Mid-Holocene climate and culture change in coastal Peru.

David H. Sandweiss, Kirk A. Maasch, C. Fred Andrus, Elizabeth J. Reitz, James B. Richardson, Melanie A. Riedinger-Whitmore, Harold B. Rollins

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

In the general absence of standard, high-resolution paleoclimatic records such as lake cores or corals, archaeological remains from Mid-Holocene archaeological sites in coastal Peru provided pioneering interpretations of El Nin ˜o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related paleoclimatic change in the eastern equatorial Pacific that have since been supported and amplified by multiple proxies. At the same time, archaeologists working in the region have explored the role of climatic change in cultural development, with particular attention to El Nin ˜o. In this chapter we review the history of study and the current status of Mid-Holocene climatic and cultural change along the Peruvian coast, with a focus on major transitions at ca. 5800 and 3000 cal yr BP that correlate temporally with changes in ENSO frequency.

Original languageAmerican English
Title of host publicationMid-Holocene climate and culture change in coastal Peru.
StatePublished - Jan 1 2007

Keywords

  • Mid-Holocen climate, Peru

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