The Preceramic Period Site of Paloma, Peru: Bioindications of Improving Adaptation to Sedentism

Abstract

The nature of the adjustments made by the steadily increasing population of central coastal Peru in the Middle through Late Preceramic time periods can be examined by careful study of bioindicators. Nonspecific indicators of stress (NSIS) preserved in human remains provide independent evidence for validating paleodemographic hypotheses. If life expectancy improves over a period of time, one expects diminished indication of nonspecific stress. Decreasing stress over time also may imply increasing fertility in precontraceptive peoples, which, along with declining mortality, would lead to population growth. However, the converse does not follow; populations may grow over time whether responding to increasing, stable, or decreasing stress. Other factors, such as changing subsistence strategies or hybrid vigor, also may be useful in explaining diminished indications of either nonspecific stress or population increase. The complex relations among (a) population structure and density (PSD), (b) nonspecific indicators of stress, and (c) diet have not yielded deductions that could form a universal set of expectations. However, several kinds of adaptation that are distinct with respect to population growth and health status are considered and illustrated with analyses of 201 skeletons from the preagricultural village of Paloma in central coastal Peru.