The missing middle: New efforts to understand early inter-zonal connections in the Peruvian Central Andes

Summary

In southern Peru our group is investigating a Paleoindian settlement system with linked sites situated in diverse ecological zones and exhibiting vastly different subsistence adaptations. This system encompasses one of the earliest coastal fishing settlements in the Americas and high-elevation hunting sites on the Andean plateau. Determining the nature of this and other early inter-zonal connections in adjacent areas is important for identifying routes used to settle Andean South America, with implications for colonization patterns at the continental scale. Traditionally, inter-zonal links have been detected by identifying exotic materials and determining their probable provenance, but this approach alone cannot distinguish single-group mobility from exchange between multiple groups. This problem of understanding the origin of early contemporary, specialized adaptations and inter-zonal linkages in the Central Andes has been complicated further by the near-total absence of early sites in the region’s geomorphically dynamic intermediate-elevation zones. We will present new results from interdisciplinary study of lithic distribution patterns, site seasonality, and stable isotope analysis of high-elevation human remains. We also will discuss alternative models for the initial exploration of the high Andean plateau that our group is evaluating via systematic survey efforts at intermediate elevations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Mobility and Use of Space in Late Pleistocene South America: Is it Possible to Discuss Early Human Regional Ranking?

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