Rain-fed agriculture thrived despite climate degradation in the pre-Hispanic arid Andes

Cruz, Pablo; Winkel, Thierry; Ledru, Marie‐Pierre; Bernard, Cyril; Egan, Nancy; Swingedouw, Didier; Joffre, Richard

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1701740

Cited by 19 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…In this perspective, agricultural intensification with newly introduced varieties can be considered as a risk-buffering strategy developed by ancient Andean peoples who, like other societies in the world, sought to ensure food security in a context of rising population, political conflicts and deteriorating climate [43,44]. This observation supports the idea that social and environmental stress can stimulate cultural innovation [4,16]. The brief Inka rule at this extreme end of the Andes continued this process of agricultural intensification as suggested by the appearance of large, albeit scattered, terrace and irrigation systems in the region [17,45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…These hunter-gatherers in transition to food production also developed crop planting early in the dry Andes, as evidenced by remains of plant domesticates dating back ca 5000 BP [14,15]. Farming was a productive practice in the region at that time and until the Inka period and the Spanish conquest, though without reaching a comparable level of significance to that observed in the Central Andes [16, 17]. Then, at a still uncertain time during the Colonia and early Republic periods ( viz .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Discontinuities in quinoa biodiversity in the dry Andes: An 18-century perspective based on allelic genotyping

Winkel

Aguirre

Arizio³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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History and environment shape crop biodiversity, particularly in areas with vulnerable human communities and ecosystems. Tracing crop biodiversity over time helps understand how rural societies cope with anthropogenic or climatic changes. Exceptionally well preserved ancient DNA of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) from the cold and arid Andes of Argentina has allowed us to track changes and continuities in quinoa diversity over 18 centuries, by coupling genotyping of 157 ancient and modern seeds by 24 SSR markers with cluster and coalescence analyses. Cluster analyses revealed clear population patterns separating modern and ancient quinoas. Coalescence-based analyses revealed that genetic drift within a single population cannot explain genetic differentiation among ancient and modern quinoas. The hypothesis of a genetic bottleneck related to the Spanish Conquest also does not seem to apply at a local scale. Instead, the most likely scenario is the replacement of preexisting quinoa gene pools with new ones of lower genetic diversity. This process occurred at least twice in the last 18 centuries: first, between the 6th and 12th centuries—a time of agricultural intensification well before the Inka and Spanish conquests—and then between the 13th century and today—a period marked by farming marginalization in the late 19th century likely due to a severe multidecadal drought. While these processes of local gene pool replacement do not imply losses of genetic diversity at the metapopulation scale, they support the view that gene pool replacement linked to social and environmental changes can result from opposite agricultural trajectories.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discontinuities in quinoa biodiversity in the dry Andes: An 18-century perspective based on allelic genotyping

Winkel

Aguirre

Arizio³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

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“…These harsh conditions can threaten collective action and sustainability because they exacerbate competition for resources, leading to more or less open conflicts that challenge social cooperation, reciprocity, and cohesion. In fact, some societies have become vulnerable and collapsed because of such environmental pressures (Douglas et al 2015, Kennett andMarwan 2015), but many others have survived and even flourished durably in deserts, high mountains, or through periods of prolonged climate anomalies (Spielmann et al 2011, Balbo et al 2016, Cruz et al 2017, Gregorio de Souza et al 2019. For fairly stable environments, Mattison et al (2016) elaborate on an evolutionary model predicting persistent wealth inequality in small-scale societies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social adaptive responses to a harsh and unpredictable environment: insights from a pre-Hispanic andean society

Cruz¹,

Joffre²,

Bernard³

et al. 2022

E&S

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The scarcity or unpredictability of natural resources is a threat to cooperation within human societies. Exacerbated competition between individuals could affect social cohesion and collective action, generate conflicts over natural resources, and compromise their sustainable use. Yet, our in-depth archaeological study of the arid Andean highlands of Bolivia reveals the sustainable development of a complex agrarian society in a harsh environment marked, moreover, by a prolonged climatic degradation from the 13th to the 15th centuries. The 49 community settlements studied comprised independent family households that managed their own economic resources. A detailed study of the granary and housing structures of 549 of these households provided a strong quantitative data set for an analysis of Gini coefficients for grain storage capacity and housing area. This agro-pastoral society flourished with neither notable inequalities of wealth between villagers nor apparent long-lasting conflicts between villages. By sharing local knowledge, labor, and natural resources, this society succeeded both in limiting power and wealth concentration, and in sustainably producing food surpluses to be exchanged with neighboring populations. These results indicate a high degree of social cohesion and low levels of social and wealth inequality, similar to other well-established horticultural and agricultural societies around the world. We propose a conceptual model of low inequality in agrarian societies subject to extreme or unstable environments, where the sharing of knowledge, resources, and labor are the adaptive social responses to cope with the uncertainty in natural resources. The sustainability of the society is then guaranteed by a balance between collective action and family-based social organization.

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“…The study area is located in the southern highlands of Bolivia, on the banks of the Salar de Uyuni, where plains at 3,600 meters above sea level alternate with volcanoes that reach to more than 6,000 meters above sea level. This extreme environment of high desert has been occupied for millennia by agropastoralists that raise camelids and cultivate quinoa and potatoes (Cruz et al 2017).…”

Section: Case 2: Salar De Uyuni Boliviamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilising common biocultural heritage for the socioeconomic inclusion of small farmers: panarchy of two case studies on quinoa in Chile and Bolivia

et al. 2019

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Rain-fed agriculture thrived despite climate degradation in the pre-Hispanic arid Andes

Abstract: Simple yet extensive landscape modifications made past agrarian societies resilient to climate change.

Cited by 19 publications

References 86 publications

Discontinuities in quinoa biodiversity in the dry Andes: An 18-century perspective based on allelic genotyping

Discontinuities in quinoa biodiversity in the dry Andes: An 18-century perspective based on allelic genotyping

Social adaptive responses to a harsh and unpredictable environment: insights from a pre-Hispanic andean society

Mobilising common biocultural heritage for the socioeconomic inclusion of small farmers: panarchy of two case studies on quinoa in Chile and Bolivia

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