Periods of droughts may have occurred around 1500 BC, 900 BC, and 500 BC. These remain to be investigated through additional cores in the Cuzco region. Around AD 100 two important changes occur in the archaeological record of the Cuzco region. First, there is a shift from the occupation of knolls and ridges to settlements located near the valley bottom. Second, there is the development and use of a new ceramic style called Qotakalli. The Marcacocha core indicates that large-scale Chenopodiaceae production essentially stops at this time and maize appears to take on an increasingly important role in the local economy. Although additional research needs to be done, it is possible that all of these events may be related to an arid event that also occurred at this time.
It is also important to note that within the Marcacocha sediment cores there is a distinct Cyperaceae (sedge) event, thought to reflect a dry period, centered on AD 550. This prolonged drought may also be recorded in the Quelccaya ice cores as a decrease in the ice accumulation record and an increasing abundance of dust. The timing of this drought is of particular interest to Andean archaeologists, since it appears to be correlated with the spread of the Wari from Ayacucho into the south-central Andes.
It has been reported that another prolonged drought occurred in the Lake Titicaca region between AD 1000 and 1100. This event is not well recorded in the Marcacocha sediment cores. Instead, the lake appears to have experienced a period of diminishing water intake in the pre-1000 era, starting around AD 900. The reasons for these inconsistencies are currently not understood.
It was during the Medieval Warm Period (AD 1100–1490) that the Inca state developed in the Cuzco Valley and started its expansion across the Andes. Perhaps beginning as early as AD 1200, a large polity had formed and was in control of the greater Cuzco region by around AD 1400 (Bauer 1992a; Covey 2003). The previously independent groups that inhabited the Cuzco region were brought into the emergent Inca state through a variety of mechanisms, including alliance formations, wife exchange amongst chiefs, and outright conquest (Bauer and Covey 2002). The Inca then began to expand from the Cuzco region, and by the end of the Medieval Warm Period, they had established control over much of western South America and had become the largest empire to develop in the Americas.
CHAPTER 4
The Archaic Period and the First People of the Cuzco Valley (9500–2200 BC)
Brian S. Bauer, Bradford Jones, and Cindy Klink
WITH THE FINAL RETREAT of the Pleistocene glaciers between 10,000 and 8,000 BC, much of the Andean region became open to human occupation for the first time. Although initially the climate was cooler and moister than it is today, small groups of hunter-gatherers soon began to colonize the mountains. Presumably migrating from the western slopes and Pacific coastal areas where occupations are known to date as far back as 10,500 BC (Dillehay 1984, 1997), these earliest peoples ventured into the vast uninhabited highlands of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.1
Excavations by John Rick (1980) in caves and rock-shelters in the high-altitude area of Junén have yielded evidence of camelid hunting perhaps as early as 9000 BC. Caves in the more montane areas of Ayacucho (MacNeish et al. 1980) and Callejón de Huaylas (Lynch 1980) provide evidence of upland occupations dating to at least 8000 BC that were supported by a broader spectrum of plant and animal resources. Extensive research on high-mountain environments and early human habitation has also been carried out in the upper Moquegua region. Aldenderfer (1998) has conducted excavations at various rock-shelters as well as at the open-air site of Asana, which was first occupied by hunter-gatherers just after 8000 BC.
In the south-central and southern highlands, the long period of preceramic occupations is frequently referred to as the Archaic Period (9500–2200 BC). Aldenderfer (1996, 1997, n.d.) and Klink (1998, 1999, n.d.) have directed surveys and excavations at various Archaic Period sites in the Lake Titicaca region. The Archaic-era economy was based on hunting large and small game as well as collecting wild plants. Terrestrial resources dominated the economy, and sites concentrated in the interior river valleys and surrounding plains and mountains. A true “lacustrine” adaptation, with land use and resources focused on Lake Titicaca itself, apparently did not develop until the end of the Archaic Period or the early part of the Formative Period. Currently, the oldest excavated occupations at the site of Quelcatani date to 6200–6400 BC (Aldenderfer n.d.); however, initial settlement of the region clearly occurred much earlier (Klink 1998, n.d.).
