Conduits of Ancestry: Interpretation of the

Geography, Geology, and Seasonality of

North Andean Shaft Tombs
Leon G. Doyon
Human Relations Area Files, New Haven

ABSTRACT
Contextual evidence for shaft tombs and related mortuary practices in the highlands of Ecuador and south-
ern Colombia is presented. Emphasis is given to the practical aspects of construction in light of changing
settlement patterns (ca. A.D. 1-1500). Shaft tombs not only conformed to geophysical restraints and the de-
mands of subsistence agriculture, they also exploited the ideological potentials of the landscape and its
seasonal changes. Shaft tomb cemeteries are consistently located in relation to peculiar topographical, geo-
logical, hydrological, and cultural features that were modified where possible and necessary. With the added
perspective of ethnographically and ethnohistorically documented native attitudes toward the landscape, the
passage of time, and the place of the dead in both, 1 interpret the seemingly disparate contextual features of
shaft tombs and related mortuary monuments as historically interrelated developments in hierarchical soci-
eties established and maintained fundamentally through appeal to ancestries both real and fictive.

S haft-and-chamber tombs are found from Meso-

america to the Southern Andes, but finds are most
densely concentrated within a presumed core area of the
tal tombs presumed to be diagnostic of chiefdoms are a
generalized post-Formative Period phenomenon through-
out the area, and that the origins and development of
Northern Andes, spanning the border of Ecuador and shaft tombs cannot reasonably be considered apart
Colombia (Figure 5.1). It is a sad fact that we get to see from mound tombs.
only the looted shells of most shaft tombs. Most excava- The most overlooked aspect of North Andean shaft
tions have been rescue efforts, meaning that there are no tombs is the one thing that looters cannot easily de-
systematic samples and the quality of description is stroy or spirit away: their contexts in the natural and
highly variable. To make matters worse, bone is usually cultural landscape. But it is only over the past few de-
very poorly preserved, often making it difficult to be cades that regional surveys and extensive excavations
certain whether burials were primary or secondary or, have begun to reveal that settlement patterns and the
for that matter, whether a shaft ever was in fact used as a spatial organization of cemeteries exhibit diagnostic pat-
grave. Seriational classifications of shaft tomb architec- terning for the previously defined ceramic periods. These
ture that rely on some combination of morphological studies at last provide a systematic framework into which
traits and scale (depending on theoretical leanings to- we can fit the opportunistically gathered and unevenly
ward diffusionism or evolutionism) have proven incon- reported data on shaft tombs. Evident regularities in the
clusive at best and contradictory at worst (e.g., Long geological, geographical, and seasonal contexts of
1967; Smith 1977-1978). The most reliable basis for shaft tombs provide strong reason to infer that the guid-
periodization remains the seriation of the often partial ing concept behind their construction—regardless of
and scattered artifact assemblages from shaft tombs. A shape, size, or richness of contents—was the creation and
handful of radiocarbon dates affirm that the monumen- supplication of ancestors both real and fictive. The build-
80 Leon G. Doyon

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sistence, but also by scheduling their
construction according to the yearly
cycle of rainfall and snowmelt that sup-
ply life-giving waters to crops. Such
blending of practical ritual and ritual
practice, little doubt embedded in myth
and cosmology, served to promote and
sustain social inequality.

Identifying Shaft Tombs

There are almost as many defini-

tions of shaft tombs in the Americas as
Atlantic there are descriptions of them. Smith
Ocean (1977-1978:180 82) distilled the nu-
merous variations into four essential or
archetypical traits (Figure 5.2). First, of
course, is a pit or shaft, at least 2 meters
deep. Second, there must be a burial
chamber to one side of the shaft. Third,
there often is a narrower shaft or tunnel
connecting the roof of the chamber to
the surface, a feature known as a clara-
boya in West Mexico and as an ushnu
in Peru (see Zuidema 1977 1978:134);
I will emplo\ the latter term, as my fo-
cus is the Andes. Lastly, shaft tombs
ought to be found on mountain ridges.
hilltops, or artificial mounds.
In reality, the sizes, shapes, and
e\en presence of shaft tombs can vary
not only among cultures and through
time but also according to geophysical
context. It is both predictable and evi-
dent that local geological conditions
commonly determine the depths of shaft
tombs, and probably influence how large
and elaborate the burial chamber can be
made.1 Because prehispanic cemeteries
in the area under consideration typically
are found within or immediately adja-
cent to habitation sites, changes in settle-
ment pattern could account for many
temporal trends in the morphology and
0 km 500 scale of shaft tombs. Location on natu-
Figure 5.1. Map <>t the \orllwrn indes, indicating tht area under discussion, ral promontories and or artificial
with political-geographical regions in italics. mounds also may be little more than
ers achic\ed this not only through purposeful place- practical adjustment to local soil conditions. One of the
ment of tombs in relation to peculiarities of landscape most important but least recognized factors is soil hu-
and .soils (as often js not culturally modified) that midity. Singly or in combination, the depth of the water
were of practical importance to settlement and sub- table, the inherent saturation potential of the soils, and
Conduits of Ancestry. North Andean Shaft Tombs fit

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seasonal precipitation can lead to flooding and cave-ins.:
Physical restrictions on the subsurface elaboration of
shaft tombs, limits to mass participation in their con- ••• [;•-: 1 1

..•:•..
struction, and their low visibility in the landscape even- |j ' 1
tually led to the use of mound tombs instead as the .'»
ultimate expression of power in parts of northern high- « >-
1
land Ecuador (Doyon 1991). For obscure and probably
% ushnu

•.-I
quite different reasons, a contrasting sequence of
|% $ I »
mounded stone cyst graves followed by shaft tombs oc- shaft
curs in the Upper Magdelena region of Colombia (Fig- ••i ! i
ure 5.3). Given such facts. I believe that physiographic •o
context, and not social competition alone, was a de- •#'•
•*i 1 !
termining factor behind varying trends toward per- •fc
)<••
ceived ostentation or restraint in elite mortuary archi- • 1 4

