Pre-Hispanic Fishing Structures Preserved on the Central Coast of Ecuador

Marine resource exploitation is documented for the central coast of Ecuador from 10.000 yr B.P., with a wide range of fishing techniques developing through time. Most recently, dozens of stone fishing structures have been identified at the Liguiqui archaeological locality, on the Manta Peninsula of Manabí Province. These resemble fish traps such as have been recorded worldwide, though no similar devices have previously been reported on the Pacific coast of tropical or subtropical South America. A preliminary study of the Liguiqui structures is presented here, assessing their geologic, environmental, cultural and chronological context. It is hypothesized that they could have had a double function as fish traps and as fish attractors/containers, and that they were most likely built during the Pre-Hispanic Manteño cultural period.Fil: Favier Dubois, Cristian Mario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; ArgentinaFil: Storchi Lobos, Daniela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lunniss, R.. Universidad Técnica de Manabí; EcuadorFil: Mora Mendoza, A.. Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral; EcuadorFil: Ortiz Aguilú, J. J.. Universidad Técnica de Manabí; Ecuado