Maria Ugalde

This project looks to assess the greater sexual and gender diversity and its relationship to status markers present in the precolumbian north Andean coast. Specifically we will assess this relationship within the Tolita and Jama Coaque archaeological cultures (500BC-500CE) by means of iconographic analysis. The study of the sexual and engendered past still remains one of the most challenging and promising areas of archaeological research, particularly in terms of the precolumbian Americas. The Regional Development period of coastal Ecuador (500BC-500CE) presents an ideal setting in which to carry out this chronological inquiry because of the greater variability and number of antropomorphic figurines; since they are overwhelmingly female in the previous Formative period (3000-500BC) and then become almost exclusively male in the later Integration period (500-1500CE). Ultimately, the research looks to fill an almost complete absence of sexual/gender archaeological studies in Ecuador’s precolumbian past. The research builds upon contemporary theoretical insights in sexuality and gender studies, Andean ethnohistorical accounts refering to sexuality and gender, as well as, methodological insight of gendered archaeological research in the Americas.