Paleoindian settlement of the high-altitude Peruvian Andes

Abstract

Study of human adaptation to extreme environments is important for understanding our cultural and genetic capacity for survival. The Pucuncho Basin in the southern Peruvian Andes contains the highest-altitude Pleistocene archaeological sites yet identified in the world, about 900 meters above confidently dated contemporary sites. The Pucuncho workshop site [4355 meters above sea level (masl)] includes two fishtail projectile points, which date to about 12.8 to 11.5 thousand years ago (ka). Cuncaicha rock shelter (4480 masl) has a robust, well-preserved, and well-dated occupation sequence spanning the past 12.4 thousand years (ky), with 21 dates older than 11.5 ka. Our results demonstrate that despite cold temperatures and low-oxygen conditions, hunter-gatherers colonized extreme high-altitude Andean environments in the Terminal Pleistocene, within about 2 ky of the initial entry of humans to South America.

Altitude Adaptation: A Glimpse Through Various Lenses

“…1) have persisted at high altitudes (3500-4500 m above sea level) for hundreds of generations (Beall, 2006) and are therefore uniquely suited for studies of hypoxia adaptation (Moore, 2001). Due to complex population histories, it is not possible to generalize a single continuous duration of human occupation across each continental region, although records estimate initial Tibetan, Andean, and Ethiopian habitations occurred *25,000, *12,000, and *5000 to possibly *70,000 years ago, respectively (Hassen, 1990;Aldenderfer, 1993;Zhao et al, 2009;Rademaker et al, 2014).…”

Aquatic community response to volcanic eruptions on the Ecuadorian Andean flank: evidence from the palaeoecological record

“…Humans have occupied the Andes since the early Holocene (Rademaker et al 2014), however, evidence for sustained and high intensity manipulation of the landscape does not appear until after 4000-3000 cal year BP (Chepstow-Lusty et al 2011). The modern treeline occurs around 3200 m a.s.l., however, in the absence of humans, it is thought to lie closer to 3900 m (Ellenberg 1958;Kessler 1995).…”

Identifying environmental drivers of fungal non-pollen palynomorphs in the montane forest of the eastern Andean flank, Ecuador

“…The Huila and Vinillos sediments were selected for development of a fungal NPP training data set because they allowed the fungal NPP assemblages to be constrained against environmental variables when humans were present (Huila), and absent (Vinillos), from the landscape-that is, the sites are securely radiocarbon dated to before, and after, the arrival of humans in South America ca. 12,000 yr ago (Rademaker et al, 2014).…”