Maritime Communities of The Ancient Andes - (Part III. Maritime Communities Between 2500 and 600 BP)

11
Subsistence Economies in Marginal 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 Gutiérrez
The study of subsistence economies is fundamental to understanding social

dynamics and economic interactions between Prehispanic complex societ-
ies, particularly the maritime communities. In some cases, it also helps to
understand how man has adapted to constrained environments and how
the landscape changes could affect them. In margin areas with high natu-
ral constraints of the Pacific coast (aridity), access to natural resources re-
quired a special adaptation and the need to develop original subsistence
strategies. Our research will deal with the “anthropization” of the Peruvian
desertic coast, the understanding of resource management, and the human
adaptation to an environment considered constraining, not to say hostile.
The Sechura Desert, located between 5.30° and 6°S and 81°-79,50°W in
Copyright © 2020. University Press of Florida. All rights reserved.
the far north of Peru, is one of the largest deserts of South America, with an
area of around 20,000 sq km (Figure 11.1). It presents a composite geomor-
phology with the highest ergs in Peru; a sandy surface with scattered dry
forest vegetation (pampas) on plateaus and Pleistocene marine terraces;
large closed (endoreic) or semiclosed coastal and inland depressions filled
on the subsurface with salt, gypsum, and sand accumulations; and the Pa-
laeozoic Illescas Massif (335 m). Rainfall is irregular and almost absent,
with some drizzle over the hills during summer (June to October), which
allows the presence of few permanent springs. The average temperature is
32–35 °C during the dry season (December to May). The characteristics of
Prieto, Gabriel, and Sandweiss, Daniel H., eds. 2020. <i>Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes</i>. Gainesville: University
Press of Florida. Accessed June 27, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Created from ufl on 2022-06-27 14:44:27.
Figure 11.1. Map of the Sechura Desert with its principal geomorphological components
and the location of Bayovar-01 site.
Subsistence Economies in Areas with Natural Constraints: Sechura Desert, Peru · 303
the Sechura Desert underline its isolation and explain the high biodiversity
of its continental and marine environments.
This coastal desert could be affected by the high temporal variability of
the El Niño phenomenon, which periodically strikes the Peruvian coast,
especially at this latitude (6° S). The area is particularly interesting because
it is located at the transition between warm- and cold-water marine cur-
rents—the first comes from the Equatorial zone, and the second is the most
northern expression of the Peruvian Upwelling of the Humboldt Current
System. It is therefore a strategic region in which to observe and recon-
struct environmental and landscape changes because of their high sensitiv-
ity to El Niño events whose periodic occurrences disturb the arid processes
(dune construction, aeolian erosion, hydric stress of the vegetation, and so
on) and modify the hydrography and hydrology of this arid area (fluvial
erosion and sedimentation; recharge of groundwater; positive hydrological
budgets for vegetation, formation of lakes and lagoons, and so on).
However, the mechanisms of the human adaptation in this area remain
unknown. What were the forms of natural resource exploitation by people?
What was their diet? In sum, how has man adapted to this coastal environ-
ment with such specific environmental conditions? The populations of the
Sechura Desert used mostly marine resources, but did other animal species
occupy a special place in their daily diet?
At the interface between environments and societies, the aim of this
research is to define the spatiotemporal relationships between human ac-
tivities and environmental changes over the last two millennia, and to re-
construct the climatic evolution that may explain the variability, in time
and space, of human settlements and resources. For all these reasons, our
methodological approach is multidisciplinary to take into account all the
different sorts of our proxies, multiscalar, spatialized, and diachronic, to
place a single site’s excavations in its palaeogeographical setting and as it

relates to other regional sites presenting different chronologies.
Archaeological Background
Since Moseley’s book, The Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization

(Moseley 1975), Peruvian archaeology offered a large space for the study of
Prehispanic maritime communities of coastal Peru (Bird et al. 1985; Chau-
chat et al. 2006; Lavallée and Julien 2012; Richardson 1983; Sandweiss 1992,
among others). However, the Sechura Desert and the region of the Illes-
cas Massif are poorly known from the archaeological point of view. Only
304 · N. Goepfert, P. Béarez, A. Christol, P. Wuscher, and B. Gutiérrez
Mercedes Cárdenas’s team led excavations in several sites and tells us about
the human occupation of this area (Cárdenas et al. 1991, 1993; Milla 1989).
These works led to the discovery of several settlements (midden, conchales,
domestic, funerary, and ceremonial), whose dates ranged from the Pre-
ceramic to Late Horizon, resulting in a first chronology of this northern
region of Peru.
According to these studies and the available dating measurements, the
Preceramic occupation is concentrated in the Nunura Bay and the quebra-
das of Avic and Chorillos (Figure 11.1); from the Early Intermediate Period,
an occupation at the south of the massif appears, closer to the coast, espe-
cially the sites located in the Reventazón area. This development will con-
tinue in the Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate Period. However, the
Early Intermediate Period occupation is poorly understood, and no survey
or excavation was carried out before our fieldwork (Goepfert et al. 2014).
In this chapter, we present the preliminary results of this research draw-
ing on archaeological excavations of a small site of fishermen dating from
this period. These data allow us to study the impact of landscape modifi-
cations on the territorial organization of marine communities occupying
margin areas and strongly dependent on the natural environment.
Excavations and Preliminary Results
Between Cardenas’ team survey in the 1980s and our excavations in 2012
and 2013, no scientific work has been led in the area. The site of Bayovar-01
was discovered in 2005 during a survey (Patiño 2006). It was immediately
of great interest because of the enormous quantities of fish remains, par-
ticularly otoliths, present on the surface. Located 6 km from the shore on
a Pleistocene marine terrace at 9–18 m above sea level (Figure 11.1), it was
dated from the transition between the Early Intermediate Period (200 BC–
AD 600) and the Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000). The site is separated
from the ocean by a very flat sandy area, lower than sea level in some parts.
Other surveys were made, but it is the only archaeological site that presents
these geographical characteristics.
The Bayovar-01 site spreads over 3 ha. It consists of two structures that
are distant from each other by 160 m, and a large midden is situated be-
tween them. The extensive excavations of several areas have allowed us to
characterize and date the occupation of the site.
The Structures
The two structures are formed by several rows of marine formation blocks
(Figure 11.2), locally called conchuelas, as reported by Huertas (1999: 49).
This material was utilized until recently to construct such buildings as a
sulfur factory (dated from 1902) located 10 km from the settlement, and
the Colan Church. The blocks could be encountered throughout the area
on the marine terraces or tablazo. Each structure shows two parallel rows
Figure 11.2. Structures composed by beach

rocks (conchuelas) and posts used as screens:
(a) Structure 2 with the access corridor; (b)
detail of a trunk that has a sinuous shape (prob-
ably Prosopis pallida) (provided by the authors).
of blocks oriented east-west. The excavations allowed us to discern the plan

of the structures and show that there are not two parallel rows but several
small cells arranged side by side. The blocks were used to build and delimit
these spaces. They were buried in the sand, only the upper part visible,
and can be up to 1.4 m high and 1 m wide. Although marine terraces are
relatively near the site, the size of large blocks also implies a significant
work that does not correspond to temporary structures used occasionally.
Before starting the excavations, we identified a possible access to the north
that opens not on the center of the structure, but on a small space between
the different cells.
In Structure 2, south of these rows of blocks, more than 180 post bases
were registered (Figure 11.2). Some posts, which collapsed after the site was
abandoned, measured up to 4 m in length. A special process of preserva-
tion (the vegetal structure disappeared but posts were not carbonized) did
not allow the taxonomic determination of the wood. However the sinuous
shape of some trunks (Figure 11.2b) is similar to the shape of the American
carob or algarrobo (Prosopis pallida), which is still present in the area, along
with sapote (Capparis angulata), acacia (Acacia macracantha), and vichayo
(Capparis ovalifolia). In the two structures, posts are localized south of the
blocks and were probably used as windscreens for the wind coming from
the Pacific Ocean that blows south to north. Despite the presence of some
posts between the alignments, their rarity makes it impossible to indicate
the presence of some kind of roof. The interval between the posts was ir-
regular, as was their arrangement or diameter. The screens formed by these
posts should also include branches that reinforced protection against the
wind. Near these blocks, a whale’s vertebra and rib were literally driven
into the sand. The reason for these deposits is unknown but these elements
could perhaps be used to support perishable materials.
The extensive excavation of these structures and several pits revealed