tecture (cf. Cannon 1989). / ' • ' .••••-••;.•;'•.*:•.'.*'>,••*.»•

Variations in the shapes of shaft tomb side cham-

bers may follow standards in domestic architecture. For
most of the region and archaeological periods under con-
sideration, dwellings had circular floor plans and domed chamber X).
or conical roofs, consistent with the most common form
of shaft tomb side chamber. Colombian shaft tombs that J&; <*•[ vr- •r-y.;V
have rectangular chambers with pitched roofs (Ford
194427-28; Gahwiler-Walder 1988:55) make a convinc-
Figure 5 2 'Archetypical' shaft tomb; Piartat phase, Mira-
ing case that these were conceived of as houses for the flores. Colombia (from Penlomo ct al. 19 4:163).
dead. The presence and number of shelves, niches, and
pits in side chambers usually correlate with the overall (maize beer) to the dead. The ushnu should be con-
dimensions of shaft tombs pertaining to a single cultural sidered but one possible manifestation of the belief
phase. As such, these details are a supplementary means in a period after death during w hich the spirit contin-
of assessing social rank. ues to reside in or near the corpse and must be suppli-
Nevertheless, the criteria of size and presence of a cated to avoid its wrath and or can be beseeched to
chamber must be approached as independent traits. In pro\ide boons. There is both ethnohistoric and ar-
some samples from single phases or even single cem- chaeological e\idence that the shaft itself could ha\e
eteries, there is no clear distinction in scale between functioned in a \ariety of ways as an ushnu, or means
simple shaft (deep pit) tombs and shaft-and-chamber of communication. Some were left open for a time,
tombs, although the larger and or better provisioned the chamber sealed with wood or stone. Others ma\
tombs most often have a side chamber. In other have been partially refilled, w ith offerings later placed
samples, tombs vary greatly in scale and richness, but higher up. Yet other tombs appear to have been re-
all have a side chamber. In yet other cases, simple shaft opened to some depth so that offerings could be de-
tombs may be deeper and contain richer offerings than posited. Simplest of all, offerings were made at the
shaft-and-chamber tombs. Bottle-shaped tombs should mouth of the shaft. Indeed, concentrated remains of
be considered true shaft tombs, for they conveniently deer, ceremonial ceramics and obsidian are said to
combine the shaft and the ushnu above a domed cham- be the clues used by looters to locate the entrances to
ber into a single column, emphasizing the transcen- the largest, richest graves (Grijaha 1937:51). In
dent (albeit subterranean, inverse) verticality of the deeper shaft tombs, for which the construction of an
architectural form. ushnu would be not only redundant but impractical
The ushnu is certainly the most overestimated and the concept seems to have been architectural!;, ex-
misconstrued feature of shaft tombs. Archaeological pressed in reverse, as pits in the floors of the cham-
traces are rare, while frequent ethnohistorical accounts bers. Looters call these pits cockeu (literalh water
usually are glosses on Cieza de Leon s (1984:165 basins). The otherwise inexplicable trait of a shaft dug
66) account of the use of bamboo tubes on the Ecua- deeper than the chamber could have had the same sig-
dorian coast for the offering of libations of chicha nificance as a cocka.
82 Leon G. Doyon

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Ecuador Colombia
11534 15.14 •
Inca

Tierradentro
Quillacinga <" Recent

Piartal 3 HOOi

700

o Regional
Chaupicruz Classic
5
Regional
Developmental Saw Agustin

Capuli AD]

• 350
Formative
Formative INote: tombs not to scale.

Figure ".> 3 Schematic chronology ofshaft and mound tombs fif the region; phase names in italics (sources. Cadavid 1989:18;
Ckaves and Puerto. 1980:61; Corrcal 1977-1978 272 Drennan 198512'' Fresco 1984:80; Guignahaudet 1953:175; Jijon y
Caamano 1927;fig. 9; Oherem 19X1:135- bribe IV77-197S-120).

Environmental Considerations by mountain ranges release precipitation that falls

largely during the wet winter season and mostly at
A comergence of geological processes and settle- high altitudes, feeding the springs and renewing the
ment patterns peculiar to the Northern Andes made pos- snow cover that supply permanently flowing streams.
sible the construction of some of the most impressive At the foot of these well-watered slopes within the
shaft tombs known in the Americas. It has long been rec- intermontane \ alleys, more gently inclined tablelands
ognized that the depths of shaft tombs in the region vary may receive only marginal amounts of precipitation, and
according to local soil conditions (GrijaKa 1937:127; surface v\ater usually can be found only in deeply eroded
Jijon y Caamano 1927:23; Uribe 1986 212). A deep, river gorges. Flat portions of valley bottoms are the silted-
consolidated loess deposit from the last glacial period up remnants of glacial lakes, often marshy and subject
known as cangahua occurs throughout much of the high- to frost. Consequently, a band along the mountain slopes
lands of southern Colombia and northern Ecuador. It is flanking the highland valleys is the zone best suited to
found closest to the surface on the inner flanks of the maize agriculture with minimum risk and maximum pro-
Andean Cordillera, where it is but thinly covered by later, ductivity utilizing available moisture. The relevant alti-
less stable colluvial deposits. The only notable features tude zone for the Andes of Ecuador and far southern
that disrupt the massive uniformity of the cangahua for- Colombia is generally between 2600 and 3000 meters
mation are randomly occurring, variably thick strata of (Knapp 198825 115). In the lower, damper Andes of
loose, whitish tephras deposited during episodic volca- the upper Cauca and Magdelena river drainages, the pre-
nic eruptions. ferred zone ranges from about 1500 to 2000 meters
Snow-capped volcanos, a remarkable number of (Drennan 1995:92). Irrigation to boost yields (if not to
them active are the most immediately impressive aspect raise two crops a year) and all but eliminate the need for
fallow can be achieved most efficiently on steep moun-
of the North Andean landscape. Extinct caldera and en-
tain slopes with nearly impermeable cangahua close to
closed valley bottoms may hold lakes. Clouds trapped
Conduits of Ancestry: North Andean Shaft Tombs 83

