Title: Pernil Alto :
Authors: Gorbahn, Hermann,; Deutsches Archäologisches Institut.
Date: 2020
Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag,
Physical description: xxvi, 383 pages : 157 illustrations (some color), maps ; 31 cm.
Language: English
LC classification: F
Abstract: As of yet, little is known about the emergence of agriculture in the Central Andes. The results of the investigations of the Middle Archaic settlement of Pernil Alto (3800-3000 BC) presented in this volume now provide important insights for a better understanding of this development. The site of Pernil Alto is located in the foothills of the Andes in Southern Peru. Extensive excavations were carried out here by the German Archaeological Institute. Within the scope of this research, the economic development, form of mobility and social structure were investigated. For this purpose, the discovered remains (artefacts, dwellings, burials, botanical and faunal remains, and human remains) were analyzed and numerous 14C-analyses and Sr-analyses were carried out. The results were combined in a multi-proxy analysis and evaluated in relation to paleo-environmental findings. The result is a six-phase settlement with intra-site burials. During the first phase (ca. 3800-3300 BC), it was a settlement of foragers that relied on food collection, but already cultivated domesticated plants in an additional low-level food production. From the second phase (ca. 3300 BC) onwards, the settlement had developed into a permanent, structured village in which agriculture constituted the basis of subsistence.0This is hitherto one of the oldest documented villages in the Americas where agriculture formed the basis of subsistence. The results of the research conducted at Pernil Alto thus contribute to a better understanding of the formation of slightly later first complex, marine-agricultural societies on Peru's central coast.
Contents: Introduction -- Objective -- Aims of research -- Methods -- Approach -- Field methods -- Excavation -- Geoelectric prospection -- Geomagnetic prospection -- Survey -- Analyses -- Artifact analyses -- Radiocarbon analyses and dating -- Archaeobotany -- Faunal remains -- Physical Anthropology -- Strontium analysis -- The archaic period -- History of research -- Chronology -- The Archaic Period -- Economic developments in the Middle Archaic Period -- The Late Archaic Period -- Conclusion of the economic developments in the Archaic Period -- The Archaic Period in the working area in the Rio Grande basin -- Environment -- The landscape of Southern Peru -- The topography of the working area -- Current climatic conditions -- The current ecological zones in the working area -- Climatic conditions in the middle Holocene -- General Trends -- El Nino onset -- Interim conclusion of the climatic conditions in the central Andes -- Paleoclimate in the working region-- Tentative reconstruction of the paleolandscape of the working area -- The site of Pernil Alto -- Location -- History of research -- Excavation -- Units -- Progression of the excavations directed towards the Middle Archaic occupation -- Near-site Prospection -- Excavation Method and documentation -- Sampling -- Preservation conditions and erosion -- Classes of features -- Dating and Chronology -- Stratigraphy and Layers -- Harris diagram -- Problems in the generation of the Harris diagram -- Period separation of the Harris diagram -- Modelled rediocarbon chronology -- Rectification of the stratigraphy using the modelled radiocarbon dates -- Structures -- Burials -- Artifacts -- Lithic artifacts -- Lithic raw material -- Flakes and flake tools -- Cobbles and cobble tools -- Cores and core tools -- Bone artifacts -- Raw materials -- Braiding tools -- Pendants -- Spatulas -- Awl -- Spear thrower head -- Figurine -- Undetermined bone artifact -- Wooden artifacts -- Trimmed woods-- Pointed woods -- Split woods -- Scantlings -- Tied up woods -- Carved wood -- Jewelry -- Beads -- Pendants -- Braces and necklaces -- Feather decoration -- Raw material -- Cords -- Knotted textiles -- Looped textiles -- Plant fibers -- Twined textiles -- Other artifacts -- Bottle gourd epicarps and vessels -- Color remains -- Quartz fragments -- Headdress or coiffure -- Fur cap -- Spindle whorls -- Natural sediment remains -- Conclusion of the artifact spectrum -- Botanical remains -- Analyses of the macro-remains -- Food plant remains -- Cultivated plants -- Wild collected plants -- Industrial plants -- Pollen and phytolith remains from grinding tools -- Pollen remains from intra site samples -- Faunal remains -- Vertebrates remains -- Invertebrates remains -- Further results -- Caries ratios -- Strontium analyses -- Dwellings -- Artifacts as indicators for activities -- Procedure -- Data analysis -- Results -- Activities by phase -- Conclusion of the activity analyses-- Structure of the Middle Archaic settlements -- Activity areas in the settlement -- Settlement structure -- Settlement development -- The society of Pernil Alto -- Burial rites -- Social structure -- The burial practices of Pernil Alto in the context of the Archaic periods -- Economy -- Characterization of animal use -- Ratios of the food plant remains -- The subsistence of Pernil Alto -- Direct indicators for the diet at Pernil Alto -- Indirect indicators of the diet -- Indirect indicators of the economy from the site placement -- Indirect indicators of social type -- Cultivation at Pernil Alto -- Final characterization of the economy at Pernil Alto -- Mobility -- Indicators for mobility and sedentariness -- Mobility or sedentism at Pernil Alto? -- Indicators for sedentism -- Indicators for mobility -- Not assignable indicators -- Conclusion of the state of mobility or sedentism -- Connections between Pernil Alto and other environmental zones-- Comments on the settlement on the middle Rio Grande section during the Middle Archaic Period -- Summary and Conclusion -- Efficacy of the applied methods and procedures -- The Middle Archaic Settlement of Pernil Alto -- The economy of Pernil Alto -- Mobility at Pernil Alto -- The society of Pernil Alto -- The village of Pernil Alto -- Pernil Alto in the context of the Rio Grande basin -- The importance of the climate for the developments at Pernil Alto -- Possible explanation for the developments at Pernil Alto -- Pernil Alto in the perspective of the emergence of civilizations in the Central Andes -- Future research possibilities -- Kurzzusammenfassung -- Brief summary.
Notes: "Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Kommission für Archäologie Aussereuropäischer Kulturen."
Subject headings (LCSH): Agriculture--Origin.; Agriculture--Social aspects--Peru--Pernil Alto--History.; Excavations (Archaeology)--Peru--Pernil Alto.; Indians of South America--Peru--Ica (Region)--Antiquities.; Land settlement patterns, Prehistoric--Peru--Pernil Alto--History.; Palpa Region--Antiquities; Pernil Alto (Peru)--Antiquities.; Peru--Antiquities.; Prehistoric peoples--Peru--Pernil Alto.