Chronology, mound-building and environment at Huaca Prieta, coastal Peru, from 13 700 to 4000 years ago.

Dillehay, Tom D. ; Bonavia, Duccio ; Goodbred, Steven 等

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Introduction

The warming trend at the end of the Pleistocene led to new and generally richer terrestrial and coastal environments that were exploited by human foragers in several regions of the world (Straus et al. 1996). Post-Pleistocene complex hunters and gatherers who practised intensive maritime adaptations and established extensive often sedentary communities are best represented by the Jomon culture in Japan (Habu 2004), the Ertebolle culture in Scandinavia (Miller et al. 2010), the ring-mounds in the south-east of the United States (Thompson & Worth 2010) and the sambaqui mounds in Brazil (Fish et al. 2000). The settlements of these cultures are invariably characterised by mortuary rituals suggestive of social differentiation, and by extensive shell middens that have yielded a wide array of marine and terrestrial species. At different times between ~8000 and 4000 cal BP, some of these communities also practised various degrees of horticulture as evidenced by the appearance of food crops. Like these regions, the Pacific coast from southern Ecuador to northern Chile witnessed the early rise of complex societies, especially in Peru where sedentism and monumental non-domestic architecture appeared by at least 5200 cal BP (Moseley 1975, 1992; Richardson 1981; Bird et al. 1985; Haas & Creamer 2006). Some of these developments are due to the unique ecology of the region, with diverse and abundant maritime resources closely juxtaposed with a long fertile but arid coastal plain, through which rivers descend from the Andean mountains. Others are the result of emerging ideologies adopted by these communities, which built monuments prior to the use of pottery. Associated with these changes was a variety of food and industrial crops (Bird 1948; Pearsall 2008). Particularly important was cotton for producing fishing nets, textiles and gourds for net floats. One of the early coastal monuments is Huaca Prieta, a large stone and earthen mound measuring 138 x 62 x 32m, built on the southern point of a remnant Pleistocene terrace overlooking the Pacific Ocean and estuarine wetlands and the delta plain of the Chicama River valley (Bird et al. 1985) (Figure 1).

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Huaca Prieta was first excavated by Junius Bird in the 1940s and radiocarbon dated to between ~5302 and 1933 cal BP in the 1950s (Figure 2; Table 1). Based on the large size of the mound, on an abundance of marine resources, wood charcoal, ash and soot, thus the appearance of a black or prieta mound, and on the presence of small stone structures, Bird believed that the site was occupied by sedentary people living in pit-houses. In addition to a marine economy, he documented incipient gardening and social differentiation, as indicated by the remains of several food crops, the uninterrupted accumulation of cultural layers, the presence of room structures, the interment of human burials with grave offerings and a wide variety of material technologies including lithic, gourd, basketry, bone, wood and textile. The most developed technology at the site was cotton weaving and netting (Bird & Mahler 1952). The site's weavers devised sophisticated iconographic styles with various designs. Iconography was also exhibited through incised and engraved gourds, hematite painted pebbles and recently recovered coral sculptures. A crude lithic industry included grinding stones for processing plants and edge-trimmed pebble flake tools, hammerstones, cores and other implements used for various tasks (Bird et al. 1985: 77-91).

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Until now, the broader importance of Bird's pioneering work at Huaca Prieta has been constrained by few radiocarbon dates and cursory study of the site's environment, stratigraphy and chronology, architecture and off-mound activity. In 2006 we began an interdisciplinary project at the site to re-examine the previous work and to better understand the relationship between coastal environments, economies and mound building within the site's changing social and natural landscapes. To date, we have excavated more than 2000[m.sup.3] in old and new areas of Huaca Prieta, located and explored other domestic sites on the remnant terrace, conducted a survey of Preceramic settlements along the coast of the Chicama River valley and reconstructed the local palaeoecology (Figure 3).

The new work has greatly extended the time span of occupation at the site and increased its significance for the understanding of the development of early societies in Peru. We have documented the site stratigraphy encountered by Bird and the primary refuse of charcoal, ash, burned rock, the remains of numerous marine organisms such as fish, urchins, shellfish, sea lion and porpoise, birds and other fauna, and cultivated plants. We have also obtained numerous radiocarbon dates from intact features and floors and defined several site phases (Table 1), ranging in chronometric age from 13 720-13 260 cal BP for the first human presence, from ~8979-7500 cal BP for a pre-mound occupational phase and from ~7555-4510 cal BP for subsequent mound-building phases. Our findings also indicate that the site was first occupied by maritime foragers. After ~7500 cal BP, activity shifted about 50m north and the first mound layers, associated with burning and mortuary rituals, were built on the southern end of the terrace.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Method

During five recent field seasons, we recut, profiled and studied all of Bird's prior pits on the mound (Bird et al. 1985: 26), particularly his HP-2 and HP-3 units (Figure 4), taking more than 15 000 measurements of stratigraphic profiles in 60 different archaeological excavations, three with cultural deposits of 22-32m. We selected several new areas for extensive and deeper excavations, working with large teams of professional archaeologists and experienced local workers. Specialists such as botanists, geneticists, malacologists and geologists joined the research team for various periods of time to extract specific data sets.

In total, we excavated 31 block units ranging in size from 2 x 6m to 12 x 14m, 30 test pits ranging between 1 x 2m and 2 x 3m, more than 25 geological trenches and hundreds of sediment cores on and off the site. Many of the test pits and small block units were exploratory in nature, seeking to define the mound and off-mound stratigraphy, function and chronology (Figure 3). Given the depth and size of the mound, which covered or destroyed the early occupational deposits to a depth of 8-32m, we obtained only three terminal Pleistocene and six pre-mound Early Holocene radiocarbon dates (Units 2, 9, 15 [21], HP-2, HP-3 and TP-22). Additionally, five large 20 x 20m block units were subjected to geophysical mapping for purpose of testing deep subsurface features. Thus, the majority of our work was located in areas not probed by Bird, such as the lower and upper south side of the site and deposits buried underneath later Cupisnique and Moche mounds (~3500-1500 cal years ago) located immediately north of Huaca Prieta.

We also carried out block excavations at Paredones, a smaller 30 x 70m mound located 1km north of Huaca Prieta (Figure 3). Paredones dates between ~6700 and 4200 cal BP and presents a 6m-deep cultural sequence associated with domestic occupation. The stratigraphy at both Huaca Prieta and Paredones is intact, with almost impenetrable cement-like floors and floor fills. Minimal disturbance resulted from occasional architectural construction at Huaca Prieta.

In this paper we focus on the dating of the sequence. Summary reports on the floodplain deposits, mound stratigraphy, architectural phases, subsistence economy and off-mound domestic sites (including Paredones) will be found in the supplement online (SOL) at http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/dillehay331.

Holocene environmental history

Our recent palaeoecological studies indicate that the environs of Huaca Prieta are defined by the interface of several geo-climatic settings, which present diverse natural resources (Dillehay et al. 2010). Geological evidence reveals an intimate association with fertile deltaic wetland systems that were juxtaposed with diverse semi-arid lowlands and coastal estuarine and marine settings. Located at these ecological junctions, settings like that of Huaca Prieta were susceptible to environmental changes forced by various phenomena: local (e.g. river avulsion, earthquakes), regional (e.g. El Nino), global (e.g. sea-level change) or anthropogenic (e.g. land use) (Bird, R. 1983; Sandweiss et al. 1999, 2009; Wells 1999). The earliest coastal plain formation near the site is recorded by unique algal carbonate (Charophyta) and interbedded organic sediments that indicate the development of a widespread wetland-fringed, estuarine lagoon by 7457 cal BP (OS-77303, see Table 1). This setting persisted until 6470 cal BP (AS-83258, see Table 1), after which the onset of El Nino floods began to infill the lagoon with riverine silts. This major environmental transformation from open-water lagoon to a well-drained floodplain occurs over ~2000 years and is largely complete by 4500 cal BE Floodplain deposition, largely through El Nino flood events, remains a continuous but episodic process up to the present (Sandweiss et al. 1999) (SOL 1).

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

A prominent feature across the relatively flat and narrow coastal plain of the Chicama River valley are several small drainages that cross-cut the plain as they descend from the Andean foothills to the ocean. These drainages change depending on the level of the water table and El Nino events, becoming larger when heavy rains in the highlands increase their load. When these drainages reach the ocean and mix with its salty tidal water, numerous estuary systems are formed between 2 and 20km north of Huaca Prieta. These estuaries are generally narrow and 2-7km long, running perpendicular to the seashore, although they may connect to lagoons that are elongated and parallel to the coast. Sand dunes created by the sediments dumped by rivers and shaped by the action of waves separate these wetland systems from the ocean. The wetlands provide a wide variety of edible plant and animal life, in addition to various species of reeds used to make mats, baskets and other utilitarian items. Today, people grow crops along the edges of the wetlands where the soils are rich and humid year round (Figure 2).