ceramics sherds, some faunal remains, few artifacts, such as spindle whorls,
but no hearths or evidence of domestic occupation. However, special finds
were found such as a deposit of 12 cockle valves (Trachycardium procerum),
and a ceramic vessel deposited upside down (on its neck and not its base),
which probably represents an offering made at the time of the abandon-
ment of the area or site (Goepfert et al. 2014: fig. 3). The position and or-
ganization of the blocks, the presence of screens, and the existence of an
access corridor to a central space suggest that these structures were more
likely some kinds of small public places than domestic structures. These
could be located in the neighborhood of the site, closer to the massif of Il-
lescas, but the location of the habitation site remains unknown.
The Midden
The objective of the excavation of the midden was to provide data on the
utilization of natural resources in this desert environment. This zone ex-
tends over 4,000 sq m, and we did an extensive excavation of a 50 sq m
area where we uncovered very large burnt zones, nearly 50 cm thick, with
thousands of faunal remains intermixed with a very large amount of char-
coal. As for the structure, we found few artifacts in the midden: some cop-
per fishhooks, spindle whorls, textile fragments, and ceramics sherds. We
registered three types of hearths: (1) small hearths with large fragments
of charcoal; (2) large hearths (up to 10 sq m and more) with only ashes
still visible; and (3) large hearths (up to 10 sq m and more) with a level of
charcoal up to 12 cm. No stones or marine blocks delimited their edge; the
hearths are directly dug in the sand, the combustion material deposited at
the bottom. It was mainly wood, but also seeds and, surprisingly for the
desert area, camelid feces.
The superposition of hearths indicates that these work areas were reused
(Goepfert et al. 2014: fig. 4). The form of the hearths also evolved: the older
examples had a circular shape and measured approximately 3 cu m (Figure
11.3), while the later hearths represented larger combustion areas (more
than 10 m2). There is a superimposition of three levels: the first two have
not always been clearly defined because of the difficulty in distinguishing
hearths one from the other; the third corresponds to the oldest utilization
of the midden. In this latter level, we registered circular hearths, rubefi-
cated soils, and several “pits” containing only fish remains (Figure 11.3). In
the eastern part of the excavation, gray spots could be linked to postholes.
The high frequency of hearths is a remarkable fact indicating that this sec-
tor had a more complex function, combining a midden and a resource
preparation area.
The excavation of pits has shown that these circular hearths could reach
up to 40–50 cm deep and had been dug directly in the ground (Figure
11.4a). The first was a thick layer of 20 cm of bone remains (mainly fish)
mixed and superimposed with a layer of ash. Other profiles are more com-
plex and have several layers: along with the ashes and bone remains de-
scribed above was a layer of burnt soils with an orange-gray color (Figure
Figure 11.3. Excavation of the midden, which presents hearths (larger and circular), ru-
beficated soils, and pits containing fish remains (provided by the authors).
11.4b). In one of the pits, a whale’s caudal vertebra was deposited at the
bottom. This type of hearth is common and has been found since the Pre-
ceramic, like the site at Los Gavilanes in the valley of Huarmey (Bonavia
1982). In Bayovar-01 hearths, the bone remains found were not necessarily
carbonized, as we observed different stages of burning. At this stage, we
cannot certify that the function of these hearths was for cooking, smoking,
or waste incineration.
Zooarchaeology Studies
The zooarchaeological study is under way, but the faunal assemblage is con-
stituted by an overwhelming amount of fish remains, and, in much smaller

proportions, turtles (Chelonia mydas), birds (Sula sp. and Pelacanus sp.),
sea lions, lizards, and shells. During the survey, we observed the very high
densities of fish bones and otoliths on the surface, particularly of a Sciaeni-
dae (Micropogonias altipinnis). The midden excavation has uncovered more
than 35,000 otoliths and many more bones (more than 1 million remains).
Among the species, we note the abundance of Micropogonias altipinnis,
Albula sp., and Mugil cephalus, and, in smaller proportions, Gerreidae and
Menticirrhus sp., among others.
The presence of Micropogonias altipinnis and Albula sp., which today
inhabit only the warm and mixohaline waters of the Panamic Province,
Figure 11.4. Profiles of pit 1 excavated in the midden: (a) detail of a circular hearth profile;
(b) layer superposition of a circular hearth (provided by the authors).
south to Ecuador, raises many paleoenvironmental questions. Their typi-