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the surface, where swift-running streams in shallow The Formative Period is defined, in part, by an ab-
beds can be diverted to nearby fields using short, un- sence of monumental architecture. It is possible that the
lined canals (Knapp 1987, 1988:96-99; Mothes diminutive predecessors of deep shaft-and-chamber
1987:82-83; Uhle 1926:5-6), On gently sloping table- tombs originated during this period in the Pasto and
lands covered with sandy, colluvial soils, stone-lined Upper Cauca regions.6 What is undeniable is that For-
canals many kilometers long may be needed to tap mative Period settlement strategies and mortuary prac-
streams far above on the slopes, before their waters tices set the stage for later developments.
flow into precipitous canyons. Raised fields known In Pichincha, Formative Period Cotocollao phase
as camellones, which provide drainage and amelio- sites are quite evenly distributed between valley bottoms
rate frosts on saturated bottomland soils, are an and mountain slopes. The fact that sites almost invari-
equally labor-intensive but potentially more produc- ably were reoccupied in later (especially the Integration/
tive irrigation technique (Knapp 1988:122-48). Inca) periods indicates they were well situated in rela-
It is true that the deepest shaft tombs are found tion to critical resources like potable water and fertile,
where there is a deep cangahua substrate on well-drained easily worked soils (Bray 1991:422-25, 1992:224-25;
mountain slopes. Locations ideal for deep shaft tombs Myers 1978). Nevertheless, it is probable that the people
are usually also ideal for raising maize as a staple crop of this early period were seasonally transhumant
at minimal risk, with the potential to employ irrigation horticulturalists who passed most of the rainy winter sea-
at the lowest additional labor costs relative to gains in son in small household clusters on the mountainsides for
productivity. The potential for surplus production and larger the purpose of growing some crops. During the dry sum-
permanent settlements presented by even simple slope mer season, these small (probably family) groups would
irrigation methods would provide a basis for economic gather at valley floor sites near sources of water (Porras
inequality.3 1982:27-28). The type site of Cotocollao is an example
The link between agriculture and shaft tomb con- of the latter variety of settlement, near the shore of a
struction extends to seasonality. For reasons already lake on the Quito meseta (enclosed tablelands) that held
stated, the construction of the largest shaft tombs might standing water until early Colonial times. Extensive ex-
only have been practicable during the dry summer sea- cavations at the site have revealed not only closely packed
son. Corpses destined for burial in such graves often clusters of dwellings, but also a formally organized cem-
would have to have been interred in temporary graves etery precinct. During the early Formative (1500-1100
or somehow preserved above ground until their final B.C), the dead typically were buried individually in shal-
resting places could be prepared. The dry season is low pits, possibly centered on a small mound topped by
also when agricultural labor would have been largely a "charnel house." Secondary burial became common
freed for other pursuits. Still, because the shafts were during the late Formative (to 350 B.C). Removal of skel-
narrow and the volumes of soil involved were conse- etal remains from individual interments for reburial
quently quite small, a crew of one or two diggers aided in collective graves may have been a seasonal rite. "Cer-
by three or four persons hauling baskets of soil to the emonial heads," or skulls temporarily removed from the
surface could have completed many of the largest tombs graves of the honored dead, were eventually reinterred
in a matter of days or, at most, a few weeks.4 A far greater together in graves and offering pits. These practices are
amount of labor would have been expended in provision- the earliest indication of an ancestor cult celebrating
ing exceptionally rich graves. The opposite apportion- lineage, with inklings of prestige ranking (Villalba
ment of labor is apparent for mound tombs in Ecuador 1988:78-109).
(Doyon 1991). Regional Developmental Period (350 B.C.-A.D. 700)
settlement in the Pichincha through Narino-Carchi re-
Archaeological Evidence gions uniquely exhibits a preference for the mountain
slopes, typically between 2600 and 3100 meters. In site
Historical context is also imperative to understand- descriptions there is remarkably frequent mention of cas-
ing how and why shaft tombs were built. I will present cading streams and/or intakes for irrigation systems
the available evidence as nearly as possible in chrono- nearby, many evidently used well into Colonial times
logical order for the area as a whole, while nevertheless and some still in use today (Bray 1991:417-25, 1992:224;
attempting to highlight continuities in the better docu- Echeverria 1988:213-14; Echeverria and Uribe 1981:31:
mented regional sequences (refer to Figures 5.1 and 5.3).5 Francisco 1969:15-16; Jijon y Caamano 1920:44, 113;
A more thematic summary will follow. Knapp 1987:25^28, 1988:122; Uribe 1977-1978:166,
84 Leon G. Doyon

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1983:264-65). The largest systematic regional survey lineage membership (Francisco 1969:38-39; Uribe 1977-
to date was carried out in the Valle de la Plata of the 1978:118-20).
upper Rio Magdelena, Colombia. Regional Classic Two early Chaupicruz phase (A.D. 150) shaft tombs
Period (A.D. 1-800) settlement there is concentrated of modest dimensions (2.4 and 6 meters deep) were ex-
between 1500 and 2000 meters, away from both drier cavated at Malchingui, Pichincha, a platform mound site
valley bottoms at around 1400 meters and perpetually during the following period. At 2900 meters, the site lies
damp high altitudes above 2000 meters. This pattern at the juncture of the slopes and tablelands, a position
originated during the preceding Formative Period and, well suited to management of irrigation waters. The
as in Ecuador, there was frequent reoccupation of chambers of both tombs were stepped down from the
these early sites in later periods. Site distributions do bottoms of the shafts and sealed with blocks of cangahua.
not conform to any apparent environmental advantage. The deeper tomb, with its chamber just below a thin te-
Nevertheless, localized clusters of settlements began to phra stratum, contained skeletal remains and few, but
coalesce during the middle and late Formative, became relatively prestigious, offerings: a high proportion of
well defined during the Regional Classic, and were even resist-painted ceramic vessels and a polished stone celt
more clearly concentrated during the Recent Period (A.D. typical of the largest Capuli phase tombs, plus a local
800-1534). The only discernable reason for this trend is style of tall jar commonly found in late Chaupicruz phase
the attraction of ancestral burial grounds (Drennan and Chilibulo phase shaft tombs. The shallower tomb did
1995:94-101). not reach the tephra stratum. It contained more, but more
The likeliest candidates for the earliest, as well as ordinary, offerings (mostly small, plain ceramic vessels),
the deepest, monumental shaft tombs belong to the and no evident skeletal remains. Both tombs were re-
Capuli phase of the Narino-Carchi region. The Capuli filled with sandy soils different from the surrounding
phase (300 B.C.-A.D. 300) is known almost exclusively matrix (Meyers et al. 1981).
from shaft tomb cemeteries. Little is known about the Excavations at the late Chaupicruz phase (A.D. 200-
spatial arrangement of graves within cemeteries, but there 450) site of La Florida, Quito, produced hard evidence
is clear indication of a two-tiered hierarchy, with "nor- for the full range of attributes presumed typical of Re-
mal" pit or shaft-and-chamber tombs ranging from 0.8 gional Developmental Period sites with shaft tombs. The
to 4 meters deep and elite shaft-and-chamber tombs rang- site is located at 3000 meters on the flanks of a promon-
ing from 9 meters to upward of 40 meters deep.7 Many tory that juts from the side of an active volcano. Below
bottom out at or just below naturally occurring tephra was the aforementioned lake on the Quito meseta. A
strata, and looters are said to be able to locate the deep- spring atop the promontory feeds a perpetually flowing
est tombs by the scatter of "lime" (tephra?) and cangahua stream that runs through the site. Immediately to one side
around their entrances (Francisco 1969:38-48; Grijalva of the stream was an area almost certainly devoted to
1937:52-53, 170-71;Uribe 1977-1978:166). The cham- irrigation agriculture, employing unlined canals directly
ber of the deepest documented Capuli phase tomb was in the cangahua substrate. A stone-lined canal ran
built within a thick, very ancient tephra deposit, 33 meters through the permeable midden soils of a residential area
below the surface (Isaacson 1987:165-67; Uribe 1977- farther away from the stream, providing water for do-
1978:118-20). Many of the larger shaft tombs were re- mestic use and/or to irrigate more distant fields. Shallow
filled with soils distinct from those removed; frequently domed or bottle-shaped burial pits scattered throughout
midden soils (Francisco 1969:40). The chambers of deep peripheral areas of the site contained individual inter-
tombs usually were embellished with an ushfiu and/or ments and often were refilled with a pure white tephra.8
cochas. Side chambers often were added higher up along A small ceremonial mound is an early feature within the
an existing shaft (perhaps many generations later), yet irrigated fields, constructed in two (seasonal?) episodes
sometimes were provided with another narrower shaft using midden soils from the earliest occupation or per-
or ushfiu. A domed chamber added around the existing haps transported from a different site. Subsequently, the
shaft of a deeper tomb is similar to a bottle-shaped shaft mound became covered with deep colluvial deposits but
tomb: the shaft running centrally through it serves both was still recognized as sacred ground and kept clean of
as a narrowed entrance or ushfiu above and as a pit or detritus. Shortly before the abandonment of the site the
cocha below. Chambers added to existing shafts, and mound became the focus of a graveyard, possibly with a
the tunnels or "false doorways" connecting separate concentrically hierarchical arrangement. Simple or
shafts also presumably built at different times, indicate bottle-shaped shaft tombs from 3 to 10 meters deep are
a degree of spatial organization in cemeteries based on reported from the fringes of the mound {Hoy 1995). The
Conduits of Ancestry: North Andean Shaft Tombs 85

