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

Summary

Archaeological scholarship in the Andahuaylas region of south-central highland Peru has 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 cultural occupation varied over time. Preliminary results are used to address the nature of site abandonment as well as motivations for population aggregation. The study emphasizes the role social agency as findings suggest human settlement on the landscape may be strongly predicated by the social milieu than macro climactic conditions alone.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage