Colombia - El Morro

The El Morro archaeological project is dedicated to a multi occupational site, a natural harbour on the sea shore of El Morro island, located very close to the continent nearby the bay of Tumaco. Before the modern settling at San andres de Tumaco, two prehispanic occupations occured at El Morro, which is now the second Columbian harbour in the Pacific coast (after Buenaventura).

The project has given large evidences of a former settling during the famous Tumaco - La Tolita cultural phase (around 300 BC 300 AC).

A second occupation during the prehispanic period belongs to the Morro phase, around 350-400 AC. The first dwelling at El Morro is interpretated as a key wich allowed the colonisation of the lowlands nearby Tumaco by prehispanic groups belonging to theTumaco - La Tolita culture. Maritime trafic had a strategic point of landing at El Morro, and then fluvial trafic could penetrate deep in the alluvial lowlands Inland, these groups lived in small villages, exploiting agricultural sites (ridged fields) and washing gold in the many alluvial deposits along the river courses. In the second phase, the settlement pattern seems to have been very different and El Morro appears to be the main and only clear evidence of a new dwelling after the fall of the Tumaco - La Tolita culture. This occupation may be related this time with the exploitation of the maritime ressources by a group of sailors and seatraders or fishermen, probably related with prehispanic groups from the ecuatorian coasts.