The document summarizes key aspects of the oldest known cultures in Ecuador, including the Valdivia Culture located in Santa Elena, Real Alto, and Loma Alta between 5000-1500 BC. The Valdivia people relied on fishing and farming corn and had social stratification between administrators, farmers, shamans and warriors. They produced pottery with red paint and figurines of humans and animals. The Machalilla Culture succeeded the Valdivia between 2850-1500 BC in Cañar and 2200-1300 BC in Manabi and Santa Elena, continuing practices of trade, alliances, and cranial deformation.