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mound surface itself was used for the largest, bottle- a few "tombs" were devoid of human remains. In a re-
shaped, shaft tombs with unusually large cochas in the versal of the sequence of construction at La Florida,
centers of the shaft floors. Five excavated examples mounds sometimes were erected atop clusters of graves
ranged from 14.2 to 15.1 meters in original depth. A sixth (Athens 1980:127-34; Jijon y Caamano 1914:20-59,
was 12.5 meters deep. All penetrated well into the ster- 1920:192-94).
ile cangahua, to at or just below the level of three tephra In Pichincha, a late Chilibulo phase (A.D. 700-1490)
strata (the light consistency of the fills can be attributed mound composed of midden soil was raised above a num-
to the admixture of these tephras, not to replacement with ber of pit and small shaft-and-chamber tombs, the en-
different soils). Five of the six shafts intentionally over- trances to which first were marked with circles of white
lapped or were connected by false passageways (Doyon sand. Most of the tombs exhibited evidence of numerous
1988). Stable isotope analysis of human bone from both intrusions and reworkings, which is consistent with the
high-status and sacrificial burials in the tombs reveals a secondary burials of partial skeletal remains, the lack of
diet high in maize, with elites consuming only slightly human remains in some tombs, and the quantity of hu-
more than what presumably was a servant class (Ubelaker man bone found scattered at the surface level beneath
et al. 1995).9 The two to four (to perhaps six) individu- the mound (Uhle 1926:15-23). Native people of
als buried in richly appointed bundles in each tomb surely Pichincha practiced remarkably similar rites as recently
did not die at the same time. Nearly all the corpses in the as the early twentieth century. They clearly marked new
bundles were modified: the lower extremities were re- graves. Upon the next death of a family member they
moved anywhere from mid-thigh through the pelvis, with reopened the grave and removed the remains of the origi-
probable evisceration. In a few cases only the cranium nal occupant, thereby giving the deceased a final glimpse
was present (Ubelaker 2000). Clearly, there was a pe- of the land of the living. After they placed the fresh corpse
riod of primary interment and/or mummification of these in the opened grave and covered it with soil, they hap-
select individuals prior to their final, collective interment hazardly replaced portions of the former occupant and
in the shafts, almost certainly during the dry season. A topped off the grave (Jijon y Caamano 1920:49).
thin slurry of soil attributable to the occasional summer Piartal phase sites of the early Integration Period (A.D.
squall was found on the uphill side of the floor of one 700-1250) in Narino-Carchi often were near valley bot-
shaft; frequent winter rains surely would have left many toms, presumably in order to employ more intensive and
more, heavier deposits of this kind. Horseshoe-shaped extensive irrigation. Nevertheless, settlements tended to
fire pits associated with the entrances were oriented to be placed on the crests of low ridges or small promonto-
take advantage of prevailing summer winds. Distinctive ries (Echeverria 1988:212-16; Francisco 1969:15 16,
soils in the mouths of some shafts show they were topped 143-44; Uribe 1977-1978:165-71, 1983:265, 1986:212-
off to surface level after the original fill had had time to 17; Uribe and Lleras 1982-1983:348). The largest Piartal
settle, probably after a year or more. Only then were of- phase shaft tombs were shallower, but considerably larger
ferings of human sacrifices placed at the entrances. in diameter and therefore larger in volume than their
Excavations at later Chilibulo phase sites in and Capuli phase antecedents; probably an adjustment to soil
around Quito have revealed simple shaft and shaft-and- conditions on or near valley bottoms. Rescue excava-
chamber tombs. A small tomb of the latter type at the tions at Miraflores, Narino, revealed a concentric, hi-
early phase (A.D. 450-700) type site of Chilibulo con- erarchical layout to a major shaft-and-chamber tomb
tained only portions of the lower extremities of an indi- cemetery (Uribe and Lleras 1982-1983:349-50). The
vidual. The upper body could have been removed for tombs of the ruling elite, with cochas and richly provi-
reburial, consistent with the evidence from La Florida. sioned multiple burials, occupied the center of the burial
Offerings were left atop stone slabs covering the floor. ground. The largest intact tomb was 19 meters deep. Its
Such slabs could have served to consolidate and define chamber had a two-tiered cocha and the walls were
the floor of a frequently reused grave. Other tombs at painted white—perhaps to compensate for the absence
this and another contemporary site variously contained of an appropriately deep tephra deposit. Another 12-
no human remains and some ceramic offerings, few meter-deep tomb appears to have been refilled with
human remains and no ceramics, or secondary burials midden soil. In the immediately surrounding area were
with offerings (Echeverria 1977:185-91). Roughly con- the tombs of the lesser nobility, ranging from 7 to 9
temporary Urcuqui phase pit and simple shaft burials meters deep. These contained multiple, but generally
in Imbabura were primary or secondary (largely second- fewer, burials, and the chambers either had a cocha or a
ary, sometimes at different depths within a single pit); floor somewhat deeper than the bottoms of the shafts.
86 Leon G. Doyon

