North-central Coast Of Peru Research Articles

Caral, South America’s Oldest City (2600–1600 BC): ENSO Environmental Changes Influencing the Late Archaic Period Site on the North Central Coast of Peru

The Late Archaic Period (2600–1600 BC) site of Caral, located ~20 km inland from the Pacific Ocean coastline in the Supe Valley of the north central coast of Peru, is subject to CFD analysis to determine the effects of ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) events (mainly, El Niño flooding and drought events) on its agricultural and marine resource base that threatened societal continuity. The first step is to examine relics of major flood events that produced coastal beach ridges composed of deposited flood slurries—the C14 dating of material within beach ridges determines the approximate dates of major flood events. Of interest is the interaction of flood slurry with oceanic currents that produce a linear beach ridge as these events are controlled by fluid mechanics principles. CFD analysis provides the basis for beach ridge geometric linear shape. Concurrent with beach ridge formation from major flood events are landscape changes that affect the agricultural field system and marine resource food supply base of Caral and its satellite sites- here a large beach ridge can block river drainage, raise the groundwater level and, together with aeolian sand transfer from exposed beach flats, convert previously productive agricultural lands into swamps and marshes. One major flood event in ~1600 BC rendered coastal agricultural zones ineffective due to landscape erosion/deposition events together with altering the marine resource base from flood deposition over shellfish gathering and sardine and anchovy netting areas, the net result being that prior agricultural areas shifted to limited-size, inner valley bottomland areas. Agriculture, then supplied by highland sierra amuna reservoir water, led to a high water table supplemented by Supe River water to support agriculture. Later ENSO floods conveyed thin saturated bottomland soils and slurries to coastal areas to further reduce the agricultural base of Supe Valley sites. With the reduction in the inner valley agricultural area from continued flood events, agriculture, on a limited basis, shifted to the plateau area upon which urban Caral and the satellite sites were located. The narrative that follows then provides the basis for the abandonment of Caral and its satellite Supe Valley sites due to the vulnerability of the limited food-supply base subject to major ENSO events.

The diet at the onset of the Andean Civilization: New stable isotope data from Caral and Áspero, North-Central Coast of Peru.

The subsistence system of the first urban centers with monumental architecture from the North-Central Coast of Peru, the core area for the social complexity process of Central Andes, has been debated since the late 1960s. To shed light on this aspect, we report paleodietary data from the two most important sites of the Supe Valley: Caral (3000-200 BC), the major settlement of the middle valley, and Áspero (3000-1800 BC), a notable coastal settlement. Our main objective was to test the Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization hypothesis. Stable isotope values (δ13 Ccol , δ13 Cap , and δ15 N) from 52 individuals (70 samples: 44 bones and 26 teeth) were analyzed using conventional methods and Bayesian Mixing Models to address the role of marine products and plants in people's diet at both sites over time. Our results suggest high C3 carbohydrate consumption (55%-68% total calories in Áspero and >70% in Caral). The consumption of marine resources was stable for Áspero between 3300 and 1800 BC, but it decreased for Caral between 2550 and 200 BC. Marine protein was more important in Áspero than in Caral over time. C3 plants, possibly tubers, formed the foundation of the diet in both sites during the Formative period (~3000-200 BC). Maize was a marginal food (<12% of calories) at least until 800 BC (29% of calories). The Maritime Foundations hypothesis does not completely account for these findings. Our results suggest the predominance of crop-focused agriculture during the evaluated period.

Ancient urban life at the Early Horizon center of Caylán, Peru

This article examines the development of urban forms of community organization on the north-central coast of Peru during the 1st millennium b.c. Recent mapping and excavations at the Early Horizon center of Caylán, in the Nepeña Valley, provide insights into the nucleation of human groups at an extensive valley floor complex. The results indicate the establishment of an urban core around cross-cutting avenues, while architectural data point towards the existence of multi-functional residential stone-and-mud walled compounds. The density of the architectural remains combined with the abundance of refuse is indicative of a significant urban population. The Caylán research sheds light on the development of urbanism after the demise of the Chavín sphere of interaction.