Phasing and dating at Huaca Prieta

In total, more than 150 radiocarbon dates were obtained from 60 mound and off-mound excavations and from various geological cuts and cores (Table 1). Not all floor and use episodes were radiocarbon dated, which would require more than 1000 chronometric measurements (see SOL). However, the deeper stratigraphic cuts were dated from the top to bottom, as shown in Figures 5-7 for Units 2, 15/21 and HP-3. All radiocarbon dates from Huaca Prieta and Paredones were taken on single chunks of wood charcoal, maize and cotton textiles recovered from features embedded in floors. Unfortunately, not all excavated strata contained single chunks embedded in floors or features. With the exception of fragments of maize and other organic debris, which will be detailed in later publications, all radiocarbon dates are on wood charcoal and cotton. No radiocarbon samples were taken from fills and middens or from marine shells. Given the different organic materials dated by four different laboratories over a period of six decades, nearly all dates agree and overlap chronologically and stratigraphically at the 1[sigma] calibrated age range. There is also agreement and stratigraphic alignment between Bird's [sup.14]C dates and his schematic profile of the north to south oriented HP-3 trench and our [sup.14]C dates and stratigraphy in this same unit (Bird et al. 1985: 51-8) (Figure 5).

Our excavations at the site have defined limited terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene occupational phases followed by four successive mound-building phases (Figures 8 & 9). The terminal Pleistocene materials are buried in the upper surface deposits of the ancient terrace upon which the mound sits at Huaca Prieta. Because these deposits are deeply buried beneath the mound, we have not yet fully studied the spatial extent and geological setting of this occupation. To date we have recovered simple edge-trimmed pebble flakes, several bone remains of fish and sea lion, and fractured shellfish valves from these deposits, which are dated between 13 720 and 13 260 cal BP (Table 1).

The mound sequence has been resolved in five phases. Phase I is dated ~9000-7500 cal BP and is associated with maritime foragers and incipient gardeners intermittently occupying around 80m of the lower east side of the Sangamon terrace near the banks of the brackish water, estuarine lagoon (see Table 1; Figures 3 & 4, Units 2, 9 & 15/21, HP-3 & TP 22). No architecture was detected for this phase. Phase II is dated between ~7572 and 6538 cal BP and represents the first mound construction stage. We estimate that the mound during this phase minimally measured ~5m high, ~25m wide and ~25-35m long and consisted of several cobblestone and soil layers. In Units 15/21 and HP-3, the first layers are dated between 7429 and 6899 cal BP, with younger and older dates stratigraphically bracketing these layers, respectively. In Unit 2, the first layer is represented by stratum 7C-2, which we have not dated due to the absence of datable charcoal (Figure 6). However, this layer overlies stratum 7C-3, which is AMS dated to between 7555 and 7434 cal years ago, suggesting the former probably dates to at least ~7000 cal years ago. The current evidence suggests that the earliest mound layers were placed on the south-east flank and crest of the ancient

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

terrace near the shoreline of the lagoon (Table 1, Units 2, 15/21 & HP-3; and see Figure 3 and SOL 2). From there, the mound appears to have gradually spread to the north and west along this flank, with later construction layers reaching to the western edge of the terrace in the vicinity of Bird's HP-2 pit. The use of space along the eastern flank and the crest of the terrace eventually became more restricted by the increasing steeper sloping sides of the mound. No stone room foundations were recovered for this phase, though a few postholes and cane poles were excavated suggesting the construction of perishable structures.

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

The mound building phases, beginning with Phase II, did not develop from a gradual accumulation of occupation midden but from deliberate and gradual, planned mounding over a period of ~3000 years. The beginning points of the individual mounding phases are represented in the form of haystacking strata whereby a basal ring or layer of shingled cobblestone berms are laid out and angled to define the outer limits of the structure and to provide an architectural footing for the space inside to be infilled by floors and floor fills (Figure 7).