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Commoners' tombs found in the periphery of the cem- lands, between 2800 and 3000 meters. However, a nota-
etery precinct typically had chambers stepped down from bly large proportion (6 sites) are between 2200 and 2400
the bottom of the shaft and ranged from 1.2 to 2.4 meters meters, in the range of damp valley bottoms, where traces
in overall depth. This was deep enough to reach the only of camellones frequently are evident, and within broad
notable stratum of volcanic sand at the site. Many also alluvial portions of canyons where canal irrigation could
were refilled with distinctively dark soils containing some have been employed (Gondard and Lopez 1983:103). The
cultural materials. These small tombs contained what closely associated, large-scale irrigation systems actu-
appear to have been tightly bundled, primary burials of ally may have been the more important monumental
individual adults (Correal 1977-1978; Perdomo et al. construction at platform mound sites. In some cases it
1974; Uribe and Lleras 1982-1983). appears that access ramps were intentionally removed to
There is some evidence that Piartal phase shaft tomb make room for more camellones running right up to (and
cemeteries in Ecuador also had a concentrically ordered eroding away) the bases of the mounds (Athens 1980:122-
hierarchy (Grijalva 1937:51; Verneau and Rivet 23, 143-44; Knapp 1987, 1988:171; Molestina 1985:43;
1912:122).10 The deepest graves often reach below the Myers 1974; Oberem and Hartmann 1981:54-55). De-
water table, indicating that they could have only been spite the reorganization of settlement, reoccupation or
built at the height of the dry season (Grijalva 1937:171). continuous occupation of favorable Regional Develop-
A moderately deep (6.1 meters) but large diameter bottle- mental Period sites on the lower mountain slopes and of
shaped tomb could not be completely excavated early in Formative Period sites on valley bottoms appears to have
the dry season because of groundwater seepage (Cruxent been the rule rather than the exception (Bray 1991:407,
1956:34-36). Another voluminous, probably bottle- 414, 425-27, 1992:223-24; Echeverria and Uribe 1981;
shaped tomb (also incompletely explored because of the Gondard and Lopez 1983:83-106). El Quinche is an ex-
danger of collapse) is said to have been filled with midden ample of a platform mound site at the juncture of the
soil. Yet another, probably Tuza phase, tomb was refilled lower mountain slopes and upper tablelands in Pichincha
first with packed clay, then with sand, and finally with a known to contain a major irrigation canal of probable
cap of humus (Verneau and Rivet 1912:117-18, 123). antiquity and a dense surface scatter of Regional Devel-
The Tuza phase (A.D. 1250-1490) marks the demise opmental Period ceramics (Bray 1991:414-22; Knapp
of deep and richly provisioned shaft tombs in the Narino- 1988:122; Meyers et al. 1981). Judging from an intact
Carchi region. Instead, bohios (round houses) reached jar attributed to the site, El Quinche almost certainly
monumental proportions, some nearly 60 meters in di- conceals Chaupicruz phase shaft tombs, like the compa-
ameter (Echeverria 1988:215; Francisco 1969:30, 106- rable platform mound site of Malchingui (Gondard and
12; Gondard and Lopez 1983:73-74; Grijalva 1937:169- Lopez 1983:217; Jijon y Caamano 1920:99, 113; Meyers
70). There would have been ample room in such mas- etal. 1981).
sive structures for the preserved corpses of the dead to Despite the dramatic change in form, early Cara
reside for a time amongst the living, as was frequently phase hemispherical mound tombs in Pichincha retained
reported for neighboring regions at the time of the Span- many architectural peculiarities of Chaupicruz phase
ish conquest. shaft tombs. A tomb in the cangahua substrate of a
In lmbabura and northern Pichincha. monumentalism mound at Huaraqui features the least ambiguous example
also took a somewhat different turn during the Cara of an ushnu yet found in the region: the extremely nar-
phase. Sites with early phase (A.D, 700-1250) hemispheri- row "neck" of the bottle-shaped chamber reaches an of-
cal mounds—many of them tombs—and late phase (A.D. fering pit at the surface containing a loose jumble of
1250-1490) truncated pyramidal platform mounds pre- stones through which libations could have been poured.
sumably were the political centers of chiefdoms (Athens Two secondary burials above a shallow, probably wood-
1980; Gondard and Lopez 1983:83-106). As in the covered cocha appear to have been sealed into the cham-
Narino-Carchi region, principal settlements of this pe- ber with blocks of cangahua until such time as another
riod generally were located at lower altitudes, or wher- secondary burial was placed in the shaft and the tomb
ever it was possible to apply more intensive irrigation was completely refilled with soil (Guignabaudet 1953).
methods. In lmbabura, there is a strong modality of The most thoroughly explored Cara phase site is
mound sites between 2400 and 2600 meters (25 of 69 Cochasqui, on upper tablelands at 2900 meters.
documented sites), on broad, dry tablelands where canal Unsurprisingly, the remains of a possibly ancient irriga-
irrigation is most practicable. In Pichincha, the largest tion canal run near the platform mounds (Oberem and
number of sites (12 of 27 sites) are on the upper table- Hartmann 1981). Two excavated funerary mounds had
Conduits of Ancestry: North Andean Shaft Tombs 87

