The Panzaleo Puzzle: Non-Local Pottery in Northern Highland Ecuador

Abstract

One of the most intriguing ceramic wares of the northern Ecuadorian highlands is a distinctive, thin-walled pottery commonly known as Panzaleo. Though widely dispersed throughout the northern highlands, it rarely, if ever, forms the sole or even primary element of archaeological site assemblages in this region. The ubiquity of this ware has led to considerable discussion about its nature and significance. The basic characteristics of this ware are reviewed, along with the results of two separate compositional analyses of Panzaleo sherds from the Guayllabamba-El Quinche region of northern highland Ecuador and the Cosanga region of the eastern montaña. A comparative study of sherds from the two different regions demonstrates a high degree of similarity in the paste composition of pottery samples from the highlands and the eastern montaña. The mineralogy of the ware points to the eastern foothills of the Andes as the probable locus of its production, suggesting the existence of prehistoric relations of exchange between northern highland and eastern lowland groups. Separate morphological and contextual analyses of Panzaleo pottery lead to several hypotheses regarding the significance of the ware that relate, in part, to its association with lowland cuisine and feasting ritual.