The Quitu were Pre-Columbian indigenous peoples in Ecuador who founded Quito, which is the capital of present-day Ecuador."Quito." All Ecuador and More. 2009 (retrieved 3 May 2011) This people ruled the territory from 2000 BCE to the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the city in 1534. They occupied the land from Cerro del Panecillo in the south, to plaza de San Blas in the centre, the area where these first inhabitants lived. Today, this strip has extended to become the city it is now. The capital was named after this people. But  historians Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño and Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco contested that such a kingdom existed , finding no evidence of Quitu remains. It was not until the early 21st century that their main funerary and ceremonial areas were discovered in Quito. Archeologist Holguer Jara said this delay protected their artifacts for centuries from grave robbers. Tomb robbers are known to have depleted many other cultures of their archeological remains, especially artifacts made of gold. But it also meant that archeologists and historians had learned little about this culture. In 2010, an area of numerous 20-meter deep Quitu tombs was discovered in Quito, dating to about 800CE. The tombs had three levels, with multiple burials on each level: four bodies on the lowest, and six on each of the next two levels. Individuals were buried in a squatting position, wrapped in cloth and with decorated ponchos, some featuring refined, carved spondilus shells, which they acquired from the Pacific coast by trade. The Quitu traded with the Yumbo, a tribe that lived northwest of this area. The Yumbo had networks that reached from the Andes to the coast. The Quitu grave goods showed that they had acquired valuable spondilus shells. These were harvested in what are now the coastal provinces of Manabí and Santa Elena. The shells were  exported throughout the trading networks of South America, as they have been found in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and even present-day Mexico. Based on their use of these shells associated with religious rituals, the Quitu  gave them sacred meaning. long occupancy of this site. The people made art and used wooden instruments for their music. The Museum of Florida has been developed here to display and interpret artifacts from the tombs. It is named after the neighborhood in which the tombs were found. The museum includes constructed figures of a Quitu man and woman (the latter's face was created by forensic techniques from a skull excavated at the site.) The woman wears clothing as found in the tombs: "a poncho covered with small buttons carved from spondilus shell and snails, as well as silverware such as earrings, pins, necklaces, hunting darts and "rattles". The Quitu were a festive people, and rattles were a way for women to make music as they walked.
The Quitu were Pre-Columbian indigenous peoples in Ecuador who founded Quito, which is the capital of present-day Ecuador."Quito." All Ecuador and More. 2009 (retrieved 3 May 2011) This people ruled the territory from 2000 BCE and persisted through the period known as the Regional Integration Period, prior to the invasion of the Inca and later the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the center in 1534. They occupied an area dominated by mountains, settling largely in the valleys. They created 20-meter deep tombs as part of funerary centers on the plateau, which were discovered in the early 21st century in the Florida neighborhood of Quito. The capital was named after this people. But 20th-century historians Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño and Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco contested that such a kingdom existed . They did not find archeological evidence of Quitu remains. It was not until the early 21st century that a large Quitu funerary and ceremonial area was excavated in Quito. Archeologist Holguer Jara said this delay protected their artifacts for centuries from grave robbers. Tomb robbers are known to have depleted many other cultures of their archeological remains, especially artifacts made of gold. But it also meant that archeologists and historians had learned little about this culture. In 2010, an area of numerous 20-meter deep Quitu tombs was discovered in Quito, dating to about 800CE. The tombs had three levels, with multiple burials on each level: four bodies on the lowest, and six on each of the next two levels. Individuals were buried in a squatting position, wrapped in cloth and with decorated ponchos, some featuring refined, carved Spondylus shells, which they acquired from the Pacific coast by trade. The Quitu traded with the Yumbo, a tribe that lived northwest of this area. The Yumbo had networks that reached from the Andes to the coast. The Quitu grave goods showed that they had acquired valuable Spondylus shells. These were harvested in what are now the coastal provinces of Manabí and Santa Elena. The shells were highly valued by Native Americans and exported throughout the trading networks of South America, as they have been found in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and even present-day Mexico. Based on their use of these shells associated with religious rituals, the Quitu were among the many peoples who gave them sacred meaning. The people made art and used wooden instruments for their music. The Museum of Florida has been developed here to display and interpret artifacts from the tombs. It is named after the neighborhood in which the tombs were found. The museum includes constructed figures of a Quitu man and woman (the latter's face was created by forensic techniques from a skull excavated at the site.) The woman wears clothing as found in the tombs: "a poncho covered with small buttons carved from Spondylus shell and snails, as well as silverware such as earrings, pins, necklaces, hunting darts and "rattles". The Quitu were a festive people, and rattles were a way for women to make music as they walked.
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to the
and persisted through the period known as the Regional Integration Period, prior to the invasion of the Inca and later the
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city
center
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They occupied the land from Cerro del Panecillo in the south, to plaza de San Blas in the centre, the area where these first inhabitants lived. Today, this strip has extended to become the city it is now.
They occupied an area dominated by mountains, settling largely in the valleys. They created 20-meter deep tombs as part of funerary centers on the plateau, which were discovered in the early 21st century in the Florida neighborhood of Quito.
A
20th-century
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, finding no
. They did not find archeological
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their main
a large Quitu
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areas were discovered
area was excavated
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spondilus
Spondylus
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spondilus
Spondylus
A
highly valued by Native Americans and
A
were among the many peoples who
D
long occupancy of this site.
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spondilus
Spondylus