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single, central burial pits with deep, wood-covered tinctively light, sandy soils." Side chambers were often
cochas. The pits were not refilled with the cangahua re- lined or at least sealed with stone slabs (like earlier cyst
moved in their construction (in one case, this was found tombs in earthen mounds), and shafts frequently were
still piled to one side of the pit). Instead, they were filled extended much deeper than the floor of the chamber. The
with successive thin layers of clays and white tephras simplest, shallowest, bottle-shaped tombs frequently lack
piled well above the original surface to form a small detectable human remains. Many of these have multiple
mound. The larger mounds were completed somewhat layers of colluvial clays on their floors, with the remain-
later in one or more major episodes of construction that der naturally silted-in with soft black soils (local looters
included thin layers of tephra. (If glittering white tephras say that such tombs are "'en sombra' or "in shadow").
were used to surface the mounds after any given stage of Flagstones found high up in the narrow entrances prob-
building, the effect would have been dazzling.) One of ably were supported by wooden poles and covered with
the mounds contained intact primary and secondary buri- a small mound at the surface (Ford 1944:27 28, 43-47).
als with few ceramic vessels. When the surface of the Layered soil deposits on tomb floors and the variable
completed mound subsided above the pit, the depression presence of skeletal remains and offerings indicate re-
was repaired with additional fill. The other mound con- peated, seasonal use for temporary burial before final
tained numerous ceramic vessels but was devoid of hu- use as a grave and/or abandonment. Archaeologists gen-
man remains. It is evident from the stratigraphy that the erally agree that small Tierradentro phase shaft tombs
burial pit was reentered once or twice, when only the were employed for temporary burial, and most skeletal
small, initial mound existed (Oberem 1981). Alternating parts were removed for urn or cyst reburial in rock-cut,
volcanic sand and hard clay fills also occur in the much painted shaft tombs that had chambers sealed with stone
larger late Cara phase platform mounds that were topped slabs (Chavez and Puerta 1980, 1984). In the Upper
with bottle-shaped or conically roofed bohios. The plat- Magdelena region, a relatively small, bottle-shaped shaft
forms themselves had only an incidental purpose as a tomb with an empty chamber above the shaft floor had a
place for burials—overwhelmingly secondary and with final offering of manos, metates, and ceramic vessels
few if any offerings (Athens 1980:147-75; Athens and placed high up within the shaft (Drennan 1985:127-29,
Osborn 1974[l]:6-8; Jijon y Caamano 1914:16-19, 1995:101-3).
1920:44-56, 192-94; Kunter 1981:178-81; Oberem and In the Tungurahua region of Ecuador, Integration
Hartmann 1981; Uhle 1937; Wurster 1981). The early Period Puruha phase shallow shaft-and-chamber tombs
Cara phase trait of funerary mounds with single, central contain primary or, more frequently, secondary burials
burial chambers may have been revived in early Colo- of individuals. The floors of the tombs are covered with
nial times just south of Pichincha, as a means of assert- a layer of white volcanic ash (Porras 1980:280). Larger
ing the pre-Incaic territorial claims of Panzaleo chiefs but still unimpressive tombs dug into hard cangahua may
(Moreno 1988:78-79). have chambers with slanting ceilings. They typically
Shaft tombs remained or became the favored high- contain secondary burials and are refilled with distinc-
status grave in the regions both south of Quito and north tive soils (Jijon y Caamano 1927:23-24). In the Chim-
of Narifio-Carchi during their respective late pre-Incaic borazo region, most pit tombs with elaborate offerings
and prehispanic periods. Moderately deep (7.65 to 9.7 contain single, complete skeletons in tightly bundled
meters) Quillacinga phase shaft tombs in the Pasto re- positions, indicating that the corpses may have been
gion had chambers stepped down from the shaft floor mummified and kept above ground for some length of
and sometimes contained Piartal-style ceramics. Stones time (Jijon y Caamano 1927:32-33, 104-8).
placed in the chamber fill at the level of the shaft floor Yet farther south, in the Canar region, a probable
are potential evidence that the shaft was to be left open Inca Period shaft-and-chamber tomb held eleven tightly
for a time, with only the burials and offerings covered. flexed burials. These individuals most probably perished
A variety of simpler, smaller tomb forms may contain at different times and were mummified to preserve them
primary, secondary, or urn burials; the last being most until such time as a final, collective interment was
characteristic of Tierradentro phase secondary burials deemed appropriate. Offerings were placed in the shaft,
(see below). Excavation of other shafts produced no hu- above the chamber and beneath demarcated layers of fill.
man remains, just layers of fill that included stone slabs The tomb itself was located alongside a standing stone
and possible midden soils (Cadavid 1989:10-19). that served as a shrine atop a natural outcrop considered
In the Upper Cauca region, archaeologists frequently a huaca de origen (place of cultural origin) of the mod-
have observed that deep shaft tombs were filled with dis- ern Caflari people (Fresco 1984:79-92). Remembrance
88 Leon G. Doyon

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of the ancestors was the fundamental reason the Period, a more elaborate periodicity, or realization of the
protohistoric Cafiari continued to build and tend to shaft space of death, is evident in secondary, usually collec-
tombs after the Spanish conquest, and why Colonial Pe- tive reburial according to lineage and social esteem.
riod authorities were eager to destroy these symbols of During the subsequent period in the Pichincha
native autonomy (Salomon 1987). through Narifio-Carchi region, it appears to have been
necessary to establish "new" ancestral places of death as
Summary and Interpretation: Shaft Tombs subsistence cultivation of maize forced an abandonment
as Places and Spaces of Death of many seasonally occupied burial grounds in favor of
permanent settlement on well-watered mountain slopes.
Ancestry surely was the unifying principle behind In native Andean beliefs, prominent mountains—particu-
the spatial and temporal dimensions of precolonial burial larly snow-capped and/or active volcanos—are places of
practices in the area. Taussig (1986:371—74) emphasizes cultural origins and the embodiments of primordial spir-
the conflation of space and time in native North Andean its. Ancillary promontories may be considered offspring
and Northwest Amazonian cultures when he defines the of those spirits and are favored places for shrines dedi-
"space of death" as "a privileged zone of transformation cated to their worship. Thus, mountain slopes and hill-
and metamorphosis . . . located in a fermenting, rotting, ocks can be natural portals to the space of death, ideal
organic underground of time." Rather unlike the place for the establishment of fictive ancestry from primordial
of death (i.e., of burial) the space of death is a liminal culture heroes (Haro 1980:119-23, 189-209; Jijon y
period of transition between physical death and the pas- Caamano 1990:191-232; Moya 1981:59-61; Whitten
sage of the soul to the afterlife. It is both a span of time 1978:846). The surprisingly common act of refilling
and a supernatural realm in which the deceased must rely graves with mined tephras and/or the excavation of shaft
upon the guidance of ancestral spirits to approach the tombs to the depths of tephra strata can be interpreted as
eternal abodes of culture heroes. The places and spaces metaphorically tapping the veins of these ancestral spir-
of death can be largely coextensive.12 It is not difficult its. Because of their whiteness and sandy texture, natu-
to imagine how ritual specialists monopolizing access to rally occurring tephra strata could have been considered
the space of death and mediating passage to the afterlife subterranean reflections of the hydrological cycle, with
(i.e., acting as psychopomp) could form the nascent ker- cascading streams connecting snow-covered volcanos to
nel of an elite social class. a watery underworld (cf. Zuidema 1977-1978:134). The
We can be certain that during the Formative Period use of midden soils instead of tephras in the construc-
the native peoples of the highlands of Ecuador and south- tion of ceremonial mounds and to refill shaft tombs only
ern Colombia were actively creating landscapes of death adds weight to the idea of a purposeful reference to a
and ancestry. From the middle Formative Period onward fictive (and in some cases undoubtedly authentic) an-
in the Upper Magdelena region, settlement increasingly cestry. Whitten (1976:43) observed that among the
clustered around sacred ground, particularly existing Canelos Quichua of the outer Andean slopes east of
places of death where leaders might maintain ceremo- Quito: "Any excavation in the ground is an exciting busi-
nial connections to, and be buried alongside, their real ness, because old polished stone hatchets, shamans'
or purported ancestors (Drennan 1995:94). It is likely stones, stone mortars and pestles for grinding capsicum,
that these artificially created centers were considered and the rocks and hard clays used by the ancient Runa
portals to the space of death (if not the actual space [human] ancestors are bound to turn up. The finder is
of death) where contact could be maintained with an- quite lucky, for such 'hard evidence' of antiquity links
cestral spirits. If burial chambers truly were intended as him with ancestral, territorial, souls."
dwellings to be inhabited for a time by the deceased, then The ideological motivation to reach ancient tephra
probable Formative Period shaft-and-chamber tombs in strata aside, the construction of the deepest shaft tombs
southern Colombia provide the earliest architectural evi- was largely a matter of opportunity, made practicable
dence for a belief in the space of death. by settlement of the well-drained mountain slopes
The site of Cotocollao supplies convincing evidence thickly covered by dense soils in northern Ecuador and
for the melding of the places and spaces of death prior to far southern Colombia. There are obvious advantages to
the use of shaft tombs in Pichincha. During the early permanent settlement where rainfall is adequate for the
Formative, there were well-defined places of death in cultivation of maize without risk of frost, near sources
the form of distinctive cemetery precincts in what were of potable water, and, where possible, on fertile
probably seasonal settlements. By the late Formative archaeosols. Elites evidently also took advantage of both
Conduits of Ancestry: North Andean Shaft Tombs 89

