Subsistence Economies in Marginal Areas with Natural Constraints

Goepfert, Nicolás; Béarez, Philippe; Christol, Aurélien; Wuscher, Patrice; Gutiérrez, Belkys

doi:10.5744/florida/9780813066141.003.0011

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This fact could be considered surprising, at least for the bottom of the Huaca Grande sequence, which corresponds in time to the occupation of the site of Bayovar-01 (5th-8th centuries CE). At this fishing site located at the edge of the Las Salinas palaeolagoon, in the Reventazo ´n area, 35 km southeast of Nunura Bay, warm-water species, such as Micropogonias altipinnis and Albula sp., were registered associated with temperate-water species, such as Mugil cephalus [4,5]. It is also possible that El Niño events contemporary with the occupation of the site did not cause major changes in the marine environments of Nunura Bay, or that their impacts on these environments were not sufficiently intense and/or long-lasting to cause a drastic shift in species distribution than in the Reventazo ´n area.…”

Section: Palaeoenvironmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite difficult environmental and climatic conditions, the Sechura Desert has been occupied by human groups for at least 7000 years (from 5590 ± 90 RCY BC) [1][2][3]. Humans occupied large parts of the desert, but have mainly concentrated around the Illescas massif [4] (Fig 1A). The nature of the archaeological sites differs by period or area, and research in this region has identified shell middens, domestic mounds, specialised fishing sites, civic-ceremonial centres and funerary areas [3][4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Humans occupied large parts of the desert, but have mainly concentrated around the Illescas massif [4] (Fig 1A). The nature of the archaeological sites differs by period or area, and research in this region has identified shell middens, domestic mounds, specialised fishing sites, civic-ceremonial centres and funerary areas [3][4][5][6]. The chronology of these diverse sites is based on ceramic typo-morphological studies and on a total of 30 radiocarbon dates performed on a few of the sites [1,5,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our goal was to achieve a better understanding of human settlement on Nunura Bay (Fig 1) and of the interactions between human societies and the environment over time. This study is part of the researches we are carrying out on a regional scale, on several archaeological sites and on coastal sedimentary archives throughout the Sechura Desert, to reconstruct the cultural evolution of local populations and to understand their adaptation to variations in coastal environments in relation to regional and macroregional geomorphological and hydro-oceanic-climatic forcings [4,5,7,15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Settlement dynamics, subsistence economies and climate change during the late Holocene at Nunura Bay (Sechura Desert, Peru): A multiproxy approach

Villa¹,

Bermeo²,

Zazzo³

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Long considered on the margins, far from the major cultural traditions, the Sechura Desert is situated at the crossroads between the cultures of southern Ecuador and those of the northern Peruvian coast and preserves a large number of varied archaeological sites. Despite this evidence, little is known about the societies that inhabited this region during the Holocene. Exposed to natural hazards, including El Niño events, and to major climatic changes, they were able to adapt and exploit the scarce resources that this extreme environment offered them. Because of this rich history, we have been conducting archaeological research in this region since 2012 in order to clarify the dynamics of human occupation and their links with climate oscillations and environmental changes. This paper present the results of a multidisciplinary study of Huaca Grande, a mound located on Nunura Bay, 300 m from the Pacific Ocean. The nature of the human occupations at Huaca Grande was varied, and several adjustments occurred over time. The subsistence economy was based mainly on local marine resources and a continual use of terrestrial vegetal resources. However, a major change occurred in the more recent occupations, with the apparition of non-local resources (maize and cotton) indicating that Huaca Grande was connected to trade networks. The results show two main phases of occupation separated by a long abandonment (mid-5th century CE to mid-7th century CE and mid-13th century to mid-15th century CE). The occupation of the site appears to have been influenced by changes in the local climate and by extreme El Niño events. Our results highlight the great adaptability of these human groups over the span of a millennium and their capacity to react to the climatic changes and hazards that characterise this region.

show abstract

Section: Palaeoenvironmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Settlement dynamics, subsistence economies and climate change during the late Holocene at Nunura Bay (Sechura Desert, Peru): A multiproxy approach

Villa¹,

Bermeo²,

Zazzo³

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Marine shellfish exploitation as a means of reducing vulnerability to resource uncertainty in southern coastal Peru (200 BCE–150 CE)

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effects of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are notoriously hazardous for human populations of the hyperarid Peruvian coast. Yet, ENSO climate fluctuations are fundamental to the ecology of desert plant and animal resources that have been incorporated into human subsistence economies for millennia. We examine marine shellfish exploitation among early complex societies in southern coastal Peru at the end of the first millenium BCE to better understand the subsistence vulnerability of communities in arid environments with variable resource availability and productivity. We analyze new shellfish data from Jahuay, a shoreline fishing settlement in the Topará Quebrada occupied amidst new regional social hierarchies and intensifying inner-valley agriculture. We compare mollusk taxonomic diversity and taxa rank order with published assemblages from four near-contemporaneous sites to assess local and regional trends in resource exploitation. At Jahuay, a unique focus on foraging plentiful Donax obesulus clams resistant to ENSO effects may reflect a local buffering strategy to ensure a resource supply through interannual and decadal climate oscillations. Our comparative results suggest regional reliance on intertidal resource patches, especially rocky habitats, for consumable shellfish. The relative convenience of gathering sessile intertidal taxa that form dense settlements may partly explain their regional popularity. The potential to dry and exchange mollusk meat as a protein source likely enhanced diet diversification while supporting economic and social relationships between communities. Overall, our findings imply that mollusks and intertidal foraging landscapes were important within a broad-spectrum subsistence strategy suited to maintaining and coordinating food availability in a dynamic environment.

show abstract

Subsistence Economies in Marginal Areas with Natural Constraints

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Settlement dynamics, subsistence economies and climate change during the late Holocene at Nunura Bay (Sechura Desert, Peru): A multiproxy approach

Settlement dynamics, subsistence economies and climate change during the late Holocene at Nunura Bay (Sechura Desert, Peru): A multiproxy approach

Marine shellfish exploitation as a means of reducing vulnerability to resource uncertainty in southern coastal Peru (200 BCE–150 CE)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About