8 101 x Valdivia is best known for its early pottery. Some pieces bore impressions of maize cobs or contained maize phytoliths (minute silica particles). Unlike earlier coastal settlements of the region, relying heavily on marine resources, Valdivia and related sites were situated a little inland in order to make use of agricultural land.
# Valdivia
9 101 x A shell midden site on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Puerto Hormiga has some of the earliest pottery known from South America. Inhabitants of the site, like earlier people of the region who did not use pottery, lived on a mixture of hunted and gathered resources such as shellfish, small animals and nuts.
# Puerta Hormiga, Puerto Hormiga pottery sherd
10 103 E Real Alto was first occupied by shell fish collectors before 3000 BC. By 2600 pottery was being made there and the village was growing, having perhaps 1500 inhabitants by 2200 BC. The main features at this time were two large mounds, one with a possible shrine, the other with a charnel house (chamber containing bones).
# Real Alto, Burial or reconstruction of one of houses, if possible
11 101 x Las Vegas on the Santa Elena peninsula was a village of thatched houses associated with a shell midden. The inhabitants not only used wild resources but also cultivated maize and bottle gourds. Dates of around 6600 BC for this agricultural activity have been questioned, but it was certainly taking place by 5000 BC.
# Las Vegas
12 101 x This long-lived site in the Upper Amazon region was inhabited around 2000 BC by people making pottery strikingly similar to that from Kotosh in the nearby Andes. This underlines the strong links that existed between settlements in different ecological and cultural zones. Stone axes at Tutishcainyo suggest land was being cleared for slash and burn agriculture.
