NO. 1 CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA 133 
from coastal Guatemala. The amalgamation of these new traits with 
pottery of the local Machalilla Complex resulted in the Chorrera Cul- 
ture, the first Ecuadorian pottery-making complex to spread away 
from the seashore toward the foothills and up into the southern val- 
leys of the Andes. Such an expansion must reflect an increase in the 
productivity of agriculture, which can probably be attributed to the 
introduction of maize. Climatic conditions on the coast of Ecuador are 
sufficiently similar to those on coastal Guatemala that a variety intro- 
duced from there would be preadapted to local conditions, in contrast 
to the situation on coastal Peru. The appearance of a number of early 
Ecuadorian ceramic traits in Mesoamerica around 1200 B.C. implies 
the existence of return voyages and suggests that communication 
once established was not wholly accidental or uncontrolled (fig. 17) . 
Diffusion of the Chorrera Culture into the southern highlands of 
Ecuador would have allowed the development of maize varieties 
adapted to new climates and elevations. With the passage of time, the 
pottery also underwent modification, losing some of its more distinc- 
tive Mesoamerican elements as it diffused south. The pottery of the 
Chavin Culture, which makes its appearance in the north highlands 
and coast of Peru between 1000 and 800 b.c, incorporates so many de- 
tails of decoration and vessel shape present earlier in Ecuador that an 
influence from this direction cannot be denied (fig. 17). Classic 
Chavin however, is characterized by a religious cult expressed in 
highly stylized feline motifs on pottery and stone, no evidence of 
which as yet has come to light in Ecuador. The suggestion that this 
cult and art style reflect a sea-borne connection with the Olmec Com- 
plex of Mesoamerica accounts for both the Chorrera-Chavin differ- 
ences and the striking resemblances between the Olmec and Chavin 
art styles. 
Perhaps impeded by geographical barriers and environments diffi- 
cult to exploit, the diffusion of agriculture to southern South America 
appears to have been slow. Pottery, which generally provides evi- 
dence of settled life, does not appear in northwestern Argentina until 
shortly before the beginning of the Christian era, and its arrival on 
the southern coast of Brazil was delayed another 1,000 years. On the 
Atlantic coast, as on the coast of Peru, the preceramic subsistence 
pattern was oriented toward the abundant resources of the sea. We 
know from the archeological record that the introduction of domes- 
ticated plants had no immediate effect on the ancient Peruvian way of 
life, and this situation seems to be paralleled on the coast of Brazil. 
The reliability of shellfish as a primary food source is further at- 
tested by archeological evidence from coastal Venezuela, where for- 
