Long-term human response to uncertain environmental conditions in the Andes

Abstract

Human interaction with the physical environment has increasingly transformed Earth-system processes. Reciprocally, climate anomalies and other processes of environmental change of natural and anthropogenic origin have been affecting, and often disrupting, societies throughout history. Transient impact events, despite their brevity, can have significant long-term impact on society, particularly if they occur in the context of ongoing, protracted environmental change. Major climate events can affect human activities in critical conjunctures that shape particular trajectories of social development. Here we report variable human responses to major environmental events in the Andes with a particular emphasis on the period from anno Domini 500 -1500 on the desert north coast of Perú . We show that preindustrial agrarian societies implemented distinct forms of anticipatory response to environmental change and uncertainty. We conclude that innovations in production strategies and agricultural infrastructures in these indigenous societies reflect differential social response to both transient (El Niñ o-Southern Oscillation events) and protracted (desertification) environmental change.

Environmental change and economic development in coastal Peru between 5,800 and 3,600 years ago

“…As Dillehay and Kolata (19) have written, ''climate anomalies and other processes of environmental change of natural and anthropogenic origin have been affecting, and often disrupting, societies throughout history.'' These authors point to the synergistic effects of convergent events and detail such a case during the mid-first to mid-second millennia A.D. on Peru's north coast (see also ref.…”

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

“…Adaptive responses of the Andean populations to environmental impacts (e.g., droughts) such as the intensification of irrigation and extensive terracing have been directly inferred from the archaeological record (7,8,(10)(11)(12). However, demographic changes including migration in response to climatic alterations have so far only been inferred indirectly (7,9,12,13).…”

“…In fact, western South America underwent several climate changes following the Pleistocene-Holocene transition since the initial peopling ∼14,000 y ago (3,4). The frequency of climatic changes seems to have been accelerated with the establishment of modern atmospheric conditions and increasing variability of the El Niño Southern Oscillation around the end of the Mid-Holocene (4,5), resulting in multiple transient and protracted environmental impacts on the Central Andean region (6,7). Several studies have pointed at the temporal coincidence of occasional environmental and catastrophic events (7,8) and long-term climatic alterations (5, 9) with episodes of cultural transition and changes of socioeconomic structure throughout the pre-Columbian period, suggesting that climate has played a major role in the formation of the cultural and demographic complexity of the Central Andean area (5,7,8,10).…”

“…Several studies have pointed at the temporal coincidence of occasional environmental and catastrophic events (7,8) and long-term climatic alterations (5, 9) with episodes of cultural transition and changes of socioeconomic structure throughout the pre-Columbian period, suggesting that climate has played a major role in the formation of the cultural and demographic complexity of the Central Andean area (5,7,8,10). Adaptive responses of the Andean populations to environmental impacts (e.g., droughts) such as the intensification of irrigation and extensive terracing have been directly inferred from the archaeological record (7,8,(10)(11)(12). However, demographic changes including migration in response to climatic alterations have so far only been inferred indirectly (7,9,12,13).…”

“…The frequency of climatic changes seems to have been accelerated with the establishment of modern atmospheric conditions and increasing variability of the El Niño Southern Oscillation around the end of the Mid-Holocene (4,5), resulting in multiple transient and protracted environmental impacts on the Central Andean region (6,7). Several studies have pointed at the temporal coincidence of occasional environmental and catastrophic events (7,8) and long-term climatic alterations (5, 9) with episodes of cultural transition and changes of socioeconomic structure throughout the pre-Columbian period, suggesting that climate has played a major role in the formation of the cultural and demographic complexity of the Central Andean area (5,7,8,10). Adaptive responses of the Andean populations to environmental impacts (e.g., droughts) such as the intensification of irrigation and extensive terracing have been directly inferred from the archaeological record (7,8,(10)(11)(12).…”