During Phase III the focus of mound construction shifted more to the crest and the western edge of the terrace (Figure 3; Table 1, Units 2, 15/21, HP-2, HP-3). Phase III dates between ~6538 and 5308 cal BP and is characterised by the addition of more artificial layers, several small stone-faced, terraced rooms placed along the eastern and western slopes of the mound and, at the end of this phase, the lower floors of a circular sunken pit (Figures 7, 8 & 9: IIIa) on the south side, and the lower part of a stone retention wall on the north-east side (see Figure 4 and SOL 3). These structural features are spatially and architecturally conjoined, suggesting simultaneous planned construction and use across the entire upper surface of the mound at this time. These features began to give the mound a stepped platform-like form. During this phase, the mound expanded to ~8-10m in height in some places and ~80m in length.

Phase IV dates from ~5308-4107 cal years ago, when the mound spread over a more extended area of old and new ground and increased in height (Figures 8 & 9; Table 1, all units). Phases III and IV are separated by a yellowish clay cap ~25cm thick placed over most of the mound. Further additions during this phase were the first layers of a ramp built on the east side, the upper portion of the retention wall and the stepped structures in the sunken plaza (Figures 4, 8 & 9: IIIb) (see SOL 3). The ramp addition is ~40m long and ~35m wide and characterised by a series of thick cobble stone berm layers and by intervening floors built over and sealing the retention wall and the first construction phases of the mound. Later the foundations of the ramp rested directly upon the eastern edge of mound layers built during Phase III. The mound during Phase IV was roughly the size it is today, although a few new layers were added in Phase V.

During Phase V the steep sloping flanks of the mound to both the east and west were used less, with most activity now limited to the flat crest of the structure. It dates between ~4107 and 3455 cal BP when, during the early part of this phase, cobblestone burial chambers were built along the upper rim of the sunken pit and on the top of the mound. More layers were also added to the ramp, which eventually covered and sealed the retention wall. By ~4000-3800 cal BP the Preceramic use of the site terminated. People of later ceramic cultures, dating from the Cupisnique to Inca periods (~3500-600 cal years ago) carried out rituals and buried their dead on the top of the mound.

[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]

Discussion

Huaca Prieta was a place where several important architectural, technological and artistic innovations took place. The rich coastal environment of the site continuously supported a mixed maritime, wetland and agriculture economy that gave rise to one of the earliest developments of cultural complexity in the Americas (see also SOL 4). Complexity is evidenced not only in the textile and gourd technology, iconography, burial chambers, mound architecture and mixed economy of Huaca Prieta, but in the growth and density of the Preceramic population in the diverse littoral environment north of Huaca Prieta of the Chicama Valley.

Huaca Prieta is an enigma in Andean archaeology because it currently has no known antecedents, either on the ancient terrace (see SOL 5) or further afield. Its complexity lies in its form, function and location. The haystacking construction technique, the circular sunken plaza and retention walls, and the multiple agglutinated rooms of the mound impart a sense of site planning as evidenced at other public monuments during the late Preceramic period (c. 5000--4500 cal BP), such as Alto Salaverry, Cerro Ventarron, Sechin Bajo, Aspero, Bandurria and others along the north and central coast of Peru. However, the architecture, stratigraphy and mortuary remains evidenced for Phases II and III are different from the staircases, ramps and maze-like room construction of the late Preceramic platform monuments at sites such as Sechin Bajo, Caral, Caballete and Cerro Lampay located farther inland in coastal valleys farther south (Moseley 1975; Shady et al. 2001; Haas & Creamer 2004; Fuchs & Briceno 2006; Alva 2010), suggesting different activities. The inland sites do not exhibit large numbers of human burials, extensive soot layers and burning, isolated retention walls or the stone- and earth-layered mound, as seen at Huaca Prieta and Paredones. On the other hand, Phases II and III at Huaca Prieta are not associated with large platform structures, suggestive of more formalised, non-mortuary architecture and activity. Feasting associated with burned offerings and probably mortuary rituals appears to have been a primary activity at Huaca Prieta. It was not until Phases IV and V, when the agglutinated rooms and burial chambers on top of the mound and the ramp were added, that Huaca Prieta appeared more typical of other coastal monuments. None of these early coastal sites provide concrete evidence of permanent elites or authoritative figures.

