being able to feed themselves and their families. Montaño society appears to have been very hierarchical, with a chief or a series of chiefs sitting at the top of the order, presiding over a stretch of land within the reaches of Montaño culture. It would be the chief's job to govern his tribe or community, imposing laws and passing rules to keep his people safe and healthy. A chief would also be a commander in times of conquest and war, leading a group of warriors against an opposition to further expand the Montaño sphere of influence in ancient South America. Under the chief, labor would be meticulously divided between Montaño citizens, with individuals being devoted to a particular trade. Some settlements were devoted to the production of trade objects such as painted shells, whereas some were purely agricultural, providing food for the wider Montaño society. Mining towns would be found in the mountains, fishing villages by the coasts and rivers, and military encampments by strategic positions alongside borders or atop vantage points. We also know that the Montaño people buried their dead in diverse grave types, further adding to the idea that their society was hierarchical. Some citizens were buried in simple, shallow pits, while others were laid to rest in mounds or elaborate graves. The wealthiest or highest ranking members of society were buried in specially built tombs atop hillsides, where offerings were brought and ceremonies took place. While we have managed to obtain a great deal of information from the archaeological sites and ruins left behind by the Montaño culture, there is still much we don't know. Identities, achievements, and names of Montaño chiefs, warriors, politicians, priests, and craftspeople are lost to the ages, as many South American cultures do not have a recorded writing method, following the destruction of their culture in We do not know exactly how the first or last days of Montaño society looked, or even what day-to-day life might have been like for an average Montaño citizen. With luck, these are questions we may be able to answer in time, if we are able to obtain more information from the settlements these long-lost people left behind. Perhaps one day we will be able to answer these questions for certain.