A sophisticated metalworking and ceramic culture of the Pacific coast straddling the Colombia–Ecuador border, the Tumaco-La Tolita people (c. 600 BCE–400 CE) were the first artisans in the world known to work with platinum alongside mastery of gold.
The Tumaco-La Tolita culture of the Pacific coast straddling Colombia and Ecuador declined and became extinct around 600 CE, before the arrival of the Spanish, though the specific causes of its collapse are not clearly established.
Covers the formative background for Ecuadorian coastal metalworking cultures that directly precede and overlap with Tumaco-La Tolita.
Provides broader context for the Tumaco-La Tolita culture's place in Pacific coast South American prehistory.