How did Quechua Reach Ecuador?

Resumen

The question of the antiquity of Quechua in Ecuador and how it arrived there remains a matter of debate among linguists. This chapter attempts, from an ethnohistorical and archaeological perspective, to disprove the theory of a pre-Inca seaborne spread from the southern coast of Peru, proposed by the linguist Alfredo Torero in <italic>El quechua y la historia social andina</italic> (1974). Rather, it supports a spread by land during the period of Inca rule.