Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes (Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology)

Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes examines how settlements along South America's Pacific coastline played a role in the emergence, consolidation, and collapse of Andean civilizations from the Late Pleistocene era through Spanish colonization. Providing the first synthesis of data from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, this wide-ranging volume evaluates and revises long-standing research on ancient maritime sites across the region. These essays look beyond the subsistence strategies of maritime communities and their surroundings to discuss broader anthropological issues related to social adaptation, monumentality, urbanism, and political and religious change. Among many other topics, the evidence in this volume shows that the maritime industry enabled some urban communities to draw on marine resources in addition to agriculture, ensuring their success. During the Colonial period, many fishermen were exempt from paying tributes to the Spanish, and their specialization helped them survive as the Andean population dwindled. Contributors also consider the relationship between fishing and climate change-including weather patterns like El Niño. The research in this volume demonstrates that communities situated close to the sea and its resources should be seen as critical components of broader social, economic, and ideological dynamics in the complex history of Andean cultures. A volume in the series Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology, edited by Victor D. Thompson Introduction: a historical perspective on the studies of Andean maritime communities / Gabriel Prieto and Daniel H. Sandweiss -- Early maritime adaptations (BP 13000 to 5500) -- Maritime communities in the Atacama Desert. Masters of the sub tropical Pacific coast of South America / Calogero M. Santoro, Victoria Castro, Christopher Carter and Daniela Valenzuela -- Economic organization and social dynamics of middle-holocene hunter-gatherer-fisher communities in the coast of the Atacama Desert (Taltal, Northern Chile) / Diego Salazar, Carola Flores, Cesar Borie, Laura Olguin, Sandra Rebolledo -- Manuel Escobar and Ariadna Cifuentes -- The use and construction history of Huaca Prieta, north coast of Peru / Tom D. Dillehay -- Maritime communities between 5,500 and 2,500 BP -- Changing complexity in the Norte Chico, 3000-1800 bce / Winifred Creamer and Jonathan Haas -- Maritime communities and coastal Andean urbanization: preliminary insights from early horizon Samanco, Nepeña Valley, North-central Peru / Matthew Helmer -- The supply and consumption of marine resources at the inland center of Caylán, Coastal Ancash / David Chicoine, Carol Rojas, Victor Vasquez and Teresa Rosales -- The fisherman's garden: horticultural practices in a second millennium maritime community of the north coast of Peru / Gabriel Prieto -- The ethnogenesis of Pescador identity: the implications of biodistance analyses of initial period (1500 - 1200 BC) human remains from Gramalote Peru, for our understanding of the social and economic dyamics of ancient Andean maritime communities / Richard C. Sutter and Gabriel Prieto -- Maritime communities between 2,500 and 600 BP -- Fisherman, farmer, rich man, poor man, weaver, parcialidad chief? household archaeology at Cerro la Virgen, a Chimu town within the hinterland of Chan Chan / Brian R. Billman, Dana Bardolph, Jean Hudson and Jesús Briceño Rosario -- Subsistence economies in margin areas with natural constraints: interactions between social dynamics, natural resource management and paleoenvironment in the Sechura Desert, Peru / Nicolas Goepfert, Philippe Béarez, Aurélien Christol, Patrice Wuscher and Belkys Gutierrez -- Late prehistoric maritime communities in coastal Ecuador / Karen E. Stothert, Maria Masucci and Benjamin Carter -- Maritime communities between 600 and 300 BP -- Maritime adaptations at Cerro Azul, Peru: a comparison of late intermediate and 20th century fishing / Joyce Marcus, Kent V. Flannery, Jeffrey Sommer and Robert G. Reynolds -- El Contrato del Mar: maritime subsistence at Carrizales, Zaña Valley, Peru / Parker Vanvalkenburgh, Sarah Kennedy, Carol Rojas Vega and Gabriel Hassler -- Fish[i]stories: seafolk of the northern Peruvian coast / Susan Elizabeth Ramírez Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 CONTENTS 6 List of Figures 8 List of Tables 12 Foreword 14 Acknowledgments 18 1. Introduction: A Historical Perspective on the Studies of Andean Maritime Communities 20 Part I. Early Maritime Adaptations (13,000 to 5500 BP) 56 2. Marine Communities in the Atacama Desert: Masters of the Subtropical Pacific Coast of South America 58 3. Economic Organization and Social Dynamics of Middle-Holocene Hunter-Gatherer-Fisher Communities on the Coast of the Atacama Desert (Taltal, Northern Chile) 93 4. The Use and Construction History of Huaca Prieta, North Coast of Peru 120 Part II. Maritime Communities between 5500 and 2500 BP 148 5. Changing Complexity in the Norte Chico, 3000–1800 cal BCE 150 6. Maritime Communities and Coastal Andean Urbanization: Preliminary Insights from Early Horizon Samanco, Nepeña Valley, North-Central Peru 184 7. The Supply and Consumption of Marine Resources at the Inland Center of Caylán, Coastal Ancash 207 8. The Fisherman’s Garden: Horticultural Practices in a Second Millennium Maritime Community of the North Coast of Peru 237 9. The Ethnogenesis of Pescador Identity: The Implications of Biodistance Analyses of Initial Period (1500–1200 BC) Human Remains from Gramalote, Peru, for our Understanding of the Social and Economic Dynamics of Ancient Andean Maritime Communities 266 Part III. Maritime Communities between 2500 and 600 BP 284 10. Fisherman, Farmer, Rich Man, Poor Man, Weaver, Parcialidad Chief? Household Archaeology at Cerro la Virgen, a Chimú Town within the Hinterland of Chan Chan 286 11. Subsistence Economies in Marginal Areas with Natural Constraints: Interactions between Social Dynamics, Natural Resource Management, and Paleoenvironment in the Sechura Desert, Peru 320 12. Late Prehistoric Maritime Communities in Coastal Ecuador 337 Part IV. Maritime Communities between 600 and 300 BP 368 13. Maritime Adaptations at Cerro Azul, Peru: A Comparison of Late Intermediate and Twentieth-Century Fishing 370 14. El Contrato del Mar: Maritime Subsistence at Carrizales, Zaña Valley, Peru 385 15. Fish[i]stories: Seafolk of the Northern Peruvian Coast 416 List of Contributors 444 Index 454 Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes' examines how settlements along South America's Pacific coastline played a role in the emergence, consolidation, and collapse of Andean civilizations from the Late Pleistocene era through Spanish colonization. Providing the first synthesis of data from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, this wide-ranging volume evaluates and revises long-standing research on ancient maritime sites across the region. These essays look beyond the subsistence strategies of maritime communities and their surroundings to discuss broader anthropological issues related to social adaptation, monumentality, urbanism, and political and religious change. Among many other topics, the evidence in this volume shows that the maritime industry enabled some urban communities to draw on marine resources in addition to agriculture, ensuring their success. During the Colonial period, many fishermen were exempt from paying tributes to the Spanish, and their specialization helped them survive as the Andean population dwindled. Contributors also consider the relationship between fishing and climate change-including weather patterns like El Nino. The research in this volume demonstrates that communities situated close to the sea and its resources should be seen as critical components of broader social, economic, and ideological dynamics in the complex history of Andean cultures. A volume in the series Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology, edited by Victor D. Thompson The main purpose of this book is to evaluate the "state of the art" of the research on ancient maritime communities along the South American Pacific coastline. Using multidisciplinary approaches, this volume spans the earliest occupation in South America to the early years of the Spanish occupation __Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes__