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Recent investigations at the coastal spring site of Wawakiki in southern Perú have identified an intensive, late pre-Hispanic agricultural production strategy along a sea cliff some 30 km north of the Ilo River. Excavations identified buried stone-faced agricultural terraces underlying Spanish colonial and post-colonial furrows, and long irrigation canals that transported water along steep hill slopes from inland springs. Depositional patterns, cultural debris, and calibrated radiocarbon age ranges suggest the site was farmed most intensively between A.D. 1200 and 1400, a period characterized by prolonged highland drought and recurrent El Niño-induced floods in southern Perú. Farmers transformed this arid coastal promontory into a productive agricultural landscape by exploiting multiple spring sources, steep canals, and stone-faced terraces in an area where water is a very limited commodity and steep barren hills are highly prone to erosion. Furthermore, high-relief terrain left much of the agricultural infrastructure well protected from periodic floods.
The Peruvian south coast between the Tambo and Ilo rivers is a deserted wasteland. Yet tracts of abandoned farmland and expanses of desiccated lomas vegetation indicate that it was once vibrant and productive. Scattered habitations and cemeteries also indicate a pronounced resident Chiribaya population between A.D. 1200 and 1400. While river drainages of the western Andes and their canalized extensions are often treated as primary analytical units of study, our investigation of so-called peripheral intervalley regions points to a highly engineered and intensively managed landscape. When compared to the Ilo Valley, intervalley Chiribaya were organized into smaller communities and managed smaller spring-fed irrigation systems but were also heavily invested in adjacent maritime and lomas resource bases. Utilizing a mixed economic strategy, we argue, these intervalley populations were anything but marginal to the Chiribaya señorío of the Ilo region; rather, they were fully engaged in the social, political, and economic spheres of the late Intermediate period Peruvian south coast and formed a significant component of the Chiribaya cultural landscape. Our results hold implications for other similarly marginalized areas of the Andean coast, where distinct microenvironmental parameters and human ingenuity intersected to significantly transform the western Andes.
El período Precerámico del valle de Yarabamba (ca. 10.000 – 2.000 a.C.) ubicado al sureste del valle de Chili, es un tema de investigación que ha venido quedando inconcluso en los alrededores de la ciudad de Arequipa. Las investigaciones en torno a este período se explican recurriendo a sitios de mayor envergadura y complejidad como las grutas de Sumbay en la puna, o los conchales de Camaná, Mollendo o Puyenca en la costa, sitios arqueológicos importantes pero lejanamente ubicados con respecto al valle de Arequipa. En este artículo se evalúa la presencia de sitios arqueológicos precerámicos ubicados en las quebradas que confluyen hacia el río Yarabamba. Del mismo modo se informa la ubicación de un pequeño abrigo con pintura rupestre en la quebrada de Cachiwasi (tributario estacionalmente seco del río Yarabamba). Datos recientes sugieren que el sistema hídrico compuesto por Sogay-Quequeña-Yarabamba y las quebradas confluentes tienen un potencial no previsto para la elucidación de algunos problemas relacionados al período de cazadores-recolectores en ambientes disímiles a la puna.
Presentamos un sumario de los trabajos arqueológicos realizados en la Quebrada Tacahuay, ubicada en el extremo sur de la costa peruana. Luego de una catastrófica inundación a consecuencia de un evento de El Niño que selló el primer nivel cultural fechado ca. 10.700 años a.p., se descubrieron reocupaciones menores del sitio, indicadas por desechos de moluscos acumulados en tres depósitos de poca profundidad. Eventos subsecuentes de inundaciones y depósitos geológicos de arena eólica sellaron los depósitos culturales. Tres temporadas de trabajo de campo han producido abundantes restos de subsistencia de la ocupación de 10.700 años a.p., instrumentos líticos, desechos de talla y rasgos relacionados con la preparación de alimentos, particularmente fogones. Estos contextos materiales indican una especialización en el procesamiento de aves marinas, principalmente cormoranes y piqueros, que fueron procesados, preparados y desechados. Otros tipos de restos de alimentos marinos incluyen huesos de pescado y conchas, que fueron también recolectados. No se ha encontrado evidencias de caza terrestre ni de la adquisición de material lítico de fuentes externas a la zona. El sitio provee datos sobre la antigüedad de las adaptaciones costeras de la región y el papel que jugó el fenómeno de El Niño en los asentamientos tempranos y colonización andina. Palabras claves: economía marítima, inundaciones de El Niño, aves marinas. We present a summary of the archaeological work that has been completed at Quebrada Tacahuay located on the far southern coast of Peru. Following a catastrophic El Niño flood event that sealed the earliest cultural layer dated to more than 10,700 years ago, there was minor reoccupation of the site as indicated by shellfish refuse and thin midden deposits. Subsequent flood events and geological deposits of aeolian sand sealed the cultural deposits. Three seasons of field work have produced abundant subsistence remains, lithic tools and debitage, and features related to food preparation, particularly hearths. These excavations indicate that the site was a specialized marine bird processing locale where large numbers of seabirds, primarily cormorants and boobies, were processed, prepared, and discarded. Some other marine foods including bony fishes and shellfish were also collected. There is no indication of terrestrial hunting nor of the acquisition of lithic material from non-local sources. The site provides data on the antiquity of coastal adaptations in the region and probable role of El Niño phenomena in early Andean colonization and settlement.
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