Ice-cores, sediments and civilisation collapse: a cautionary tale from Lake Titicaca

Abstract

The temptation to equate environmental change with archaeologically observed events is always with us, and matching a climatic downturn with civilisation collapse is perhaps more attractive then ever. The archaeologically observed collapse of the Tiwanaku civilisation in the twelfth century AD has been specifically related to a prolonged drought which would have affected the people’s ability to produce food. However, a careful scrutiny of the data from ice cores and lake sediments persuades the author that no such drought can be inferred: the evidence for climatic change is of quite a different scale and order to the archaeological changes and cannot be used as an explanation of social events.

The fish of Lake Titicaca: implications for archaeology and changing ecology through stable isotope analysis

“…The Taraco Peninsula, our study area, is located in the southeastern portion of Wiñ aymarca. Due to its overall shallowness, Wiñ aymarca can support higher biomass densities than the northern portion, but it is also more vulnerable to climatic and environmental changes Baker et al, 2005Baker et al, , 2009Binford et al, 1997;Calaway, 2005).…”

The political ecology of late South American pastoralism: an Andean perspective A.D. 1,000-1,615

“…In all this, environment and ecology did play its part, given the effects of drought and a colder more arid period after AD 1,000, but it constituted but another aspect within a wider tapestry of deep social, cultural and economic change by small and later large-scale social groups. Therefore, following Calaway (2005), we caution archaeologists against overly ecological arguments for societal change, opting rather for modifications in the economy and society as a process of gradually shifting demands and expectations as a consequence of the emergence, consolidation, and decline of various local and extra-local polities. In this remit, a political ecology approach to archaeological interpretation serves as an interesting means with which to tackle questions pertaining to that confluence of ecology, environment, human agency and political economy that so interests researchers into the human past.…”

Arthur Posnansky, the Czar of Tiwanaku Archaeology

“…This topic and even his conclusion is echoed by recent publications, though modern data are much better. The possibility of widespread drought leading to Tiwanaku's collapse has been a point of debate (see Binford et al 1997;Calaway 2005;Erickson 1999;Kolata et al 2000;Ortloff and Kolata 1993). Archaeologists recognize his contributions, not least of all for stoking the curiosity and imagination that can inspire systematic research (Sammells 2012: 308-309).…”