cal biotope is very different compared to the one that exists around the
site today. Their abundance in the site could indicate different climatic and
environmental conditions, such as warmer waters, higher sea levels, or the
presence of a lagoon or embayment.
We did not find any complete artifact but numerous fragments of bird
bones, decorated or not, that likely correspond to the preforms of the arti-
facts. Most of them were proximal and distal extremities of pelican humeri,
which bore several cutmarks.
Many plant remains were also registered, including the charcoal result-
ing from the combustion. Other macroremains, burned or not, were also
found in large quantities, such as gourds (Lagenaria sp.), squash (Cucurbita
sp.), and corn (Zea mays). Again, taxonomic determinations and archaeo-
botanical study of the remains are still under way. This significant amount
of faunal and botanical remains will help us understand better the subsis-
tence strategies in a desertic environment.
Chronology
The ceramic sequence for the region of Piura was defined by Lanning in
1963. As mentioned before, a single complete vessel was discovered in a
structure of Bayovar-01. Its shape does not match any known ceramic ty-
pology of this region (Figure 11.5e). The sherds registered during the exca-
vation of the structure and the midden are characteristic of the Early Inter-
mediate Period. In particular, we identified several fragments that present a
painted decoration made of circles and lines using a technique called negro
fugitivo or “fugitive black paint” (Figure 11.5d). This technique of decora-
tion is used by the Mochicas until Moche III. Other fragments showed a
modeled incised application (Figure 11.5c), typical of the Gallinazo style in
the northern coast. According to Lanning’s nomenclature, these ceramic
sherds correspond to the Sechura B style (Lanning 1963). Other elements
discovered, such as an anthropomorphic application in the shape of a head,
do not bring more information about a stylistic attribution. According to
Lanning’s ceramic sequence, his Early Intermediate Period corresponds to
the Salinar and Gallinazo in the Moche Valley.
Six radiocarbon dates (ULB 23689, 23690, 23691, 23693, 23694, and
23695), obtained from five charcoal samples coming from hearths and one
piece of wood from a post base, show that the site was occupied between
AD 572 and 760 (1σ), or AD 547 and 766 (2σ). The results show a good
homogeneity and high precision, even at two sigmas.
From a general point of view, one can note that the occupation of the
site was brief, nearly 200 years, something that we suspected after looking
at the interrupted dense stratigraphy (constant deposits up to 50 cm). The
dates also confirm that the structures were used at the same time as the
large midden.
These results allow us to compare relative and absolute dates and discuss
the relevance of the ceramic sequence. They also show that these people
lived at the transition between Early Intermediate Period (200 BC–AD
Figure 11.5. Ceramic artifacts: (a) fragment of a decorated face-neck jar; (b) spindle whorl;
(c) decorated fragment with incised applying strip; (d) fragment decorated with negro fu-
gitivo or “fugitive black paint”; and (e) complete pot with beveled neck and lip (provided
by the authors).
600) and Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000), and not at the beginning of
Early Intermediate Period as one could assume if considering Lanning’s
sequence as unique proxy. It must be said that his sequence was made on
surface survey sherds and not from archaeological context with a strati-
graphic control as we have in our excavation.
This gap is very interesting and may show that the ceramic tradition of
the Early Intermediate Period extended later in this region, which is located
on the margin of the Mochica territory. People who occupied the site are
contemporary with the late Mochicas while preserving a ceramic charac-
teristic of the beginning of the Early Intermediate Period. In view of these
results, it seems necessary to revisit all the chronology of the sites of this
region.
Paleoenvironment
The study of morphosedimentary evidence allows us to highlight how the

flooding of the coastal sandy plain by fluvial and/or marine inputs would
have allowed the development of a large palaeolagoon, as we can see today
during a high-intensity El Niño. This paleolagoon, which corresponds to-
day to the Las Salinas Lake (Figure 11.1), occupies all the coastal depressions
and also some of the hinterland, extending for several hundred square ki-
lometers. As an analogy with the present situation, these inputs can be ex-
plained with: (1) high water supplies from the basin and from its highest
parts (Western Cordillera) related to higher pluviometry, and/or (2) spe-
cific and local hydromorphological dynamics with, for example, marine
water intrusion; or all are presumably related to the intensity of the ENSO
(El Niño Southern Oscillation) phenomenon. Our objective, in the future,
is to try to understand the modalities of the lagoon flooding and determine
its hydroclimatic functioning (role of the main shore bar, role of the ma-
rine water, and so on), which is not necessarily exactly the same at present.
Today, during a high-intensity El Niño event, this lagoon has water com-
ing from the north and northeast, apparently without any marine flooding
from breaches of the emerged part of the main shore sandbar. The amount
of water available is then sufficient to form a temporary lagoon. This type
of dynamic is confirmed by satellite photos from the El Niño events of
1982–1983 and 1997–1998. The current functioning partly explains the wa-
ter flooding the lagoon, but, in our archaeological case, does not explain
the entrance of marine fish, which prefer warm waters.
It is in this context that a paleoenvironmental component was defined in