The archaeological record and particularly the age and construction of the mound at Huaca Prieta contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that the Early to Middle Holocene period in the Central Andes was a complex mosaic of different economies and social forms. For instance, in south-west coastal Ecuador (Piperno & Stothert 2003) and the western montane slopes of northern Peru (Piperno & Dillehay 2008; Dillehay et al. 2008; Dillehay 2011), mixed farming and foraging societies existed by at least 10 000-9000 cal BE In the Andean highlands from Peru and Bolivia to northern Chile and Argentina, economies focused on camelid husbandry and high-altitude crops were developed by at least 6000 cal BP (Aldenderfer 1988; Bonavia 2008). Additional research will continue to reveal that the origins of Andean civilisation have several interrelated regional roots, each characterised by different social and economic conditions. In our perspective, a critical threshold was crossed when these societies moved beyond the domestic context to include planned sedentary communities and a formalised and structured public life. Not only did these societies establish social complexity and public monuments, but they also initiated important environmental changes such as extensive landscape modification and the domestication and spread of plants and animals that eventually led to the development of early states in the Andes.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC), Lima, Peru for granting us the permission to work at Huaca Prieta. We are grateful to Cesar Galvez and Jesus Briceno (INC, Trujillo) for their support. Financial support for this project came from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society and Vanderbilt University. Additional support was provided by the Lupinski and O'Leary families. We also thank Marshall Summar and Jessica Blair of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center for genetic analysis. The first author is grateful to the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History for granting permission to study Junius B. Bird's notes and photographs for Huaca Prieta, as well as the artefacts he recovered from the site.

Received: 19 April 2011; Accepted: 20 June 2011; Revised: 27 June 2011

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Tom D. Dillehay (1,2), Duccio Bonavia (3), Steven Goodbred (4), Mario Pino (5), Victor Vasquez (6), Teresa Rosales Tham (6), William Conklin (7), Jeff Splitstoser (8), Dolores Piperno (9), Jose Iriarte (10), Alexander Grobman (11), Gerson Levi-Lazzaris (1), Daniel Moreira (12), Marilaura Lopez (13), Tiffiny Tung (1), Anne Titelbaum (14), John Verano (14), James Adovasio (15), Linda Scott Cummings (16), Phillipe Bearez (17), Elise Dufour (17), Olivier Tombret (17,18), Michael Ramirez (19), Rachel Beavins (4), Larisa DeSantis (4), Isabel Rey (20), Philip Mink (21), Greg Maggard (21) & Teresa Franco (1)

(1) Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Science, Vanderbilt University, 124 Garland Hall, Nashville, TN 37235, USA

(2) Escuela de Antropologia, Faculdad de Ciensias Sociales, Universidad Catolica de Temuco, Manuel Montt 056, Temuco, Chile

(3) Academia Nacional de la Historia, Casa de Osambela, Jr. Conde de Superunda 298, Lima 1, Peru

(4) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Science, Vanderbilt University, 5726 Stevenson Center, 7th floor, Nashville, TN 37240, USA

(5) Instituto de Ciencias Geologicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile

(6) Laboratorio de Bioarqueologia, Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Avda. Universitaria s/n, Trujillo, Peru

(7) Department of Anthropology, Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605-2496, USA

(8) Boundary End Archaeology Research Center, One Walker Creek Road, Barnardsville, NC 28709-0592, USA

(9) Archaeobiology Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 20013-7012, USA & Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama

(10) Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter EX4 4QE, UK

(11) Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Av. La Universidad s/n, Facultad de Ciencias, Lima 12, Peru

(12) Departamento de Arqueologia, Universidade Federal de Rondonia, Avenida Presidente Dutra 2965, Porto Velho 78900-500, Brasil

(13) Escuela de Arqueologia, Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Avenida Juan Pablo II s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Trujillo, La Libertad, Peru

(14) Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, 101 Dinwiddie Hall, 6823 St Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA

(15) Department of Anthropology, Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute, Mercyhurst College, 501 East 58th Street, Erie, PA 16546-0001, USA

(16) Paleo Research Institute, 2675 Youngfield St, Golden, CO 80401, USA

(17) Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France

(18) Universite de Picardie Jules Verne, Chemin de Thil, 80-025 Amiens, France

(19) Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 6 East Mall EPS RM 1.130, Austin, TX 78705, USA

(20) Tissue and DNA Collections, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain

(21) Kentucky Archaeological Survey, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-9854, USA

Table 1. Radiocarbon dates from Huaca Prieta, nearby off mound
geological deposits and the Paredones site.

