Reconstructing the Environmental History of El Paraíso, Chillón Valley

Summary

By Late Preceramic Perú (3000-2100 BC) lomas environments were largely abandoned in favor of riparian and littoral ecozones, and hunting and gathering subsistence strategies were increasingly replaced by agriculture. This change

coincided with the emergence of several hallmarks of complexity: monumental architecture, specialization, and hierarchical organization. The role that environmental degradation or climate change played in this transition remains a subject of debate. This paper presents microbotanical data from the Late Preceramic site of El Paraíso on the Central Coast of Peru and reconstructs the environment at the site-scale. In particular, the micro-remains indicate an ENSO event and a strong trend toward increasingly saline wetlands over time. These environmental factors are considered in the context of the occupation of the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 18708