Linking cultural and environmental change in Peruvian prehistory: Geomorphological survey of the Samaca Basin, Lower Ica Valley, Peru |
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Authors: | David Beresford-Jones Helen Lewis Steve Boreham |
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Institution: | aDepartment of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK;bSchool of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Newman Building, UCD Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland;cDepartment of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN, UK |
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Abstract: | The lower Ica Valley on the hyperarid south coast of Peru is today largely depopulated and bereft of cultivation. Yet its extensive archaeological remains attest to substantial pre-Hispanic populations. We provide a case-study of Pre-Hispanic culturally induced environmental change through combining field archaeological and geomorphological survey with archaeobotanical, sedimentary and soil micromorphology approaches. Our investigations reveal that, although major El Niño climatic perturbations occurring around the end of the Early Intermediate Period are part of the explanation, more gradual, human-induced reduction in riparian dry-forest vegetation also lie behind major landscape change, which culminated during the Middle Horizon. |
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Keywords: | South coast Peru Desert Palaeoenvironment Archaeology Riparian dry-forest Prosopis |
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