Tumaco-La Tolita culture

The Tumaco-La Tolita culture or Tulato culture, also known as the Tumaco Culture in Colombia or as the Tolita Culture in Ecuador was an archaeological culture that inhabited the northern coast of Ecuador and the southern coast of Colombia during the Pre-Columbian era. It takes its name from the two most representative archaeological sites of the culture, the Isla del Morro in the city of Tumaco and the Isla de la Tolita. They are known for the construction of earthen mounds known as Tolas, ceramic crafts and especially metalworking, since they handled gold with great skill and were also the first artisans in the world to work with platinum. The Tumaco-La Tolita culture lived on the coasts of the present-day province of Esmeraldas in Ecuador and extended as far north as Buenaventura, in Colombia. The region has a warm climate, with temperatures of 27 or 28 °C. The landscape of the region is dominated by large and fertile plains covered by tropical rainforest, while the coastal zone is covered by mangrove forests. Riversare abundant in the area, such as the Cayapas River, the Mataje River, the Mira River, the Patía River, etc. The large number of rivers provided Tumaco-La Tolita people with excellent communication routes with the Andean highlands. The origins of the Tumaco culture go back to the first known settlers of the region, the Chorrera culture. They arrived at the beginning of the first millennium BC, and by the year 600 BC. C. the Island of La Tolita was inhabited for the first time. With the passage of time their culture slowly transformed and became unique to the region, by 350 BC. C. their culture had already become what is known as Tumaco-La Tolita. Some researchers think that there were large migrations from Mesoamerica that influenced the Tolita culture on its origins, although this hypothesis has not been proven. The peak of the Tolita culture lasted around 700 years, after which new cultural transformations took place, these are marked by the appearance of the El Morro cultural phase in AD 350. C.