Conference | The pre-Hispanic Cañari Culture - Ecuador

PROGRAM

10:00  |  Opening conference

Welcome address : Peter Eeckhout (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Symposium introduction : Valentine Wauters (Université Libre de Bruxelles and Royal Museums of Art and History) 

10:10  |  GOMIS, Dominique (Independent researcher, Ecuador)

Los Kañaris de la sierra surecuatoriana: una reconstrucción histórica, desde los inicios hasta la llegada de los Inkas

A partir del II do. milenio antes de nuestra era y en un basto espacio situado en al austro de los Andes Septentrionales ecuatorianos, las primeras sociedades neolíticas proto-kañaris se establecieron y construyeron paulatinamente un modelo territorial que les permitió consolidarse en entidades político-administrativas, económicas y culturales siempre más complejas. A lo largo de los diferentes períodos siguientes, este proceso desembocó en la constitución de grandes señoríos étnicos kañaris competitivos, quienes tuvieron que enfrentar la conquista Inka, en el siglo XV. Esta forma de manejo  territorial se estructuró a partir de una apropiación y práctica particular del espacio geográfico, en donde se desarrolló un modelo que parece diferenciarse de aquel que encontramos en los Andes Centrales.
 

11:10  |  IDROVO, Jaime (Independent researcher, Ecuador)

Kañaris e Inkas; cambios y reorientación del Tawantinsuyo en el siglo XVI

Alrededor del siglo X, toda la región Kañari se hallaba convulsionada, debido al cierre paulatino de las rutas de comunicación y flujo comercial con el norte peruano, al igual que por la incursión y ascenso de pueblos amazónicos sobre la Cordillera Oriental. Hechos que marcaron el inicio de una serie de conflictos bélicos internos y la paulatina fusión de varios de los señoríos étnicos, que en alianzas separadas se disputaba tierras y las rutas de contacto interregional, especialmente con los Andes Centrales. Es en estas circunstancias que se produce la conquista Inka sobre un pueblo dividido por rivalidades políticas y en un estado de guerra permanente, sin que la misma alcance un dominio total sobre su territorio, pese a lo cual, la permanencia de los últimos soberanos en Tomebamba, el nacimiento de Wayna Qhapaq en esta urbe y la prolongada guerra de conquista del norte serrano, marcaron un cambio de comportamiento desde el poder centralizado del Cusco, junto a un emergente poder que, desde el norte, amenazaba con la integridad del Tawantinsuyu. 

12:10  |  Lunch break

13:30  |  Bray Tamara (Wayne State University, USA)

Cañaris and Incas: Material Expressions of Intersecting Histories

In this paper, I take an object-centered approach to the question of power dynamics and intersecting histories. Specifically, I focus on an example of a unique vessel form, which I interpret as a material expression of cultural entanglement in the Andes during the late autonomous era. This vessel, an amalgam of the Cañari (Cashaloma) compotera and the Inca shallow plate, has an interesting story to tell: about inter-cultural encounters, asymmetrical power relations, the negotiation of identities, and the agency of objects. The relationship between the Cañari and the Inca, which began with Topa Inca’s incursion into southern Ecuador in the mid-1400s, was relatively long and purportedly fraught. Over the course of this shared history, ample opportunity existed for study and understanding of the Other to emerge on both sides. When, where, and why material admixtures of local and foreign forms and styles occur is a key concern in studies of culture contact and colonialism. Centering such hybrid objects offers insights into the specific ways people appropriated elements and used things to maneuver socially and politically, highlighting the material basis of such strategies and the agentive role of objects. The vessel in question, which represents a material point of articulation between the Cañari and the Inca, was specifically created to operate within the domain of commensal relations. While the original context of this object is unfortunately obscure, it is nonetheless possible to gain insights into the role it may have played in Cañari politics via a focus on its cultural connections, key features, method of manufacture, likely function, and probable itinerary.

14:30  |  LARA, Catherine (French Institute for Andean Studies (IFEA) and Paris Nanterre University, Peru and France) and BRAY, Tamara L. (Wayne State University, USA)

New Insights from Ecuador into Inca-Style Pottery Production in the Provinces

In addition to military victories, the success of the Inca expansion also rested on a true strategy of ideological conquest, conveyed by symbolic objects of Inca hegemony. Ceramic production played a significant role in this regard. “Provincial” potters were widely mobilized to produce this symbolic ware, which often differed markedly from their usual morpho-stylistic repertoire. How did these potters manage to produce these new forms? Did they use their own techniques, or did they employ new ones? Could any potter produce this type of ware? What do these elements tell us about the organization of production in the Inca empire?

This presentation aims to address these questions through the case study of the Cañari Inca archaeological site of Olleros, located in the parish of San Miguel de Porotos, province of Cañar, Ecuador. From the archaeological, ethnographic and ethnohistoric data employed, the research results suggest that the Inca-style pottery found at the site was produced locally by Cañari potters. These potters combined their usual techniques in a different way to manufacture the Inca forms. It is proposed that only expert Cañari potters were able to produce Inca morpho-stylistic types. These were possibly mobilized from other parts of the cañari territory (mitmaqkuna).

15:30  |  Coffee break
 

15:50  |  VALDEZ Francisco (Institute of Research for Development (IRD), Paris, France)

Los Cañaris de Sigsig, evidencias regionales de la interacciones hacia el Oriente 

Chordeleg y Sigsig son dos pueblos ubicados en el callejón interandino oriental de la provincia del Azuay. Las precarias vías de comunicación existentes, hasta en la década de 1970, no mantuvieron a esta región aislada de la vida económica de la provincia. El Importante desarrollo sociocultural de esta parte del austro es notable desde épocas precolombinas. La importancia de los señoríos cañari de esta región se vio reflejada en las “huacas quintaleras” que salieron de esta zona a fines del siglo XIX. González Suárez y Max Uhle buscan documentarlos a inicios del siglo XX. Empero, hay muy pocos trabajos arqueológicos que documenten y profundicen en la historia de los antiguos pobladores de esta región. A mediados de la década de 1970 la Misión Arqueológica Alemana en el Ecuador inspeccionó y determinó la importancia de algunas edificaciones prehispánicas cercanas a Sígsig. Entre 1982 y 1983 el Museo del Banco Central del Ecuador efectuó una campaña de reconocimiento extenso en el cantón Sígsig, obteniendo información de primera mano sobre los antiguos habitantes de la zona. En este trabajos se presentarán algunos de los datos más relevantes (cronología y modelos de ocupación del espacio) que aportan a la trascendencia de los Cañaris.
 

16:50  |  WAUTERS, Valentine (Université Libre de Bruxelles and Royal Museums of Art and History, Belgium)

The Cañari Collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels and the Emile Deville’s Donation.

The Ecuador collection at the Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels contains 433 archaeological objects. Most of the collection comes from a donation made by Consul Emile Deville, who, in 1879, contributed more than 200 pre-Hispanic artifacts. It is one of the first and most important donations of pre-Hispanic objects to the museum. Among the items, around forty ceramic, metal, and stone artifacts were listed in the inventory without cultural or chronological attribution, but they could be attributed as belonging to the Cañari culture of Ecuador. The available information is limited, since these objects did not come from archaeological contexts, and the notes from Emile Deville’s catalog project were lost in a shipwreck. However, thanks to other archival documents, letters from his relatives, and some information about the provenance, it is possible to study this collection. The aim is to trace the history and trajectories of this collection, as well as to study, to classify and to precise its objects in order to highlight this collection of great interest, which remained forgotten in the storage for nearly 150 years…


Conference organized by Valentine Wauters (Université Libre de Bruxelles and Royal Museums of Art and History)