Plaza life and public performance at the Early Horizon center of Caylán, Nepeña Valley, Perú

<p>The following article examines ancient Andean performance at the Early Horizon site of Caylán (800-1 BC), Nepeña Valley, North-Central Coast of Peru. Caylán, a hypothesized early urban polity, was organized around a series of monumental enclosure compounds, each dominated by a plaza. Our research considers public performance from one of Caylán's largest and best preserved plazas, Plaza-A.</p><p>Results indicate a spatially exclusive, neighborhood-based plaza environment. Public activities included spectacles with music, processions, and architecture entombment. Patterns of small-scale plaza interactions are also discussed. At Caylán, regular public interactions structured and maintained group identities in a new residential environment. These results highlight the role of public performance in the maintenance and reproduction of community during periods of social transformation associated with the emergence of urban lifeways.</p>

Paleodiet in Late Preceramic Peru: Preliminary Isotopic Data From Bandurria

ABSTRACT The Preceramic occupation of Peru has historically received little attention from scholars. Recent excavations on the North-Central Coast of Peru have identified several large sites with monumental architecture dating to the Late Preceramic Period (3000–1800 BC). Monumental architecture and dense occupation at these sites indicates a degree of sedentism despite the lack of evidence for large-scale agriculture for comestibles and ceramic production. Questions remain, however, with respect to the nature of human dietary regimes without technological innovations that mirror agricultural modes of food production. This preliminary study uses stable isotope ratio analysis of human bones and teeth to assess the dietary regimes at the coastal site of Bandurria. Results support a marine-based diet for individuals sampled. These data are consistent with the maritime hypothesis which suggests that subsistence economy during the formation of Andean civilization relied on small schooling fish as the staple protein and was supplemented by C3 type carbohydrates (i.e., squashes, potatoes) (Moseley 1975, 1985, 1992; Shady Solis 2006a, 2006b). When isotopic data from Bandurria individuals are compared to data from Caral (Coutts et al. 2008), paleodietary inference suggests that marine resources were consumed in lower frequencies at sites further inland than coastal ones. These data may support a proto-horizontality model of social exchange between coastal and lowland areas during the Late Preceramic Period (Rostworowski de Diez Canseco 1975, 1977) reflected in the material markers of dietary resources, and further may suggest that coastal maritime-adapted polities were integrated into social and material exchange networks.

Tying the Archive in Knots, or: Dying to Get into the Archive in Ancient Peru

Record keeping in the Inka Empire of the Andes of ancient Peru was based on the knotted-string recording device, the khipu (or quipu; Quechua: ‘knot'). Khipus were produced and consulted by Inka administrators for a variety of purposes, including the recording of censuses, tribute data, as well as life histories and genealogies of the Inka nobility. Cord-keepers were organized in a hierarchical arrangement of officials, from local khipukamayuqs (‘knot makers/organizers'), to higher-level officials who staffed provincial administrative centers, to state cord-keepers in the capital, Cusco. The khipu-keepers stored collections of khipus in regional centers and in Cusco where they could be consulted on a variety of matters of interest to the state. This study looks first at the way information was recorded on the knotted-cord records. This is followed by an overview of what we know to date about archival collections of khipus, including a close study of a colonial era khipu archive from the Santa Valley, on the north-central coast of Peru. Of particular note is the fact that many khipus were stored in burial chambers with ancestral mummies, a situation that left these records accessible to descendants of the ancestors, who visited the burial chambers where they paid tribute to the mummies and consulted the knot records.