Sample no. Provenience [[delta].sup.13]36

Unit 2

AA76975 Unit 2 ext -24.4
 west,
 upper
 Stratum 3
Beta233650 Unit 2, -22.2
 lower
 Stratum 3
AA76974 Unit 2 ext -24.2
 west,
 Stratum
 5a
AA76973 Unit 2, -24.0
 Stratum
 7a
AA81925 Unit 2, -19.1
 Stratum
 76
AA85506 First mound -25.4
 Layer:
 Unit 2,
 Stratum
 7C-3
AA76972 Pre-mound -23.5
 occupation
 (?):
 Unit 2,
 Stratum
 7C-7 base
Beta233651 Pre-mound
 occupation:
 Unit
 2, Stratum
 8, base

Unit 3

AA76977 Unit 3 ext -22.8
 south,
 Floor 2
AA76978 Unit 3 ext -19.6
 south,
 Floor 5a
AA76979 Unit 3 ext -19.6
 south,
 Floor 56

Beta247695 Unit 3, -20.8
 Stratum 8,
 below
 Floor 6

Unit 7

AA76970 Unit 7, -25.1
 Floor 1

Unit 8

AA81916 Unit 8, -17.2
 Tomb 4

Unit 9

AA81922 Unit 9, -22.0
 Stratum
 7a, top
AA84168 Pre-mound -22.8
 occupation:
 Unit
 9, Stratum
 8, base

Unit 10

AA81923 Unit 10, -25.7
 Base of
 Structure
 2
AA81919 Unit 10, -26.4
 Floor 4

Unit 12

AA81929 Unit 12, Ash -25.2
 Stratum 1

Unit 13

AA81920 Unit 13, -19.7
 Floor 3

Unit 14

AA81921 Unit 14, -25.1
 Floor 4

Unit 16

AA86935 Off-mound -22.6
 domestic
 Unit 16,
 Stratum
 13-7

Unit 20 (Paredones)

AA86936 Unit 20, -23.8
 Stratum
 5B
AA86937 Unit 20, -25.8
 Stratum
 6B-18
Unit 21 (Unit
15)

AA86941 Unit 21, -10.6
 Floor 2-3,
 16
AA86931 Unit 21, -25.2
 Floor 3-2
AA86946 Unit 21, -11.9
 Floor 9
AA75322 Unit 15, -29.4
 Floor 26
AA85507 First mound -25.6
 layer: Unit
 15
AA75327 Pre-mound -29.5
 occupation:
 Unit
 15, below
 sunken
 plaza in
 mound
Beta290621 Buried -25.6
 surface of
 Sangamon
 Terrace
Beta299536 Buried -28.3
 surface of
 Sangamon
 Terrace

Unit 22 (Paredones)

AA86934 Unit 22, -13.4
 Floor 6
Beta263320 Unit 22, -24.5
 Floor 10,
 Capa 14
Beta263321 Unit 22, -25.6
 Floor 15
AA86947 Unit 22, -24.0
 Floor 16,
 Fill 10
AA83260 Unit 22, -26.0
 Floor 24

Unit 23

AA86930 Unit 23, -10.0
 Stratum
 3-1
AA86949 Unit 23, -27.1
 Floor 3-3
AA86948 Unit 23, -23.5
 Floor 11

Bird's HP-2

Beta233648 Basal mound -23.8
 layer:
 HP-2 west
 side of site
Libby-598 Test Pit 2; -22.2
 Bottom

Bird's HP-3

AA81926 HP-3, -28.0
 Stratum 5
AA86943 HP-3, -24.6
 Stratum
 14
AA86940 HP-3, -25.6
 Stratum
 19
AA81924 HP-3, -23.5
 Stratum
 22
AA81927 HP-3, -17.3
 Stratum
 23
AA86948 HP-3, -24.1
 Stratum
 35
AA82121 HP-3, --
 Stratum
 52(39),
 upper part
AA81907 First mound -23.8
 layer:
 HP-3,
 Stratum
 52-53,
 lower part
Beta263318 Pre-mound -24.9
 occupation:
 Stratum
 55
Beta294021 Pre-mound -23.3
 occupation:
 Stratum
 54
AA75321 Pre-mound -28.9
 occupation:
 base HP-3
 Stratum
 56, P-4

TP-3 (Ext. of HP-3)

