A comprehensive numerical chronology for the pre-Columbian cultures of the Palpa valleys, south coast of Peru

Unkel, Ingmar; Reindel, Markus; Gorbahn, Hermann; Cuadrado, Johny Isla; Kromer, Bernd; Soßna, Volker

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.02.021

Cited by 49 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Situated on the boundary between the hyperarid coastal desert and the high-altitude Andes, slight hydrological oscillations can change the availability of water, thereby triggering the fertility of the landscape. Interestingly, these ecosystems were inhabited very early in Andean prehistory (14,15). Today there is nearly no direct precipitation in the western Andean foothills of southern Peru.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…successive thriving of Paracas and Nasca cultures (5,15). According to local climate records, the variability of precipitation increased in the Late EIP (∼600 AD), resulting in frequent droughts and occasional flash floods (16,17).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, the marine climate record shows short periods of reduced El Niño activity and drought concurrent with this settlement decrease (18), although no alterations are noted in local records (17). The settlement density in the northern RGND recovered at the beginning of the Late Intermediate Period (LIP; 1180-1450 AD), reaching a maximum settlement density around 1250 AD (25), which roughly coincides with a period of high levels of precipitation starting around 1250 AD (5,12,15,18). The increase of grass pollen from a peatland record 50 km east of Palpa shows that this humid period was preluded by a successive improvement of climatic conditions starting around 1150 AD in the northern RGND (17).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Climate change underlies global demographic, genetic, and cultural transitions in pre-Columbian southern Peru

Fehren‐Schmitz

Haak

Mächtle

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Several archaeological studies in the Central Andes have pointed at the temporal coincidence of climatic fluctuations (both longand short-term) and episodes of cultural transition and changes of socioeconomic structures throughout the pre-Columbian period. Although most scholars explain the connection between environmental and cultural changes by the impact of climatic alterations on the capacities of the ecosystems inhabited by pre-Columbian cultures, direct evidence for assumed demographic consequences is missing so far. In this study, we address directly the impact of climatic changes on the spatial population dynamics of the Central Andes. We use a large dataset of pre-Columbian mitochondrial DNA sequences from the northern Rio Grande de Nasca drainage (RGND) in southern Peru, dating from ∼840 BC to 1450 AD. Alternative demographic scenarios are tested using Bayesian serial coalescent simulations in an approximate Bayesian computational framework. Our results indicate migrations from the lower coastal valleys of southern Peru into the Andean highlands coincident with increasing climate variability at the end of the Nasca culture at ∼640 AD. We also find support for a back-migration from the highlands to the coast coincident with droughts in the southeastern Andean highlands and improvement of climatic conditions on the coast after the decline of the Wari and Tiwanaku empires (∼1200 AD), leading to a genetic homogenization in the RGND and probably southern Peru as a whole.ancient DNA | South America | population history

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confidence: 99%

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Climate change underlies global demographic, genetic, and cultural transitions in pre-Columbian southern Peru

Fehren‐Schmitz

Haak

Mächtle

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…5). Although there is some evidence of hunting and gathering in the study area since at least the early Holocene, earliest numerically 30 K. Schittek et al: Holocene environmental changes in the highlands dated human remains in the Palpa-Nasca region reach back to the Archaic Period (5.7-5.0 ka/3760-3060 cal BC) at a site called Pernil Alto, situated in the lower Rio Grande valley (Unkel et al, 2012;Gorbahn, 2013). Here, after a 1600-year hiatus, signs of reoccupation are evidenced during the Initial Period from 3.41 to 2.79 ka/1460 to 840 cal BC.…”

Section: Human Settlement Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on more than 150 14 C samples, Unkel et al (2012) presented a numerical chronology for the cultural development of this area that covers the time from the Archaic Period to the late Intermediate Period (LIP) (5.7-0.5 ka/∼ 3760 cal BC-AD 1450 cal). This archaeological data source represents a unique prerequisite to facilitate linkages with palaeoenvironmental records obtained from continuous geoarchives in the nearby Andean highlands.…”