our project. Surveys were carried out and pits created in various places of
the sandy plains. The facies of the pits show the full potential of the region
regarding coastal dynamics, environmental change, and landscape recon-
struction in association with Prehispanic human occupation. The study of
shells from these surveys is under way but indicates the frequent presence
of marine taxa and/or lagoon and mangrove species such as: Tagelus dom-
beii, Trachycardium procerum, Ilochione subrugosa, Cerithium sternusmus-
carum, Cryptomya californica, among others.
Their presence could be considered a good bioindicator of environ-
mental changes. At the least, we can say that they are linked to an aquatic
environment of warmer waters, probably as a result of El Niño. Dating
has begun and should soon provide a better chronological timing of the
floodings.
The occupation of the site, dated to AD 547–766 (2σ), would be con-
temporary with high-intensity El Niño events, whose impacts can also be
felt further south on such Mochicas sites as Sipán, Huaca de la Luna, or El
Brujo. During dry periods, the site is separated from the ocean by more
than 6 km as the crow flies. These ENSO events have enabled the perennial
flooding of the sandy plain and therefore the entry of marine fishes coming
from warmer waters. In this part of the Sechura Desert, we are faced with a
significant ancient landscape change which had implications in the human
occupation of the area and the function of the site.
Discussion
Fishermen who occupied this site benefited from favorable environmental

conditions for settlement along the lagoon or the shore, and even more
favorable conditions for fishing. The flooding explains the presence of spe-
cies normally living in shallow sandy bottoms. This fact raises the question
of the type of activities that were carried out on the site. First conceived
as a habitat settlement, the excavation of the structures showed no traces
of domestic occupation. Structures formed by the marine terrace blocks
(conchuelas) could not accommodate a large population, only a small
group. However, these constructions indicate the mobilization of labor,
not monumental but very significant for this kind of site. It also demon-
strates a sustainable and nontemporary location, which is confirmed by the
dates that testify to the occupancy of 200 years, “brief ” but continuous. The
occupation of Bayovar-01 was limited in time, and was an epiphenomenon

probably related to the flooding of the lagoon.
The same conclusion applies to the midden. If someone juxtaposes the
size of the midden, the very high frequency of ichthyological remains com-
pared to the rest of the faunal spectrum, and the presence of large hearths
(some of them were larger than 10 sq m), they realize that this sector prob-
ably had a more complex function than a midden. The amount of fish re-
mains found is so overwhelming that it is difficult to imagine a simple do-
mestic midden where these species were consumed and thrown.
The black color of charcoal, seeds, and burnt camelid feces indicates that
they have not been subject to prolonged combustion and high tempera-
tures; otherwise, they would be gray-white. Can we conclude that these
hearths have been used for the preparation of fishes? Were they cooked?
Consumed locally? Or were they dried or smoked for export? The results
of zooarchaeological studies will help us to determine that.
More than a domestic occupation site, we argue that Bayovar-01 would
have been a specialized site for fishing and the preparation of fish for export
to other areas by llama caravans. The presence of charred camelid feces in
the hearths (called taquia in the Andes), is another important clue. In con-
trast, we only found fewer than 10 bone remains for this taxa. The presence
of these animals, probably not bred in the area, can only be explained by the
arrival of caravans at the settlement. Camelids are the only known beasts
of burden in the Andes, and the importance of llama caravans has been
repeatedly noted (Browman 1974; Flores Ochoa et al. 1994; Lecoq 1987).
The location of the site near the Illescas Massif is also due to easy access to
freshwater. Puquios (springs) of freshwater were identified and they pro-
vided access to drinking water for humans and animals.
This possible specialization would be unprecedented for the region and
the period, and would perhaps indicate an organization at a regional level.

These kinds of sites are more frequent in later periods, for instance, for
Chincha fishermen on the Peruvian south coast (Sandweiss 1992). Accord-
ing to later texts compiled by Maria Rostworowski (2005: 128–129) and
Lorenzo Huertas (1999: 35), people of the Sechura region were known for
fishing and salting fish. With Bayovar-01, we have perhaps an older ex-
ample of such specialization. Another element is the existence of salt de-
posits, which are still used. They are located in the Salina Grande, a large
depression located 17 m below the sea level, 12 km from the site. Salt is very
important in food preservation, thus, the proximity of the site salt deposits
makes the links between these activity centers probable.
At Bayovar-01, the large majority of the recovered fauna is formed by

fish remains. At other sites, such as those located at the mouth of the Avic
quebrada for example, they are virtually absent (at least in surface and in
Cardenas’ team excavation pits) compared to shells and marine mammals.
This situation contrasts with that of Bayovar-01 where the faunal spectrum
is reversed. Perhaps Avic sites were also specialized sites; however, without
extensive excavations, it is difficult to confirm.
For the moment, it is just a hypothesis based on our observations, but it
will be interesting to study again the material excavated in Avic sites, which
have already been described in the two monographs published by Cárde-
nas et al. (1991, 1993), and compare it with our data. Accordingly, we think
that this settlement integrates a network of interactions among sites of the
region allowing the circulation of products with other ecological regions.
The presence of llama caravans, suggested by the thousands of feces found
at Bayovar-01, could be the dynamic agent of this gyratory system of trade
on a regional scale.
Conclusion
Fishermen of Sechura took advantage of specific environmental conditions

from the presence of a lagoon, perhaps caused by ENSO-like conditions, to
exploit natural resources, particularly a nonlocal fauna. Bayovar-01 might
be a specialized site, the first described for the Andean area at this period.
However, these beneficial conditions came to an end, and the filling of the
lagoon appears to have also impacted the populations. The other sites of
the region located in Reventazon, Avic, or Nunura continued to be occu-
pied until the Late Intermediate Period, while Bayovar-01 occupation was
limited to 200 years at the end of the Early Intermediate Period and the
beginning of the Middle Horizon. Were these environmental conditions

exceptional enough to explain a perennial but brief occupation? Were they
so different from those that followed that no subsequent occupation was
observed on the site? Did the modalities of the filling of the lagoon make a
new occupation impossible?
These questions may find an answer in the coming years with further
research in this area. The Sechura Desert appears as a strategic area for
understanding human adaptations to the desert and for studying the re-
sponses that Prehispanic societies brought to environmental and climate
stress during the last two millennia.
Acknowledgments
This article presents the preliminary results of the Programme Archéologique

Désert de Sechura, funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with
additional contributions from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
(Paleosech Grant); the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (Car-
oll Prize); the Labex Dynamite from HeSam University; and the CNRS.
The fieldwork would not have been possible without the support of the
Peruvian Ministry of Culture, the French Embassy in Peru, and the French
Institute of Andean Studies (IFEA). We thank Valentin Mogollon for his
preliminary analysis of shell samples. We also thank Dr. José Vega and the
Vale-Miky Mayo Company for giving us the free access to the Bayovar-01
site. In addition, we thank Dr. Alejandro Fernández for the preliminary
study of “wood samples.” Finally, we thank all the archaeologists, students,
and staff who worked in the excavation, and especially Carlos Gutiérrez
Vereau for his assistance during fieldwork and survey.
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11

Subsistence Economies in Marginal Areas

Nicolas Goepfert, Philippe Béarez, Aurélien Christol,

The study of subsistence economies is fundamental to understanding social

place a single site’s excavations in its palaeogeographical setting and as it

Since Moseley’s book, The Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization

Excavations and Preliminary Results

Figure 11.2. Structures composed by beach

of blocks oriented east-west. The excavations allowed us to discern the plan

The extensive excavation of these structures and several pits revealed

stituted by an overwhelming amount of fish remains, and, in much smaller

(b) layer superposition of a circular hearth (provided by the authors).

south to Ecuador, raises many paleoenvironmental questions. Their typi-

The study of morphosedimentary evidence allows us to highlight how the

It is in this context that a paleoenvironmental component was defined in

Fishermen who occupied this site benefited from favorable environmental

occupation of Bayovar-01 was limited in time, and was an epiphenomenon

the period, and would perhaps indicate an organization at a regional level.

At Bayovar-01, the large majority of the recovered fauna is formed by

Fishermen of Sechura took advantage of specific environmental conditions

beginning of the Middle Horizon. Were these environmental conditions

This article presents the preliminary results of the Programme Archéologique

Bird, Junius, John Hyslop, and Milica Dimitrijevic Skinner

1991 Arqueología del Macizo de Illescas, Sechura-Piura. PUCP, Lima.

norte. Obras completas IV, Historia Andina 29. IEP, Lima.

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