Beta278233 Test Pit 3, -25.5
 Stratum 2

TP-6

Beta247696 Test Pit 6, -18.7
 Base
TP-9-13

AA86944 Test Pit 9-13 -28.1

TP-22

AA86947 Test Pit 22, -24.0
 Stratum
 10

Beta210862 Pre-mound -27.4
 Occupation,
 Stratum
 20

Beta290620 Test Pit 22, -28.3
 Stratum
 25

Bird's [sup.14]C samples from HP-3 *

321 Test pit 3;
 Layer D

Beta9286 HP 3, E

Beta9288 HP 3, F

Beta9287 HP 3, J

318b Test pit 3;
 Layer J

362 Test pit 3;
 Layer K
315 Test pit 3;
 Layer M
316 Test pit 3;
 Layer M
313 Test pit 3;
 Layer Q

Geological dates mentioned in text

AA83255 Swash- -21.1
 laminated
 shoreface
 sands

Beta244172 Muddy -19.1
 back-dune
 swale
AA83252 Sandy -25.8
 burned
 cultural
 horizon

AA81933 Swash- -24.7
 laminated
 shoreface
 sands
 onlapping
 Huaca
 Prieta
AA83258 Carbonate -6.0
 lagoon
 sediments
OS-77302 Organic -25.6
 layer inter
 bedded
 within
 Carbonate
 lagoon
 sediments
OS82737 Organic -29.9
 layer inter
 bedded
 within
 Carbonate
 lagoon
 sediments
OS77304 Organic -24.1
 layer inter
 bedded
 within
 Carbonate
 lagoon
 sediments
OS77303 Organic -27.7
 layer inter
 bedded
 within
 Carbonate
 lagoon
 sediments

 Conventional 1[sigma]-calibrated
Sample no. radiocarbon age range (BP)

Unit 2

AA76975 3535 [+ or -] 35 3827-3696

Beta233650 3700 [+ or -] 40 4073-3893

AA76974 3588 [+ or -] 36 3873-3724

AA76973 3748 [+ or -] 40 4137-3933

AA81925 3964 [+ or -] 41 4418-4259

AA85506 6641 [+ or -] 49 7555-7434

AA76972 6797 [+ or -] 48 7656-7572

Beta233651 6920 [+ or -] 30 7740-7660

Unit 3

AA76977 3530 [+ or -] 36 3827-3693

AA76978 3567 [+ or -] 40 3841-3717

AA76979 3758 [+ or -] 40 4142-3978

Beta247695 4000 [+ or -] 40 4510-4296

Unit 7

AA76970 3649 [+ or -] 36 3964-3841

Unit 8

AA81916 3534 [+ or -] 53 3833-3689

Unit 9

AA81922 3547 [+ or -] 40 3829-3705

AA84168 7956 [+ or -] 50 8931-8599

Unit 10

AA81923 3556 [+ or -] 44 3834-3705

AA81919 3557 [+ or -] 40 3834-3716

Unit 12

AA81929 3441 [+ or -] 39 3688-3576

Unit 13

AA81920 3810 [+ or -] 41 4224-3996

Unit 14

AA81921 3508 [+ or -] 40 3825-3641

Unit 16

AA86935 6310 [+ or -] 33 7251-7162

Unit 20 (Paredones)

AA86936 4783 [+ or -] 31 5578-5330

AA86937 4849 [+ or -] 31 5589-5479

Unit 21 (Unit
15)

AA86941 3599 [+ or -] 29 3889-3728

AA86931 3638 [+ or -] 29 3957-3838

AA86946 3783 [+ or -] 41 4148-3988

AA75322 5018 [+ or -] 86 5860-5599

AA85507 6522 [+ or -] 54 7429-7323

AA75327 7226 [+ or -] 44 8019-7947

Beta290621 11500 [+ or -] 50 13403-13294 **

Beta299536 11800 [+ or -] 50 13757-13517 **

Unit 22 (Paredones)

AA86934 4181 [+ or -] 34 4809-4570

Beta263320 4590 [+ or -] 40 5308-5062

Beta263321 4790 [+ or -] 40 5580-5331

AA86947 4898 [+ or -] 49 5644-5483

AA83260 5750 [+ or -] 60 6561-6405

Unit 23

AA86930 1760 [+ or -] 29 1690-1557

AA86949 3467 [+ or -] 39 3704-3584

AA86948 5059 [+ or -] 72 5887-5652

Bird's HP-2

Beta233648 5110 [+ or -] 40 5891-5745

Libby-598 4298 [+ or -] 230 5260-4439

Bird's HP-3

AA81926 3394 [+ or -] 40 3634-3485

AA86943 3806 [+ or -] 28 4213-3999

AA86940 3875 [+ or -] 30 4287-4107

AA81924 3687 [+ or -] 40 4063-3876

AA81927 3728 [+ or -] 40 4084-3927

AA86948 5020 [+ or -] 35 5830-5598

AA82121 5980 [+ or -] 40 6789-6676

AA81907 6170 [+ or -] 45 7154-6899

Beta263318 7000 [+ or -] 50 7830-7703

Beta294021 7110 [+ or -] 50 7946-7840

AA75321 7195 [+ or -] 45 8009-7933

TP-3 (Ext. of HP-3)