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the practical and the ideological potentials of settlement ticularistic ethnic-lineage divisions between the living
alongside permanently flowing streams at intermediate and the dead or between religious and secular elite
positions between high mountain sources and valley bot- groups, which in turn is linked to the processes of ethnic
tom lakes or rivers in deep gorges falling away to the expansion and consolidation. It also may relate to legiti-
low, watery realms of the Amazon basin or Pacific coast. mation by foreign intruders" (Dillehay 1995:8).
There is a certain logic in the mirror-image cosmogra- Furthermore, natural promontories and artificial
phies of native peoples that equate seasonal precipita- mounds were preferred as distinctive, "ancestral" places
tion and the flow of water down mountainsides with the for burial within the monotony of newly created agricul-
circuit of souls from a celestial realm to an underworld. tural landscapes. Early Colonial Period Panzaleo mound
Site location where cascading mountain streams meet burials and Canari shaft tomb burials on culturally sig-
more gradual lower slopes, particularly where there are nificant natural promontories highlight the connection
waterfalls, not only facilitates a low-cost implementa- between conspicuous mortuary practices, "ancestral"
tion of irrigation, but also presents the opportunity for ground, and authority over productive land.
mediation with ancestral powers or access to the space In comparison to the popular practices of collective
of death (see Moya 1981:61-64; Whitten 1978:846). The reburial during the preceding (though perhaps totally
pits intuitively called cochas by looters almost certainly unrelated) Cotocollao phase, Capuli phase shaft tombs
symbolize a watery underworld (Doyon 1998). The cocha converted the space of death into an exclusive domain
and, especially, the ushnu are unmistakable architectural presided over by elite lineages, presumably reflecting
representations in shaft tombs of the cyclical flow of new political realities among the living. The deep, nar-
water from celestial to subterranean abodes, with a par- row shafts and rather small chambers would have made
allel circuit of souls. In the ethnohistorical record for the collective reburial impracticable, so lineage continuity
Central Andes, Zuidema (1977-1978:162-68) finds a instead was architecturally expressed through the addi-
"conceptual unity of shafttomb with its tube or ushnu, of tion of chambers, or by tunnels and doorways symboli-
the beginning of an irrigation canal, and of certain other cally connecting different stages of construction. This
ideas that we encounter: water basin [cocha], ocean . . . also was a crucial step in the reorganization of the place
and the muddy flow of waters in the rainy season." He of death toward the formal, hierarchical arrangements
concludes, "The shamanistic element in the use of of Chaupicruz and Piartal phase shaft tomb cemeteries.
shafttombs is intimately related to the cult of water." It appears as though access to the space of death had
Little wonder, then, that elaborations like the cocha and become unequal; that the quality of one's existence in
the ushnu appear to be reserved for tombs of elites who the afterlife was contingent upon the favorable interven-
appear to have exercised increasingly exclusive roles in tion of powerful spirits of ancestors who were also pow-
mediating between the natural world and the supernatu- erful in life. In a pattern remarkably similar to that found
ral realm (or space of death). in the Chaupicruz phase shaft tombs at La Florida, "the
The curious location of elite burial grounds within archaeological evidence from Venado Beach in Panama
irrigated fields during the Regional Developmental Pe- indicates that many individuals either were killed or bur-
riod in northern Ecuador is a quite explicit extension of ied alive. Historical sources reveal that this was done in
these concepts to the place of death. Ethnohistorically, order that their souls might accompany their masters to
chiefs in the region were expected to have the most beau- serve in another world . . . [I]t is clear that a minority
tiful and productive fields, symbolizing the strength and dominated their inferiors in life and successfully imposed
well-being of the polity (Salomon 1978:182-83). It was a belief that their rituals alone could open the doors to
all the better in the ideology of authority if places ideal any future existence after death" (Lothrop 1954:234).
for the implementation and control of irrigation had been Certainly, one of those portals to the ancestral space
inhabited by "ancestors." In the Central Andes, monu- of death was the royal burial ground. For those outside
ments may be located not only in relation to critical zones the ruling household, being buried as close as possible
of production but also at abandoned settlements that are to the deceased leaders' tombs would have provided the
"opportunistic places for establishing ancestor linkages. best chance of improving one's lot in the afterlife.13 From
In fact, there seems to be something important about this point forward we find little more than variations upon
occupying the tomb of a competitor or predecessor and existing themes. Shaft tombs came to displace mounded
establishing one's own identity of historical placement stone cyst tombs for elite burials in the Upper Magdelena
in regional affairs. This could perhaps be described as a region during the Recent Period. The tendency for settle-
process of burial 'sodalities' crosscutting previous par- ment to cluster around prominent, ancestral burial
90 Leon G. Doyon