Despite the fact that few studies have been conducted at early sites in the central highlands, it is clear that hunting and foraging bands were moving through and beginning to inhabit the Andean mountains and high grassland areas (puna) relatively soon after the end of the glacial period (Núñez et al. 2002). Following the general outline provided by Aldenderfer (1998: 51; n.d.), I provisionally divide the Cuzco Archaic into Early (10,000–8000 BP [calibrated 9500–7000 BC]), Middle (8000–6000 BP [calibrated 7000–5000 BC]), and Late (6000–4000 BP [calibrated 5000–2200 BC]) Phases. The Cuzco Archaic remains a vast and unexplored time period. It is widely recognized that the high grassland regions south and southeast of Cuzco, including the Provinces of Chumbivilcas and Espinar, hold numerous caves and rock-shelters with extensive lithic materials (Astete 1983; S. Chávez 1988; Lantarón 1988). The dates of these sites are, however, not known.
Until recently, the Cuzco Valley was believed to be devoid of Archaic Period materials and occupations. A lack of prominent caves, rock-shelters, and rock art, combined with an image of Archaic peoples being confined to the high grassland areas where wild camelids would have flourished, supported the notion that the Cuzco Valley was occupied relatively late in prehistory. In addition, since nearly one hundred years had passed since the first archaeological studies concerning the Cuzco region were published and no Archaic finds had been reported, it became the standard view that there were simply none to be found (K. Chávez 1980).
However, soon after initiating our systematic survey of the Cuzco Valley we began finding evidence of Archaic Period remains. The first artifacts included isolated projectile points. Later, occupation sites marked by scatters of andesite debitage were also identified. Working in collaboration with Cindy Klink, who had just finished a projectile-point sequence for the Lake Titicaca region (Klink and Aldenderfer n.d.), we were able to assign many of our points tentative temporal affiliations. The Lake Titicaca Basin Archaic Period projectile sequence was selected as a working model for developing and testing a Cuzco-based sequence because the Lake Titicaca region is relatively near to Cuzco and it currently has some of the best-researched Archaic Period remains in the central Andes.
Our database for the Archaic Period in the Cuzco Valley is rudimentary at best. Although we found more than thirty sites that contain strong lithic components, the majority of these cannot be definitively dated to the Archaic Period because of a lack of diagnostic artifacts (i.e., projectile points). Our survey and test excavations suggest that andesite was widely used in the Cuzco region to make stone tools from the Middle Archaic Period through the Formative Period and perhaps even later. Because of this, Archaic Period sites cannot be identified simply by the presence of stone tools and debris. In theory, sites with lithic materials could date to any prehistoric period. Thus, we classify a site as dating to the Archaic Period only when diagnostic projectile points have been recovered from it (Map 4.1).
Furthermore, our survey methodology was not ideal for the identification and reconstruction of Archaic Period cultures. Surveys dedicated to mapping the distribution of preceramic-period remains frequently involve crew members walking in lines no more than 5 meters apart, rather than the wider-spaced transects used in our research. This is because preceramic sites frequently represent the remains of hunting stations and base camps, which are often quite small.
MAP 4.1. Known Archaic Period sites in the Cuzco Valley
It should also be mentioned that the landscape of the Cuzco Valley is dynamic. Millennia of erosion have destroyed or buried many Archaic
Period sites. We also note that people have been farming and reshaping the Cuzco landscape through their settlements as well as through terraces and irrigation works for well over three thousand years. These activities can easily destroy or distort beyond recognition the relatively delicate remains of Archaic Period sites.
Despite these limitations, our survey did provide important information on the previously unknown preceramic cultures of the Inca heartland. The identification of Archaic Period remains in the Cuzco area more than doubles the length of known occupations in the valley and provides a foundation for larger and more systematic studies to be conducted on the first peoples of the region.
