Squash effigy jar

Artist Unidentified artist

Date1100-300 BC

MediumEarthenware

Dimensions2 9/16 × 5 11/16 inches (6.5 × 14.4 cm)

CultureChorrera (Ecuador)

ClassificationsCeramics

Credit LineGift of Thomas Carroll, PhD 1951

Terms

Ecuador
Ceramics
Earthenware
Vegetables
Squashes
Chorrera

Object number2006.070.044

Label CopyBRIEF DESCRIPTION This is a Chorrera ceramic effigy pot in the form of a patty pan squash. An effigy pot is a container made in the shape of a living thing, most commonly a person or animal, but sometimes even a fruit or vegetable. WHERE WAS IT MADE? This vessel was made in what is now Ecuador. HOW WAS IT MADE? This bowl was likely hand-built with the coil method. In this method, a base is made by shaping clay into a flat disc. Then hand formed coils of clay, like ropes, are successively added to one another, building up the walls of the bowl. A tool such as a wooden paddle is used to smooth the sides both inside and out, leaving no trace of the coils. Additional hand modeling of the clay was used to form the knobby raised bosses. Prior to being fired, the surface of the bowl was burnished using a smooth object such as a stone or piece of bone. Finally, the finished bowl was fired in an earthen pit. HOW WAS IT USED? Except for contact-period ceramics and for some grave goods, it is very difficult to determine who used any given piece of pottery, and under what circumstances. Were some vessels reserved for special guests, or for use by high-status elders? Were they used during special religious ceremonies or rituals? Was their use avoided by certain classes of people, such as children and/or menstruating women? As we venture farther back into the past, answering questions such as these becomes increasingly difficult. Although it is tempting to draw on information from modern traditional societies and from contact-period chronicles, inferences drawn from such sources must be used with care, especially when used to interpret objects distant in both space and time. WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS? This pot is in the form of a patty pan squash. Squashes and gourds are frequently depicted in pre-Columbian art and artifacts, particularly in ceramics, like this pot. In South America, squashes (Cucurbita spp.) are generally consumed as food, while bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) are used for containers. ABOUT THE CHORRERA CULTURE: The Chorrera culture’s extended sphere of influence incorporated all three major Ecuadorian ecological zones: the coast, sierra (mountains), and Amazonia. While the Chorrera culture had its origins in the earlier Machalilla culture of the coast, certain aspects of its ceramic technology may have been influenced by the Ocós culture of Mesoamerica. The Chorrera people lived in small communities of 100-120 people, which seem to have supported craft specialists despite their small size. Fishing and farming were distinct occupations. The economy of the Chorrera people was based on farming, hunting and gathering. Trade along rivers and over the sea, especially trade in valuable stones such as lapiz lazuli, obsidian, and rock crystal, played an important role in the florescence of this culture. The highly burnished redware ceramics were decorated with black resist decoration, and feature an assortment of naturalistic animals and stylized human figures. Whistling bottles make their appearance during this period. The first cultural horizon in Ecuador to be widespread over a relatively large geographic region, the Chorrera people laid down a common cultural foundation upon which later cultures were built.

Collections