The Valdivia culture is one of the oldest settled cultures recorded in the Americas. It emerged from the earlier Las Vegas culture and thrived on the Santa Elena peninsula near the modern-day town of Valdivia, Ecuador between 3500 BC and 1800 BC.
There are 1,390 miles of coastline, where the Pacific Ocean meets Ecuador, but there is so much more to this scenic region than just pristine beaches. The bustling port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest, offers sophisticated hotels, shops and restaurants as well as an eye-catching riverfront development, cutting-edge museums and an intriguing historical park and zoo. Numerous marine and wildlife reserves such as Machalilla National Park ensure a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Esmeraldas is the center of Afro-Ecuadorian culture and the birthplace of the Marimba. Chocoholics can indulge their passion by traveling the Cacao Route, visiting three historic cacao haciendas, gaining an in-depth knowledge of (and succulent experience with) Ecuador's renowned chocolate.
Top activities along the coast include whale watching – best from July to September – from the small fishing town of Puerto López; visiting Isla de la Plata which shares many of its species with the Galápagos Islands; bird-watching on Isla Corazón near the ‘eco-city’ of Bahía de Caráquez; surfing, sea-kayaking and kite-surfing all along the coast, but particularly around the beaches of Montañita in Santa Elena Province.
Beyond these nature-based activities, there is a wealth of culture and archaeology on the coast.
In terms of archaeology, there are many cultures of interest. However, the Valdivia is regarded as one of the earliest cultures in South America.
The ruins of Valdivian towns are located along the river basins of the Ecuadorian coastal strip, where their people could take advantage of the fertile river plains for agricultural purposes, as gardening was their most important subsistence activity. Valdivian inhabitants cultivated Indian corn (maíz), kidney beans (fréjol), cassava, cotton-plants and archira (plant of the Cannacae family whose roots are edible). The diet was complemented with game (especially deer) and offshore fishing. They also practiced the gathering of molluscs and crustaceans along the beach, in mangroves and estuaries.
The most interesting place to visit to find out more about the Valdivia is the museum at Real Alto. It lies fairly close to the town of Chanduy, in Guayas Province under two hours’ drive from Guayaquil. It marks the site of Real Alto, discovered in 1971 and excavated by Donald Lathrap and his team of researchers from the University of Illinois.
Investigations demonstrated the existence of the first agricultural settlements in the Americas where pottery was used (4400 to 1700 B.C.), placing the area chronologically in the middle and late Valdivia phases. Scientific studies over the past three decades have enabled archaeologists to reconstruct the socioeconomic organization of the Valdivia people.
The museum presents 10,000 years of history of the Santa Elena Peninsula. Visitors are given an understanding of the region’s historical and cultural development through a variety of dioramas, photographic displays, drawings, explanatory maps, scale models, and artistic murals and the exhibition of over 50 restored vessels and 40 original Valdivia figurines.
An ethnographic museum fashioned from the region’s traditional building materials complements the archaeological museum with exhibits of weavings, ceramics and metal works by contemporary craftsmen from the area.
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