Preceramic Transhumance in the Callejón de Huaylas, Peru

Abstract

AbstractThe nature of the connections between coastal and highland Peru is a largely unresolved problem. Seasonal transhumance in the sierra zone, suspected in preceramic times, may bear on the beginnings of Andean agriculture. The preceramic occupation of the upper Santa Valley spans a wide range of environments and types of sites, which probably represent related facies of a single cultural cycle. The sites include high elevation hunting camps, workshops, open air river terrace sites, and a dry cave in which plant remains are well preserved. It is thought that preceramic hunter-gatherers migrated regularly from one elevation and environmental zone to another, and that this should be systematically reflected in the frequencies of various classes of artifacts in the stone tool industries.