Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE)
The balance between fishing and farming for the development of complex societies in ancient Central Andes is the subject of a long debate. Despite the availability of marine resources in one of the world's richer marine ecosystems and the extreme aridity of the landscape, current evidence sugge...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fearc.2025.1611071/full |
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| author | Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Aldemar Crispin Alonso Prado-Barragán Tatiana Abad Marco Machacuay Marco Yseki Manuel Gorriti Luis Miranda José Apolín Alice DiMuro Alice DiMuro Pedro Novoa Pedro Novoa André Carlo Colonese André Carlo Colonese Ruth Shady Ruth Shady |
| author_facet | Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Aldemar Crispin Alonso Prado-Barragán Tatiana Abad Marco Machacuay Marco Yseki Manuel Gorriti Luis Miranda José Apolín Alice DiMuro Alice DiMuro Pedro Novoa Pedro Novoa André Carlo Colonese André Carlo Colonese Ruth Shady Ruth Shady |
| author_sort | Luis Pezo-Lanfranco |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The balance between fishing and farming for the development of complex societies in ancient Central Andes is the subject of a long debate. Despite the availability of marine resources in one of the world's richer marine ecosystems and the extreme aridity of the landscape, current evidence suggests that farming was the prime mover of early Andean civilization. In this study, we employed stable isotope analysis to reconstruct the diets of 38 human individuals from two occupations at Vichama, a coastal settlement with monumental architecture located in the Huaura Valley, Early Formative−1 period (EF-1, 1800–1500 BCE) and the Late Intermediate Period (LIP, 1000–1300 CE). Results show a considerable contribution of C3 cultivated plants and marine protein during EF-1, which indicates the first importance of farming at that time, whereas marine consumption increased during the LIP, a period of higher marine productivity. Our findings shed light on the complex interplay between climate alternances and coastal/inland sites' hegemony in the Central Andes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4b3f9a6b486f46e0bc566d340b01161e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2813-432X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj-art-4b3f9a6b486f46e0bc566d340b01161e2025-08-20T03:28:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology2813-432X2025-07-01410.3389/fearc.2025.16110711611071Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE)Luis Pezo-Lanfranco0Luis Pezo-Lanfranco1Luis Pezo-Lanfranco2Aldemar Crispin3Alonso Prado-Barragán4Tatiana Abad5Marco Machacuay6Marco Yseki7Manuel Gorriti8Luis Miranda9José Apolín10Alice DiMuro11Alice DiMuro12Pedro Novoa13Pedro Novoa14André Carlo Colonese15André Carlo Colonese16Ruth Shady17Ruth Shady18Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, SpainDepartment of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, SpainZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruInstitute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, SpainDepartment of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, SpainZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruFacultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PeruInstitute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, SpainDepartment of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, SpainZona Arqueológica Caral, Ministerio de Cultura, Lima, PeruFacultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PeruThe balance between fishing and farming for the development of complex societies in ancient Central Andes is the subject of a long debate. Despite the availability of marine resources in one of the world's richer marine ecosystems and the extreme aridity of the landscape, current evidence suggests that farming was the prime mover of early Andean civilization. In this study, we employed stable isotope analysis to reconstruct the diets of 38 human individuals from two occupations at Vichama, a coastal settlement with monumental architecture located in the Huaura Valley, Early Formative−1 period (EF-1, 1800–1500 BCE) and the Late Intermediate Period (LIP, 1000–1300 CE). Results show a considerable contribution of C3 cultivated plants and marine protein during EF-1, which indicates the first importance of farming at that time, whereas marine consumption increased during the LIP, a period of higher marine productivity. Our findings shed light on the complex interplay between climate alternances and coastal/inland sites' hegemony in the Central Andes.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fearc.2025.1611071/fullAndean formative perioddietary reconstructionBayesian stable isotope mixing modelsclimate changePeruvian North-Central coast |
| spellingShingle | Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Luis Pezo-Lanfranco Aldemar Crispin Alonso Prado-Barragán Tatiana Abad Marco Machacuay Marco Yseki Manuel Gorriti Luis Miranda José Apolín Alice DiMuro Alice DiMuro Pedro Novoa Pedro Novoa André Carlo Colonese André Carlo Colonese Ruth Shady Ruth Shady Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE) Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology Andean formative period dietary reconstruction Bayesian stable isotope mixing models climate change Peruvian North-Central coast |
| title | Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE) |
| title_full | Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE) |
| title_fullStr | Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE) |
| title_short | Refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the Central Andes: stable isotope evidence from Vichama (1800–1500 BCE) |
| title_sort | refining dietary shifts linked to climate oscillations in the central andes stable isotope evidence from vichama 1800 1500 bce |
| topic | Andean formative period dietary reconstruction Bayesian stable isotope mixing models climate change Peruvian North-Central coast |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fearc.2025.1611071/full |
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