The Cuzco Archaic Period
Ten thousand years ago the Cuzco Valley would have been a tempting environment for hunter-gatherers. Its numerous springs and natural salt pans would certainly have been alluring. Equally important, its broad river valley bottom, gently sloping valley sides, and accessible, although not especially high, grassland areas, would have supported a wide variety of flora and fauna. Although no Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene studies have been conducted in the region, we can safely state that a variety of large mammals, including wild ruminants (camelids and deer) and their carnivorous predators, such as pumas, lived in the valley and high grassland. Smaller mammals, for example, fox, viscacha, and guinea pig, as well as various rodents were also common. Birds, attracted to the floodplains and river edge, would also have thrived in these swampy regions.
The Cuzco Valley, which ranges in elevation from 3,100 m to 4,800 m, contained hundreds of plants species. The high grassland was dominated by bunchgrasses that provided the food for camelids. The higher valley slopes may have held stands of wild chenopods. The mid- to lower valley slopes were covered with Andean trees, including queñua and quishuar, which provided a prime habitat for deer. The valley bottom, floodplain, and river edge contained a dense patchwork of perennial shrubs. As we will see, this valley, with its diverse wealth of wild plant and animal resources, supported hunter-gatherers for more than two hundred generations before the advent of agriculture.
THE EARLY ARCHAIC PHASE (9500–7000 BC)
The remains of Early Archaic Phase hunter-gatherers in the Andes are exceptionally rare. The small size of their bands, their light impact on the environment, and their high mobility make Early Archaic Phase peoples exceedingly difficult to detect in the archaeological record. With results similar to many other highland surveys, we recovered projectile points dating to this period but were not able to identify the camps of these earliest peoples (Aldenderfer 1989b).
During the survey phase of the project, two projectile points were found that, based on stylistic comparisons with other points found in the south-central Andes, appear to date to the Early Archaic Period (Klink and Aldenderfer n.d.). Both are spine-shouldered diamond points with rounded bases (Figure 4.1). One of the projectile points (Ch. 191 L-4) is made on a high-quality chert. The other (Ch. 245 L-1), which is an especially elegant projectile point, is made on high-quality chalcedony. Both were recovered in the northwest corner of the valley, at an elevation around 3,950 m (Map 4.1). With its gently rolling hills, numerous springs, and deep ravines, this region of the valley may have been particularly well suited for deer during the Early Archaic Phase.
FIGURE 4.1. Early Archaic Phase projectile points from the Cuzco Valley. Both of these are made with imported material.
Although little can be concluded on the basis of a few isolated tools, it is worth noting that both Early Archaic Phase projectile points are made with materials that are not found in the Cuzco Valley. In addition, it may be significant that no Early Archaic Phase occupation sites have been found in the study area. From these observations, it can be proposed that the Early Archaic Phase peoples may not have intensively occupied the Cuzco Valley, but instead included it within a larger hunting and foraging migratory cycle.
MIDDLE ARCHAIC PHASE (7000–5000 BC)
The Middle Archaic is described as a time when hunter-gatherers were “settling down” across the Andes (Richardson 1994: 39). With population levels increasing over several millennia, archaeological sites dating to the Middle Archaic Phase are far more common than those dating to the Early Archaic Phase. In some regions, such as in Callejón de Huaylas and in Junín, a shift from deer to camelid remains occurs during this period, reflecting an intensification of camelid exploitation. Likewise, evidence from the Callejón de Huaylas and Ayacucho areas indicates that certain plant species were beginning to be selected intensively for use. In other words, across the Andean highlands the Middle Archaic Phase is a time of slow transition from an era of nomadic hunters and foragers to a time of more sedentary existence based on the intensive use of local plants and animals (Figure 4.2).
Paleoclimatic research conducted in the Lake Titicaca Basin suggests that the period of the Middle Archaic Phase as well as the early Late Archaic Phase was a time of exceptional aridity in the highlands. The notably drier-than-present conditions would have impacted the range of resources available to the hunter-gatherers in the Cuzco region. Based on both stylistic comparisons of projectile points and radiocarbon dates, our survey of the valley yielded two locations (An. 42 and An. 309) with late Middle Archaic (or early Late Archaic) remains (Map 4.1). These sites contained broad scatters of lithic debitage suggestive of camps, although both of unknown duration. The sites, located at 3,650 m and 3,450 m, are significantly lower than the Early Archaic Phase remains. At these mid-valley elevations, the occupants of the sites had easy access to all of the ecological zones of the region.