Cerro Lampay: Architectural Design and Human Interaction in the North Central Coast of Peru

AbstractRecent fieldwork concerning the late Preceramic/late Archaic period on the PeruvianNorth-Central Ccoast has revealed the existence of large architectural complexes, which scholars interpret as indicative of social complexity. This article is especially concerned with architectural design as an effective means to define social and political organization at Cerro Lampay. It concludes that there was not a highly formalized hierarchy but that power positions within the community could have been negotiated through ritual practices that included the dual organization of participants. It is highly probable that the residents of the North Central Coast were in constant and intense interaction during the late Archaic, which may have resulted in displays of competitive emulationin ritual settings.

Evidence of Botanical Diversity and Species Continuity from Chancay Sites in The Huaura Valley, Peru1

Evidence Of Botanical Diversity and Species Continuity from Chancay Sites in The Huaura Valley, Peru. This study reports on new botanical evidence from the north-central coast of Peru. The material dates to the Late Intermediate Period (approximately CE 1100–1435) and is from archaeological excavation at the sites of Rontoy, Quipico, and Chambara located in the Huaura Valley. All three sites belong to what has been defined as the Chancay culture. The diversity of species present is consistent with the plants utilized in the region beginning in the Preceramic Period. Data also show differential distribution of plant taxa by site that cannot be explained by ecological zone or site location.

Early Horizon Architecture at Huambacho, Nepeña Valley, Peru

Investigations in 2003 and 2004 at Huambacho (PV31-103)) lower Nepeña Valley, yielded significant data to assess the nature of Early Horizon (900–200 B.C.) architecture on the north-central coast of Peru. In Nepeña, the Initial Period (1800–900 B.C.) mounds, such as Cerro Blanco and Punkurí are superseded by several enclosure complexes, and new concepts of architecture appear in the archaeological record. This paper highlights the new architectural forms and presents evidence regarding building technology, function, and spatial Organization. The research indicates the existence, by 800 CAL B.C., of a new architectural canon inspired by the local Initial Period tradition, and significantly different from that which is known at coeval sites associated with the so-called “Chavin Cult” Data from Huambacho contribute to our understanding of the changes that occurred in the region after the demise of Initial Period centers and our understanding of the social complexity and ceremonial variability that characterized the Early Horizon.

Architecture and Chronology at the Site of Sechín Alto, Casma Valley, Peru

The Initial Period, between 2150 and 1000 cal B.C., was a critical time in the development of civilization within the Andean area of South America. About 2100 cal B.C., within several river valleys along the north-central coast of Peru, sudden changes occurred in subsistence, settlement pattern, and level of cultural complexity. These changes were especially notable within the Casma Valley where labor was mobilized to build large flat-topped pyramids and plaza systems that occupied the centers of large cities. The site of Sechin Alto, with an estimated population of 18,000, is the largest Initial Period site in the Casma Valley on the north-central coast of Peru. Our research has shown that successive changes in the construction and use of the main Sechin Alto mound can be used to document the rise and fall of a state-level Initial Period polity. We illustrate this development by describing the chronological sequence for the main mound of Sechin Alto, the site's relationship with other sites within the Casma Valley area, and the reuse and abandonment of the site during the Early Horizon (1000–200 cal B.C.). These features of what may be the earliest Andean state provide critical comparative data for scholars of societal development worldwide.

Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Cyclospora in ancient Peruvians.

Twenty-two coprolites of human origin, collected from excavations along the north-central coast of Peru, were examined using fluorescent microscopy for the presence of fecal parasites, with emphasis on Cryptosporidium sp., Giardia sp., and Cyclospora sp. Three samples were positive. One coprolite dated between ca. 2,375 and 1,525 BC contained Giardia sp. cysts. This coprolite corresponded to the Peruvian preceramic period. Another positive coprolite ca. AD 770-830 corresponded to Epoch 3 of the Middle Horizon and contained Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts. The third positive coprolite (corresponding to the Middle Horizon. ca. AD 500-900) contained Giardia sp. cysts. This report demonstrates that Giardia sp. and Cryptosporidium sp. were present in Peruvian coastal populations for at least 4,300 and 1,100 BP.

Ventilated Hearth Structures in the Casma Valley, Peru

Recent investigations in the Casma Valley on the north-central coast of Peru have uncovered a series of circular and rectangular/square structures, each containing a central hearth associated with either four subfloor ventilation shafts or a single open ventilation trough. The structures date to the Late Preceramic period (2500-1800 B. C.) and the Initial period (1800-900 B. C.). All are small and were originally roofed with perishable materials to hold in heat and smoke from the central hearth. It seems likely that these ventilated hearths represent a coastal variant of the Kotosh Religious Tradition that has been well documented in the Peruvian Highlands. The structures probably served as ritual chambers for small groups of people, somewhat analogous to the sweathouses of various Native American groups.

Thermally-anomalous Holocene molluscan assemblages from coastal Peru: evidence for paleographic, not climatic change

Holocene marine mollusks, many in situ, are found in great numbers on anemergent coastal plain north of the Rio Santa, on the north-central coast of Peru. Samples of the mollusks were collected, identified, and grouped into assemblages of recurring species. The surficial sedimentology and geomorphology of the coastal plain were studied to determine the paleoecological significance of the molluscan shells, many of which belong to species now restricted to a biogeographically transitional zone north of Bayovar, Peru, 200 km north of the study of the area. Radiocarbon dates, mostly obtained from shells in natural deposits and middens, were used to track the Holocene development of the coastline. The warm-water mollusks lived within a shallow lagoon of about 29 km 2 between 4300–6500 yr B.P. Free tidal exchange with the Pacific Ocean was impeded by partially-drowned beach ridges within the lagoon and by a barrier-forming beach ridge that joined the mainland with an offshore island. Contemporaneus, in situ, cold-water faunas were discovered at the mouth of the lagoon and in washover deposits landward of the barrier beach ridge. The association of contemporaneous and adjacent assemblages of warm-water and cold-water mollusks shows that the thermally-anomalous molluscan assemblage (TAMA) at Santa is a consequence of local coastal paleographyy, not regional or global mid-Holocene climate change.

Holocene history of the El Niño phenomenon as recorded in flood sediments of northern coastal Peru

Significant precipitation along the north-central coast of Peru (lat 5°-10°S) occurs exclusively during El Nino incursions of warm water into the Peruvian littoral. Flood deposits from this region therefore provide a proxy record of extreme El Nino events. I present a 3500 yr chronology of the extreme events based on radiocarbon dating of overbank flood sediments from the Rio Casma (lat 9.2°S).The flood-plain stratigraphy suggests that the El Nino phenomenon has occurred throughout the Holocene and that flood events much larger than that which occurred during 1982-1983 occur here at least once every 1000 yr.

Evidence for Interregional Relationships during the Middle Horizon on the North-Central Coast of Peru

A burial at Vegueta on the central Peruvian coast contained pottery assignable to two regional styles. This association supplements other evidence for widespread interaction during the Middle Horizon. These distributional patterns are compatible with the hypothesis that several powerful commercial centers existed at this time, rather than the kind of political integration implied by the Huari Empire.

Pre-ceramic maize on the north-central coast of Peru

AN archaeological site, located near the beach line in a desert part of the Huarmey Valley, 292 km north of Lima, in the department of Ancash, province of Casma, district of Huarmey, 78°10′21″ W, 10°02′45″ S in Peru, was first observed by D. H. Kelley in 1957. It had been previously found by E. P. Lanning who identified it as a pre-ceramic site. It was first designated Huarmey North 1 and it appears as such in previous literature; we are assigning it its real name, Los Gavilanes. We report here 14C dating of maize plant, tassel and cob material from this pre-ceramic site in Huarmey, Peru, at 3,750±100 yr BP.

Study of Pre-Ceramic Maize from Huarmey, North Central Coast of Peru

Study of Pre-Ceramic Maize from Huarmey, North Central Coast of Peru