Protecting archaeological objects in Ecuador

Melanie Aleman

In 2016, Ecuador made significant changes to its legislation through the Organic Law of Culture with the aim of protecting the national cultural heritage. In Art. 54 of the law, cultural heritage is defined as: "archaeological objects such as bones and human fossils and utensils made of stone, ceramics, wood, metal, textiles or any other material from pre-Hispanic and colonial times, in sight or buried or submerged, complete or incomplete, discovered or undiscovered, regardless of their public or private possession, including those found abroad, belonging to or attributed to the cultures or nationalities of the occupied territory"(Ley Orgánica de Cultura, 2016).

This cultural material is of great importance since it represents a vital fragment of the identity of the communities, peoples, groups and/or societies of a country with a long pre-Hispanic and colonial history—where much remains to be explored and discovered in the archaeological and anthropological field (Espinosa & Correa, 2012). At the same time, the development of construction works, strategic projects, roads, agriculture, urban growth, among other anthropomorphic and natural activities, threatens the integrity of these archaeological objects when there is no adequate plan and management to ensure their preservation.

The role of Entrix Latin America

To protect the Ecuadorian cultural heritage, Entrix Latin America works together with its clients to establish adequate procedures, perform archaeological surveys, reconnaissance and prospecting and, when necessary, archaeological monitoring, excavation and/or rescue.
In Ecuador, these activities are always in conjunction with the National Institute of Cultural Heritage (INPC, for its Spanish acronym), the responsible governmental entity. Additionally, Entrix Latin America professionals include archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists and other social and environmental specialists who support and promote the preservation of cultural heritage in all our projects.

Entrix Latin America archaeologist and anthropologist, Ana Belen Zambrano, records the archaeological objects collected in northern Ecuador.

Archaeological Activities

Many of the projects in which Entrix Latin America participates are in the most remote and least explored areas of the country. In these projects, the Entrix Latin America team has characterized and traveled through extensive areas where several archaeological activities have been conducted, including:

  • Archaeological Characterizations: consists in correlating several social and academic information to infer the social structure of the area from the theoretical discussion of several investigations, where the verification in field is optional. This analysis is mainly bibliographic and helps determine what kind of archaeological evidence may be present in the study area, considering its relative filiation, and the settlement pattern of the territory. For the archaeological characterization, existing reports of the study area are requested from the INPC, which may reveal the type of material that has been recorded previously in the zone.

 

  • Archaeological Reconnaissance and Prospecting: consists of a systematic surface area analysis in the field, with or without the collection of paleontological or archaeological material, with or without excavations that enables better planning, programs and research projects in a territory under study (Echeverría, 2011). In the reconnaissance or prospecting, sampling is usually done through shovel tests that are 30cm x 30cm and 70cm deep excavations, made in a reticular form, at intervals of 20m, 10m, and/or 5m, with the purpose of identifying the presence or absence of cultural vestiges, especially in areas that will undergo ground movement.

Shovel tests during Archaeological Reconnaissance

 

  • Archaeological Monitoring: the monitoring process is conducted in places where cultural vestiges have been previously found, during the activities of ground or soil movement with machinery. This activity supervises the ground movement process and checks for the presence of cultural evidences or artifacts and actions are taken, when needed, to prevent damage.

 

  • Archaeological Rescue: requires quick actions on behalf of qualified archaeologists and field technicians, that allow for the identification and removal of an archeological artefact. The rescue includes cataloguing key information on-site through written and photographic means, as well as a detailed report with lab analysis results, to be presented to the INPC.

 

  • Archaeological Excavation: systematic recovery of archaeological data through the process of excavation on site. The excavation process also involves the thorough analysis of field and bibliographic information, to determine (if possible) the social processes that tentatively occurred in the study area. All archaeological excavations will conduct laboratory analysis of all materials recovered during the investigation, and will likely use radiocarbon dating to establish cultural details of the artifacts found.

Archaeological remnants found in the surface during field work


Due to the delicacy of the archaeological objects and cultural heritage, Entrix Latin America works with qualified archaeologists, and with the proper INPC permits, which allow for these archaeological activities. After the activities, all the archaeological objects found are duly cleaned, registered, analyzed and delivered to the INPC with a report containing all the georeferenced information from where it was found.

Part of ceramic vase found in northern Ecuador is cleaned and registered prior to delivering it to the INPC.

The role of citizens

It is the duty of every citizen to preserve, disseminate and protect the history and culture of the country. As such, it is important to take care of any objects that could be found when hiking, building, or conducting field work, and to inform the INPC if any object is encountered.

It is important to identify an archaeological object, be it ceramic, lithic stone, funerary contexts, petroglyphs, or monumental archaeological sites (such as walls, terraces, or mounds). It is even more important not to remove the archaeological object from where it was found, as this can cause damage to the cultural heritage and decontextualize it, which will hinder the process of identifying what culture the object belonged to, what function it served, and other data that gives life to the cultural heritage of the country.

References