Editing History of Ecuador (section)

==Pre-Columbian Ecuador==
{{main|Pre-Columbian Ecuador}}
{{see also|Indigenous peoples in Ecuador}}
During the pre-Inca period, people lived in clans, which formed great tribes, some allied with each other to form powerful confederations, as the Confederation of Quito. But none of these confederations could resist the formidable momentum of the [[Tawantinsuyu]]. The invasion of the Incas in the 16th century was very painful and bloody. However, once occupied by the Quito hosts of [[Huayna Capac]] (1523–1525), the Incas developed an extensive administration and began the colonization of the region. The [[Pre-Columbian era]] can be divided up into four eras: the Pre-ceramic Period, the Formative Period, the Period of Regional Development and the Period of Integration and the Arrival of the Incas.

The Pre-ceramic period begins with the end of the first ice-age and continued until 4200 BCE. The [[Las Vegas culture (archaeology)|Las Vegas culture]] and The Inga Cultures dominated this period. The Las Vegas culture lived on the [[Santa Elena Peninsula]] on the coast of Ecuador between 9,000 and 6,000 BC. The earliest people were hunters-gatherers and fishermen. Around 6,000 BC cultures in the region were among the first to begin farming.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stothert |first=Karen E. |date=July 1985 |title=The Pre-ceramic Las Vegas Culture of Coastal Ecuador | journal=American Antiquity |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=613–637 | doi=10.2307/280325 |jstor=280325 |s2cid=162313695 }}</ref> The Ingas lived in the Sierra near present-day Quito between 9000 and 8000 BC along an ancient trade route.<ref>Pre-Historic Civilizations in Ecuador in Ancient History is owned by Dennis Jamison.</ref>

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| title = [[Valdivia culture]]
| image1 = MORTERO JAGUAR VALDIVIA 2.JPG|width1=200|caption1=Mortar, Jaguar Valdivia, South Coast (4000 BCE to 1500 BCE).
| image2 = Valdivia Female Figurine 2600-1500 BCE Brooklyn Museum.jpg|width2=100|caption2=Ceramic female figurine (2600–1500 BCE).
}}
People of the region moved from hunter-gathering and simple farming into a more developed society, with permanent developments, an increase in agriculture and the use of ceramics. New cultures included the [[Machalilla culture]], [[Valdivia culture]], and the [[Chorrera culture]] in the coast; Cotocollao and the Chimba in the sierra; and Pastaza and Chiguaza in the eastern region. The Valdivia culture is the first culture where significant remains have been discovered. Their civilization dates back as early as 3500 B.C. Living in the area near the [[Santa Elena Peninsula]], they were one of the first Americans to use pottery. They navigated the seas and established a trade network with tribes in the Andes and the Amazon.<ref name="lcweb2"/>

Succeeding the Valdivia, the [[Machalilla culture]] was a farming culture that thrived along the coast of Ecuador between the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. These appear to be the earliest people to cultivate maize in this part of South America.<ref>The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press.</ref> Existing in the late formative period the Chorrera culture lived in the Andes and Coastal Regions of Ecuador between 1000 and 300 BC.

===Period of Regional Development===
The period of Regional Development is identified by the emergence of regional differences in territorial or political and social organization. Among the main cultures of this period were the Jambelí, Guangala, Bahia, Tejar-Daule, [[Tumaco-La Tolita culture|La Tolita]], Jama Coaque on the coast, Cerro Narrío Alausí in the sierras, and Tayos in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle.

La Chimba, north of Quito, is the site of the earliest ceramics found in the northern Andes and is representative of the Formative Period in its final stage. Its inhabitants were in contact with villages on the coast and the mountains, in close proximity to the [[Cotocollao Indians|Cotocollao culture]] located on the plateau of Quito and its surrounding valleys. The Bahia culture occupied the area that stretches from the foothills of the Andes to the Pacific Ocean, and from [[Bahía de Caráquez]] to the south of Manabi. The Jama-Coaque culture inhabited areas between Cabo San Francisco in [[Esmeraldas, Ecuador|Esmeraldas]] and Bahía de Caráquez in Manabi, in an area of wooded hills and vast beaches which facilitated the gathering of resources from both the jungle and the ocean.

[[File:Tolita mythological figure in feathered costume IMJ B77.0161.jpg|thumb|upright|left|200px|[[Tumaco-La Tolita culture|Tumaco-La Tolita]] mythological figure in feathered costume. Between 100 BC and 100 AD. Found in [[Esmeraldas, Ecuador|Esmeraldas]].]]
The La Tolita developed in the coastal region of Southern Colombia and Northern Ecuador between 600 BCE and 200 AD. A Number of archaeological sites have been discovered and show the highly artistic nature of this culture. Artifacts are characterized by gold jewelry, beautiful anthropomorphous masks and figurines that reflect a hierarchical society with complex ceremonies.<ref>Bouchard, Jean François & Usselmann, Pierre. Trois millénaires of civilization between Colombia ET Equator: The region of Tumaco the Tolita. Paris, CNRS Editions, 2003.</ref><ref>Coe, Snow and Benson. Old America. Pre-Columbian civilizations. Barcelona, Circle of Readers, 1989.</ref>

===Period of Integration and the arrival of the Inca===
{{see also|Inca Empire}}
[[Image:Ecuador ingapirca inca ruins.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Ingapirca Ruins near Cuenca]]
Tribes throughout Ecuador integrated during this period. They created better housing that allowed them to improve their living conditions and no longer be subject to the climate. In the mountains Cosangua-Píllaro, the [[Capulí culture|Capulí]] and Piartal-Tuza cultures arose, in the eastern region was the Yasuní Phase while the Milagro, Manteña and Huancavilca cultures developed on the coast.