During the course of the Cuzco Valley Archaeological Project, excavations were conducted at the site of Kasapata (An. 309) to gain additional information on the lifeways of the early inhabitants of the Cuzco Valley. Although the analysis is still under way, some general conclusions can be presented concerning its early occupants. Two dates were obtained from a single piece of carbon found at the lowest occupation: 5645 ± 76 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability: 4690–4340 BC),2 and 5567 ± 38 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability: 4460–4330 BC).3 This stratum provides evidence of a series of temporary, perhaps seasonal, camps. Stratified sheet middens containing andesite debitage and several obsidian flakes were found. Projectile points, bone tools, unworked bone, and burned stones were also recovered in the middens. The faunal remains included numerous large (camelid and deer) and small mammal remains. The postholes of a small circular structure with a possible hearth were identified as well as various pits and two adult burials (Jones et al. 2001; Klink et al. 2001). Although this specific deposit dated to the early Late Archaic Phase, we believe that it is typical of the earlier Middle Archaic occupations at the site as well.
FIGURE 4.2. Middle Archaic Phase projectile points from the Cuzco Valley
LATE ARCHAIC PHASE (5000–2200 BC)
The Late Archaic Phase began as a time of aridity but ended with a climate not unlike that of the modern day. Equally gradual yet dramatic shifts in cultural organization took place during this period (Rick 1988; Aldenderfer 1989a). Like their predecessors, the Late Archaic peoples of the central highlands are archaeologically identifiable as small groups that hunted and harvested wild plants. However, by the end of the Late Archaic Phase, many of these groups had grown large and had become semi-sedentary, engaging in some forms of early horticulture and incipient animal domestication. In an overview of Andean preceramic cultures, Lynch notes that the Late Archaic marked a time of profound changes:
Broadly based subsistence systems were accompanied by experimental horticulture, varying degrees of sedentism (with seasonal transhumance in some cases), and technological proliferation, including many styles of projectile points, other artifacts for processing plant foods and industrial materials, and luxury artifacts intended to change one’s personal state (objects of adornment, status, and hallucinogenic paraphernalia) . . . We know now that the process of agriculturalization was gradual, [and] that it took up much of the Archaic period . . . (Lynch 1999: 257)
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br /> FIGURE 4.3. Late Archaic Phase projectile points from the Cuzco Valley
We have recovered survey and excavation information to begin to outline the many social changes that occurred in the Cuzco Valley during this seminal period (Figure 4.3). Seven sites (Ch. 25, Ch. 191, Ch. 232, An. 42, An. 110, An. 309, and Co. 112) were found with Late Archaic Phase remains (Map 4.1). To these we might conservatively add three additional sites that contained points that were classified as “general” Archaic (Ch. 14, Ch. 265, and Ch. 289). This set of ten sites ranged in size and elevation from an isolated point found above 4,200 m to a moderately dense scatter of lithics at 3,450 m.
The largest Late Archaic Phase site so far identified is that of Kasapata (An. 309), which measures some 100 by 40 meters. As noted above, this site was selected for test excavations by our project because it contained both late Middle and Late Archaic Phase remains (Jones et al. 2001). A dense midden deposit, which in places was more than 50 cm thick, defined much of the Late Archaic Phase component of the site. A carbon sample from the midden yielded a radiocarbon date of 4428 ± 37 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability: 3330–2910 BC).4
Although the analysis of the materials from these excavations is still being conducted, some general conclusions can be presented. For example, the Late Archaic Phase midden contains large quantities of andesite debitage, as well as appreciable quantities of obsidian and a few fragments of chert.5 Numerous projectile points and other bifaces, bone tools, and bone ornaments as well as examples of ground-stone bowls, mortars, and a stone hoe were also found (Klink et al. 2001). Burned small- to medium-sized stones are also common in the Late Archaic Phase stratum. Faunal remains included abundant burned and unburned bones of various large mammals, small mammals, and birds. There appears to be, however, an increase in the relative quantity of camelid bones in comparison to other large mammals (i.e., deer) through time.
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