Beyond the Chorrera Horizon: Early and Transitional La Tolita-Tumaco Figurines (North Ecuador–South Colombia Coast)

The definition of the Ecuadorian Late Formative (1000–500 BC) as the Chorrera horizon has long been questioned because it erases the diversity of regional substyles that developed during this period. One major area of divergence among these variants is figurine production. The northernmost manifestation of this pattern can be found in the figurines from the Early and Transitional phases of La Tolita-Tumaco (700 BC–AD 350). To emphasize this gap in the Ecuadorian and Colombian coastal past, this article analyzes five unpublished figurines dated from the Early and Transitional phases housed at the Musée Art et Histoire (Brussels).