Discerning Site Distribution and Settlement Patterns in Andahuaylas (Apurimac), Peru

Summary

In the Andahuaylas region located in the southern central highlands of Peru, archaeologists have documented the presence of three critical cultural occupations: Wari, Chanka, and Inka (ca. AD 700-1400). Previous investigations claim that environmental change may have influenced collapse and played a decisive role in resettlement patterns. Using spatial data from 86 surveyed sites, this study investigates how state collapse, reorganization, and environmental transformations influenced settlement patterns in the region. Nearest neighbor analysis and other GIS applications are marshaled to evaluate how regional site density, settlement location, agglutination, and length of occupation varied over time. These data are then used to address the nature of site abandonment as well as motivations for population aggregation. This research emphasizes the role social agency as our results suggest that human settlement on the landscape may be more strongly predicated by the social milieu than macro climactic conditions.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage