Pre Inca

It is believed that the first people to cross what is now known as Ecuador were Asian nomads who, around 25,000 years ago, crossed the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska and then began travelling south, down the Americas, eventually reaching and passing Ecuador by 12,000 BC. Other historians believe that there was already the presence of man in South America, or eastern Brazil to be precise, 30,000 years ago.

It is suggested that several thousand years after the Asian passing, the Polynesians settled on the western coast after crossing the Pacific.

The first firm evidence of the presence of man in Ecuador dates back to the Stone Age. Tools have been found that have been dated to the year 9000 BC. The first signs of a more developed community come from the Valdivian people who inhabited Ecuador at around 3200 BC. Small figurines and ceramics artifacts can be admired now at the museums in Guayaquil and Quito.

Ecuadorian archaeologist Emilio Estrada presented the theory that the Valdivian people originated from the island of Kyushu in Japan. His reasoning was the striking resemblance of the clay figurines from the Valdivians to Asian Buddas. Additionally, the Valdivian's model houses, with their curved and zig-zagged lines and shapes, resemble Japanese Pagodas. This theory required further investigation and was later abandoned.

The period around 1500 BC is predominantly marked by the ceremonial temples built in Real Alto. The La Tolita period, from about 300 BC to 700 AD, is marked by a society of people from the northern coast of Ecuador and the south west coast of Colombia who dedicated themselves to working with mainly metals and gold. The superb gold mask, now the symbol of the Ecuadorian central bank, El Banco Central, comes from this period.

The Manta society (500 AD to 1500 AD), was also a coastal society that settled in the now modern area of Manabi. They mainly crafted objects in silver, stone and pottery. They also improved on the use of gold to make beautiful objects and started using cotton for textile products. There is evidence that the Manta people traded their products with the coastal peoples of central Mexico and central Peru .

In the Sierra, or highlands, historical details date back to the year 1000 AD, when the coastal people called the Caras formed a confederation of tribes with the Caranquis, Panzaleos and Puruhaes.

In the southern part of the country the Cañaris emerged as probably the most powerful culture. During the year 1300 AD they joined the northern confederation creating an ethnical señorio that lasted until the arrival of the Incas.