The peoples of the coast of Ecuador accommodate the Inca state

Resumen

This paper evaluates ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence regarding the alleged Inca conquest of coastal Ecuador, discusses Inca state strategies, and explores the nature of the indigenous polities of the region in the period C.E. 1470–1532. Benzoni's interview with Cacique Colonchi around 1550 and the presence of an Inca-style aryballus in a tomb in the Colonchi Valley are suggestive of the ability of coastal peoples to resist and accommodate aggressors. To improve our understanding of this historical period, archaeologists must focus more research on the late prehistoric settlements of the western lowlands of Ecuador.