Ridged Fields in the Rio Guayas Valley, Ecuador

Resumen

Abstract Aerial reconnaissance and photography have established the existence of extensive tracts of ridged fields and planting platforms (bancos), apparently of pre-Columbian origin, in the overflow lands behind the natural levees of the Rio Guayas immediately north and east of Guayaquil, Ecuador. These vestiges of an ancient, labor-intensive agricultural system are similar in character to others that have been described in Bolivia, Colombia, and Surinam.