Section: K Schittek Et Al: Holocene Environmental Changes In the Himentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene environmental changes in the highlands of the southern Peruvian Andes (14° S) and their impact on pre-Columbian cultures

et al. 2015

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Abstract. High-altitude peatlands of the Andes still remain relatively unexploited although they offer an excellent opportunity for well-dated palaeoenvironmental records.To improve knowledge about climatic and environmental changes in the western Andes of southern Peru, we present a high-resolution record of the Cerro Llamoca peatland for the last 8600 years. The 10.5 m long core consists of peat and intercalated sediment layers and was examined for all kinds of microfossils. We chose homogeneous peat sections for pollen analysis at decadal to centennial resolution. The inorganic geochemistry was analysed in 2 mm resolution (corresponding > 2 years) using an ITRAX X-ray fluorescence core scanner.We interpret phases of relatively high abundances of Poaceae pollen in our record as an expansion of Andean grasslands during humid phases. Drier conditions are indicated by a significant decrease of Poaceae pollen and higher abundances of Asteraceae pollen. The results are substantiated by changes in arsenic contents and manganese/iron ratios, which turned out to be applicable proxies for in situ palaeoredox conditions.The mid-Holocene period of 8.6-5.6 ka is characterised by a series of episodic dry spells alternating with spells that are more humid. After a pronounced dry period at 4.6-4.2 ka, conditions generally shifted towards a more humid climate. We stress a humid/relatively stable interval between 1.8 and 1.2 ka, which coincides with the florescence of the Nasca culture in the Andean foothills. An abrupt turn to a sustained dry period occurs at 1.2 ka, which is contemporaneous with the demise of the Nasca/Wari society in the Palpa lowlands. Markedly drier conditions prevail until 0.75 ka, providing evidence of the presence of a Medieval Climate Anomaly. Moister but hydrologically highly variable conditions prevailed again after 0.75 ka, which allowed re-expansion of tussock grasses in the highlands, increased discharge into the Andean foreland and resettling of the lowlands during this so-called late Intermediate Period (LIP).On a supraregional scale, our findings can ideally be linked to and proved by the archaeological chronology of the Nasca-Palpa region as well as other high-resolution marine and terrestrial palaeoenvironmental records. Our findings show that hydrological fluctuations, triggered by the changing intensity of the monsoonal tropical summer rains emerging from the Amazon Basin in the north-east, have controlled the climate in the study area.

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Issues in the absolute chronology of the Early–Middle Bronze Age transition in Sicily and southern Italy: a Bayesian radiocarbon view

Alberti¹

2013

J Quaternary Science

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This article focuses on the Early–Middle Bronze Age (MBA) transition in Sicily and southern Italy from a Bayesian radiocarbon perspective. The aims are to: (i) estimate the beginning of the MBA (i.e. Thapsos–Milazzese culture in Sicily; Apennine culture in southern Italy) at four key‐sites; (ii) assess the existence of a site‐wide variability; and (iii) understand if an offset is likely to have existed between the beginning of the MBA and the Aegean Late Helladic (LH) IIIA phase, which currently marks the start of the MBA. The study indicates that the MBA probably started earlier at Portella (95.4% range 1541–1430, mode 1465 BC) and Roca Vecchia (1706–1394, mode 1460 BC) than at Coppa Nevigata (1527–1292, mode 1410 BC; or 1490–1265, mode 1380 BC) and Ustica (1609–1261, mode 1405 BC). Also, the beginning of the MBA at Portella and Roca Vecchia is probably earlier than that of the LH IIIA. This suggests that the current synchronization between MBA and LH IIIA, based on historical grounds, needs revision as radiocarbon evidence points to an earlier start of the MBA at two of the four sites. Overall, by means of scientific dating methods and Bayesian modelling, the study allows us to set in a different perspective the chronology proposed in the current literature based on historical synchronizations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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A comprehensive numerical chronology for the pre-Columbian cultures of the Palpa valleys, south coast of Peru

Cited by 49 publications

References 32 publications

Climate change underlies global demographic, genetic, and cultural transitions in pre-Columbian southern Peru

Climate change underlies global demographic, genetic, and cultural transitions in pre-Columbian southern Peru

Holocene environmental changes in the highlands of the southern Peruvian Andes (14° S) and their impact on pre-Columbian cultures

Issues in the absolute chronology of the Early–Middle Bronze Age transition in Sicily and southern Italy: a Bayesian radiocarbon view

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