====The Manteños====
The [[Manteño]]s were the last of the pre-Columbian cultures in the coastal region existing between 600 and 1534. They were the first to witness the arrival of Spanish ships sailing in the surrounding Pacific Ocean. According to archaeological evidence and Spanish chronicles the civilization existed from [[Bahía de Caráquez]] to Cerro de Hojas in the south. 
They were excellent weavers, produced textiles, articles of gold, silver spondylus shells and mother of pearl. The manteños mastered the seas and created an extensive trade routes as far as Chile to the south and Western Mexico to the north.<ref>James A. Zeidler of Colorado State University</ref> The center of the culture was in the area of [[Manta, Ecuador|Manta]] which was named in their honor.

====The Huancavilcas====
The Huancavilcas constitute the most important pre-Columbian culture of Guayas. These warriors were noted for their appearance. Huancavilca of culture is the legend of Guayas and Quiles, which gives its name to the city of Guayaquil.

====The Incas====
The [[Inca civilization]] expansion northward from modern-day [[Peru]] during the late 15th century met with fierce resistance by several Ecuadorian tribes, particularly the [[Cañari]] in the region around modern-day [[Cuenca, Ecuador|Cuenca]] along with the [[Quitu]], occupants of the site of the modern capital; and the Cara in the Sierra north of Quito. The conquest of Ecuador began in 1463 under the leadership of the ninth Inca, the great warrior [[Pachacuti]] Inca Yupanqui. In that year, his son Tupa took over command of the army and began his march northward through the Sierra.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rostworowski |first=María |title=Pachacútec Inca Yupanqui}}</ref>

[[File:Ingapirca_03.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Ruins of structures built with stone blocks|Incan ruins at Ingapirca]]
By 1500 Tupa's son, [[Huayna Capac]], overcame the resistance of these populations and that of the Cara, and thus incorporated most of modern-day Ecuador into [[Inca Empire|Tawantinsuyu]], or the Inca empire.<ref>{{cite book | last = Rudolph | first = James D. | title = A Country Study: Ecuador | publisher = Library of Congress | year = 1991 | location = Washington, D.C. | url = https://archive.org/details/ecuadorcountryst00hanr | lccn = 91009494 | isbn = 978-0844407302 | url-access = registration }}</ref> The influence of these conquerors based in [[Cuzco]] (modern-day Peru) was limited to about a half century, or less in some parts of Ecuador. During that period, some aspects of life remained unchanged. Traditional religious beliefs, for example, persisted throughout the period of Inca rule. In other areas, however, such as agriculture, land tenure, and social organization, Inca rule had a profound effect despite its relatively short duration.<ref>Starn, Degregori, Kirk ''The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics''; Quote by Pedro de Cieza de Leon; Published by Duke University Press, 1995</ref>

Emperor Huayna Capac became fond of Quito, making it a secondary capital of [[Inca Empire|Tawantinsuyu]] and living out his elder years there before his death in about 1527. He willed that his heart be buried in Quito, his favorite city, and the rest of his body be buried with his ancestors in Cuzco. Huayna Capac's sudden death and the death days later of the Incan heir apparent from a strange disease, described by one source as [[smallpox]],<ref>Lovell, W. George. ""Heavy Shadows and Black Night": Disease and Depopulation in Colonial Spanish America." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 82, no. 3, The Americas before and after 1492: Current Geographical Research (Sep., 1992): 426–443.</ref> precipitated a bitter power struggle between [[Huáscar]], whose mother was Coya (Empress) Mama Rahua Occillo, and [[Atahualpa]], whose mother was according to most sources of the [[Panakas|panaka]] of Pachacuti,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cieza de León |first=Pedro |title=El Señorio de los Incas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarmiento de Gamboa |first=Pedro |title=Historia de los Incas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=de Betanzos |first=Juan |title=Suma y Narración de los Incas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cabello de Balboa |first=Miguel |title=Miscelánea Antártica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua |first=Juan |title=Relación de las antigüedades deste Reyno del Perú}}</ref> and who was his father's favorite.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Favre |first=Henri |title=Les Incas |publisher=Presses Universitaires de France}}</ref> Huascar was chosen as emperor by the Inca nobles, but Atahualpa was very popular with the Inca armies stationed in the north.<ref name=":0" /> Huayna Capac had named another one of his sons, [[Ninan Cuyochi]], as his heir. But Ninan Cuyochi died shortly after his father from smallpox. Huáscar ordered Atahualpa to attend their father's burial in Cuzco and pay homage to him as the new Inca ruler. Atahualpa, with a large number of his father's veteran soldiers, decided to ignore Huáscar, and a civil war ensued. A number of bloody battles took place until finally Huáscar was captured. Atahualpa marched south to Cuzco and massacred the royal family associated with his brother.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rostworowski |first=María |title=History of the Inca Realm |publisher=Cambridge University Press |translator-last=B. Iceland |translator-first=Harry}}</ref>

This struggle raged during the half-decade before the arrival of [[Francisco Pizarro]]'s conquering expedition in 1532. The key battle of this [[Inca Civil War|civil war]] was fought on Ecuadorian soil, near [[Riobamba]], where Huáscar's northbound troops were met and defeated by Atahualpa's southbound troops. Atahualpa's final victory over Huáscar in the days just before the Spanish conquerors arrived resulted in large part from the loyalty of two of Huayna Capac's best generals, who were based in Quito along with Atahualpa. The victory remains a source of national pride to Ecuadorians as a rare case when "Ecuador" bested a "neighboring country" by force.