Early coastal communities in Ecuador and adjacent regions caught deep-sea fish from balsa wood rafts. They also dived in shallower waters for spondylus shells.
These shells, a delightful red colour on the outside and around the inside rim, were highly valued in ancient Central and South America; Andean communities regarded them as the food of the gods.
From around 3000 BC, coastal Ecuadorians were trading these shells to Andean groups, and demand perhaps outstripped local supply. Spondylus is found as far north as the Bajo California in Mexico, and Ecuadorians probably obtained further supplies of spondylus by travelling to such northern waters.
There are striking similarities between material from Ecuador and from western Mesoamerica, that cannot have occurred by chance. These included whistling ceramic jars and pottery coated in a very distinctive iridescent pink paint.
Shaft tombs in the Colima and Jalisco area of western Mesoamerica have stronger similarities to South America than to geographically adjacent regions.
