The strongest evidence for mercantilism and markets in the prehispanic Andean highlands comes from colonial Ecuador(Hartmann 1971;Salomon 1986). Hartmann argues that the Inka economy had a significant market component based the following evidence: (1) the Spanish saw gatherings that they identified as "markets" from the very earliest reports, although as they were coming from Mexico the Spanish used the Nahuatlword " tianguez"; (2) commodities were plentiful and varied, including both staple and luxury items; (3) both Quechua and Aymara had specialized terms for buying and selling; (4) market activity was not suppressed by the Inka authorities, only regulated to suit their interests(Hartmann 1971).

The existence of markets in prehispanic Ecuador is a particularly interesting question because the Quito area was conquered by the Inka only 30 years prior to the Spanish invasion and therefore the region had only recently been absorbed into the Inka Empire. Salomon(1986)examined the ethnohistoric evidence for precolonial and colonial markets in highland Ecuador and found that the contact period evidence provides insights into pre-Inka customs as well as the Inka response. The Quito valley is in a position to serve as a hub for the transfer of products from the Amazon lowlands, the Pacific coast, and the páramohighlands. In this sense, the Quito valley is in a similar geographical configuration, but on a smaller scale and a different ecological zone than the Lake Titicaca Basin. The strong dependence of early Spanish residents on the markets, and the founding of new markets by Spaniards, leads to some uncertainty as to the precolonial importance of markets. However, there is a variety of evidence for a pre-Inka merchant class in central Ecuador called mindaláesthat gathered in stationary markets and controlled trade in cotton, coca, and salt that they would bring from lower-lying regions(Salomon 1986: 203-204). Barter exchange between non-specialized traders occurred as well, typically of household surplus goods, and Salomon argues that both mindalamerchant organization and non-specialized barter were ancient developments in Ecuador. In contrast, Patterson(1987)argues that the merchantile organization was not a long-established system but rather a Late prehispanic period response to opportunities presented on the northern border of Tiwantinsuyu. Vertical archipelago organization is also found in Ecuador both in agricultural production and in targeted procurement communities such as stable colonies for salt production(Oberem 1981 [1976]: 79). However, Salomon shows that archipelagos were, in most cases, a late phenomenon that was introduced by the Inka. In addition, obsidian distributions in Ecuador can provide insights into Andean exchange in a context with functioning markets(Burger, et al. 1994).

As for trade specialization elsewhere in the Andes, LaLone(1982: 307)sees a latitudinal gradient from north to south where markets and freelance traders may have been more abundant in the northern periphery of the Inka empire, and subdued or non-existent in areas full under Inka control. A notable exception to this gradient are the sea traders from Chincha(Rostworowski 1977;Sandweiss 1992). The evidence is far less secure for the southern periphery of the Inka Empire, but the implication of the Ecuadorian data is that solving zonation problems through the vertical archipelago approach was promoted by the Inka in Ecuador following the Inka conquest, which perhaps calls into question the pervasiveness and pre-Inka antiquity of the vertical archipelago strategy in the south-central Andes as well.