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grounds only grew more intense. Some standard features elites appear to have made one last attempt at co-opting
of elite shaft tombs were reinterpreted, like the exten- popular mortuary practices by assuming mound burial
sion of the shaft deeper than the chamber to form a cocha. as an exclusive privilege, with something of an oppos-
Other local traits were retained, such as lining and seal- ing sequence of construction and reentry for the recov-
ing the chamber with stone slabs. ery of remains. This practice was rapidly abandoned in
From Pichincha through Narino-Carchi, major po- favor of building platform mounds that were the visual
litical and ritual centers reoccupied or continued to anchors of massive irrigation works, but only an inci-
occupy earlier settlements on high ground near the dental focus of simple pit and shallow shaft-and-cham-
intakes of irrigation systems, even as settlement gen- ber tomb burials. Considering the contemporary evidence
erally shifted to lower altitudes with the adoption of from tombs in the Chimborazo and Canar regions of
large-scale, labor-intensive irrigation methods. Although the southern highlands of Ecuador, structures atop
Narino-Carchi region Piartal phase shaft tombs on lower these platform mounds and the even larger bohios of
ground or near the summits of lesser promontories nec- the contemporary Tuza phase could have served as
essarily became shallower, they became more volumi- places for the mummification and display of deceased
nous. Laborious uses of paint and transported soils members of elite lineages. As far back as the Chaupi-
provided symbolic connections to natural and ancestral cruz phase there is evidence for the active modifica-
spirits when appropriate local conditions were lacking tion and even partial preservation of the corpses of
(e.g., deep tephra strata and earlier midden deposits). high-status individuals for eventual, probably seasonal,
Monumentalism moved above ground during the coeval interment. Prolonged, specialized treatment for the
early Cara phase of Imbabura and northern Pichincha. conservation of the corpse would have lent distinc-
Single, central burial pits in elite burial mounds never- tion to elites and conforms to what appears to have
theless retained many structural features of earlier shaft become a more personalized style of leadership that
tombs. The layering of tephras in mound fills indi- relied less on mystified relationships to ancestral spir-
cates this was truly a case of bringing the mountain to its for legitimation.
Mohammed. I have attempted to provide, by way of highlighting
Commoners evidently clung to secondary burial as remarkable consistencies in a largely opportunistically
an expression of special status within their own lineages. collected and unevenly reported body of evidence, a co-
The idea of collective burial was reasserted in late herent framework for analysis of shaft tombs that incor-
prehistory, quite probably inspiring contrasting elite porates recent advances in chronological and contextual
mortuary treatments—including the decline of the monu- control missing from (and often contradictory to) previ-
mental shaft tomb in regions where it previously had ous diffusionist and evolutionist approaches. When con-
reached its grandest realization. The tradition of elite textual evidence is given equal weight to form and size,
shaft tomb burial was most faithfully carried forth to the it becomes apparent that the unifying characteristic of
time of the Spanish conquest in the Pasto, Upper Cauca, shaft tombs is that they were built for the creation and
and Tungurahua regions, although secondary burial with supplication of powerful ancestors. By the Formative
an elaborate, probably seasonal sequence of ritual ap- Period, cemeteries had already been established at cen-
pears to have been practiced for adults of both common tral places, perhaps with a seasonal pattern of burial and
and elite social classes. Given the presently available reburial emphasizing lineage and ancestry. During the
record for the Tierradentro phase, reliable inferences subsequent period, shaft (also mound) tombs made ap-
cannot be made about status differences in collective peal to fictive ancestries and/or represented hierarchi-
burial practices. Indeed, with evidence that elites were cally restricted access to ancestral powers. This was
increasingly the masters of the spaces of surplus agri- achieved by location relative to mountains and streams,
cultural production consumed in collective rituals by the by exploiting extant natural and cultural soil deposits,
living rather than being used for the apotheosis of a few and by symbolic reference to hydrological and agricul-
ancestors, it becomes less and less apparent that deceased tural cycles. During the final period, the same set of
elites remained sole masters of the space of death. By motivations and motifs prevailed, although in combina-
the late Regional Developmental Period in Imbabura tions often producing less spectacular places of death.
and Pichincha, Urcuqui and Chilibulo phase mounds Instead, unequal advantage was maintained by innova-
collectively united pit and small shaft-and-chamber tive manipulation of the space of death through which
tombs containing mostly individual burials (though many the unquiet dead must journey to take their places among
had been reworked and reoccupied). Early Cara phase the ancestors and heroes.
Conduits of Ancestry: North Andean Shaft Tombs 91

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Acknowledgments 5. As is customary in the area, I present calendric
dates calculated on uncalibrated radiocarbon dates. All
My excavation of deep shaft tombs at La Florida, dates except that of arrival of the Spanish in Quito (1534)
Quito, was supported by the Museo del Banco Central should be considered "circa." I omit beginning and/or
del Ecuador, Quito, and the Yale Center for International ending dates for cultural phases for which there remains
and Area Studies, with coordination by the Instituto a large degree of uncertainty.
Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural del Ecuador, Quito. 6. There is a single radiocarbon date of 2550 ± 160 B.P.
Paulina Rodriguez de Teran excavated the stone-lined for a shallow shaft-and-chamber tomb near Popayan that
canal and associated habitation features at the site as her contained primary burials of adults (Mendez 1985:113).
thesis work for the Escuela Superior Politecnica del 7. There may be a two-fold ranking within each of
Litoral, and I appreciate the access to her data. The ef- these basic categories: adults and subadults in the former,
forts of paleoenvironmentalist Patricia Allan (Programa and ruling versus subordinate elites in the latter.
de Antropologia Para el Ecuador) and laboratory super- 8. At a roughly contemporary site of the closely
visor Patricia Estevez (Museo del Banco Central) pro- related La Chimba-Urcuqui phase in Imbabura, compa-
duced additional evidence for irrigation. Little sense rably humble pit and shaft-and-chamber tombs reach
could have been made of the jumble of human remains shallow strata of volcanic tephras and sands and were
from the shaft tombs without the meticulous analysis refilled with distinctively sandy soils (Athens and Osborn
performed by Douglas Ubelaker of the Smithsonian In- 1974[2]:7).
stitution. I also want to thank Helaine Silverman and 9. No comparable data are available in the area, but
David Small for their invitation to participate in the sym- stable isotope analysis on coastal Ecuadorian cemetery
posium "The Place and Space of Death," giving me the populations, as well as macrobotanical remains and arti-
impetus to organize a body of data and ideas that had fact evidence from both coast and highlands, indicates
been tormenting me for some time. Last but not least, I that maize was not a staple crop prior to the Regional
must acknowledge my debt of gratitude to Professor Developmental Period (van der Merwe et al. 1993).
Emeritus Irving Rouse of Yale University for teaching 10. Grijalva (1937:171) distinguished four size cat-
me to pursue the kind of "strong inference" I have made egories of Piartal phase graves in Ecuador, pertaining to
in this paper, drawing together individually weak, seem- the ruling elite, lineage or household heads, adult house-
ingly disparate lines of evidence into a single, powerful hold members, and children.
argument. 11. A Middle Cauca drainage, Quimbaya phase tomb
is said to have been filled in stages with soil taken from
Notes a nearby hill, before a final mounding over (Verneau and
Rivet 1912:124).
1. Similar observations have been made for West 12. Either can intrude independently and almost
Mexican shaft tombs (Pickering and Cabrero 1998:74). without control into the land of the living, causing ill-
2. Broad pit tombs in Panama in a seasonally inun- ness and death. It might therefore be suggested that mor-
dated area just reached the level of groundwater at the tuary ritual in the area was fundamentally "shamanic."
height of the dry season. The corpses of the chiefs bur- However, this is an imprecise label because traditional
ied within would have been desiccated to preserve them shamanism (involving prophylaxis and healing) is but
for the very short window of opportunity during which one consequence of a far more pervasive cosmology.
such tombs could be built (Lothrop 1937:51). 13. For doubtlessly similar reasons, wealthy persons
3. The surplus production of maize in all probability in medieval Denmark paid handsomely to be buried in a
served to sustain other activities important to the rise of monastery alongside monks (Himelfarb 2000:71).
social hierarchy that are evident in the archaeological
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