THE PANZALEO PUZZLE - NONLOCAL POTTERY IN NORTHERN HIGHLAND ECUADOR

One of the most intriguing ceramic wares of the northern Ecuadorian hi ghlands is a distinctive, thin-walled pottery commonly known as Panzal eo. Though widely dispersed throughout the northern highlands, it rare ly, if ever, forms the sole or even primary element of archaeological site assemblages in this region. The ubiquity of this ware has led to considerable discussion about its nature and significance. The basic c haracteristics of this ware are reviewed, along with the results of tw o separate compositional analyses of Panzaleo sherds from the Guayllab amba-El Quinche region of northern highland Ecuador and the Cosanga re gion of the eastern montana. A comparative study of sherds from the tw o different regions demonstrates a high degree of similarity in the pa ste composition of pottery samples from the highlands and the eastern montana. The mineralogy of the ware points to the eastern foothills of the Andes as the probable locus of its production, suggesting the exi stence of prehistoric relations of exchange between northern highland and eastern lowland groups. Separate morphological and contextual anal yses of Panzaleo pottery lead to several hypotheses regarding the sign ificance of the ware that relate, in part, to its association with low land cuisine and feasting ritual.