Over the course of a year, at each solstice, one of the temporary rooms of the exhibition will be transformed to house new archaeological artifacts and historical documents related to the foods present in the pieces of the collection and that are part of the museum’s archaeo-botanical research processes. In December 2023 the cocoa time will be inaugurated, in March 2024 the cassava and pumpkin time, in June 2024 the corn time and, finally, in September 2024, the peanut and chili time.
This exhibition proposes a journey through the world of pre-Columbian food starting from the early domestication processes in the Andes. It explores the traces present in small fragments and representations in ceramic and lithic pieces used as tableware six thousand years ago by the Valdivia Culture (4000-1500 B.C.). Together with scientific, historical and audiovisual documents, they will allow us to approach the extraordinary world of pre-Columbian food.
The exhibition brings together 156 archaeological pieces, 11 historical texts and 20 botanical samples. This has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the Weilbauer Museum and the Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño Museum of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, the National Photography Fund and the Chemistry Laboratory of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, the Metropolitan Institute of Heritage of Quito, the Zaldumbide Rosales Foundation, the Blomberg Archive, the Fondo Antiguo Luciano Andrade Marín of the Metropolitan Network of Libraries of the Metropolitan District of Quito, the John Carter Brown Library, the Integrated System of Libraries of the Central University of Ecuador, the National Herbarium of Ecuador of the National Institute of Biodiversity, and the Herbarium of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.
The exhibition is displayed in three rooms of the museum, one of which will be renovated every three months to accommodate different products:
Cocoa Time
December 2023 – March 2024
Time for cassava and pumpkin
March – June 2024
Time for corn
June – September 2024
Chili and peanut time
September – December 2024