Beta278233 3660 [+ or -] 40 3972-3854

TP-6

Beta247696 3350 [+ or -] 40 3571-3464

TP-9-13

AA86944 3334 [+ or -] 38 3558-3455

TP-22

AA86947 4898 [+ or -] 49 5644-5483

Beta210862 9530 [+ or -] 50 [11000]-10501

Beta290620 11780 [+ or -] 50 13732-13510 **

Bird's [sup.14]C samples from HP-3 *

321 2966 [+ or -] 340 3555-2621

Beta9286 3730 [+ or -] 300 4422-3634

Beta9288 3960 [+ or -] 100 4510-4157

Beta9287 3270 [+ or -] 100 3569-3343

318b 3550 [+ or -] 600 4569-3005

362 4044 [+ or -] 300 4845-3996

315 3572 [+ or -] 220 4088-3485

316 4380 [+ or -] 270 5302-4539

313 4257 [+ or -] 250 5263-4411

Geological dates mentioned in text

AA83255 2767 [+ or -] 90 2924-2746

Beta244172 2820 [+ or -] 80 2950-2778

AA83252 3521 [+ or -] 49 3828-3645

AA81933 3598 [+ or -] 40 3893-3725

AA83258 5739 [+ or -] 51 6538-6404

OS-77302 6180 [+ or -] 35 7155-6939

OS82737 6500 [+ or -] 30 7421-7326

OS77304 6500 [+ or -] 45 7422-7324

OS77303 6600 [+ or -] 35 7483-7425

 2[sigma]-calibrated
Sample no. age range (BP) Material

Unit 2

AA76975 3849-3639 Wood charcoal

Beta233650 4088-3844 Charred
 material

AA76974 3956-3694 Wood charcoal

AA76973 4151-3898 Wood charcoal

AA81925 4511-4159 Wood charcoal

AA85506 7571-7424 Wood charcoal

AA76972 7680-7508 Wood charcoal

Beta233651 7786-7618 Wood charcoal

Unit 3

AA76977 3849-3636 Wood charcoal

AA76978 3901-3643 Wood charcoal

AA76979 4216-3901 Wood charcoal

Beta247695 4520-4245 Organic
 sediment

Unit 7

AA76970 4072-3727 Wood charcoal

Unit 8

AA81916 3892-3590 Bone

Unit 9

AA81922 3876-3640 Wood charcoal

AA84168 8979-8592 Wood charcoal

Unit 10

AA81923 3895-3640 Wood charcoal

AA81919 3891-3642 Wood charcoal

Unit 12

AA81929 3817-3480 Wood charcoal

Unit 13

AA81920 4283-3974 Wood charcoal

Unit 14

AA81921 3838-3588 Wood charcoal

Unit 16

AA86935 7266-7021 Wood charcoal

Unit 20 (Paredones)

AA86936 5583-5324 Wood charcoal

AA86937 5603-5333 Charred wood

Unit 21 (Unit
15)

AA86941 3956-3704 Corn cob

AA86931 3982-3728 Wood charcoal

AA86946 4235-3928 Corn cob

AA75322 5911-5488 Wood charcoal

AA85507 7474-7268 Wood charcoal

AA75327 8156-7871 Wood charcoal

Beta290621 13420-13260 ** Charred wood

Beta299536 13794-13459 ** Wood

Unit 22 (Paredones)

AA86934 4821-4527 Charred cob

Beta263320 5435-5044 Wood charcoal

Beta263321 5585-5325 Charred
 material
AA86947 5711-5335 Wood charcoal

AA83260 6640-6319 Wood charcoal

Unit 23

AA86930 1697-1539 Wood charcoal

AA86949 3828-3560 Wood charcoal

AA86948 5902-5606 Wood charcoal

Bird's HP-2

Beta233648 5919-5667 Organic
 sediment

Libby-598 5462-4152 Charcoal

Bird's HP-3

AA81926 3688-3464 Wood charcoal

AA86943 4233-3985 Wood charcoal

AA86940 4406-4090 Wood charcoal

AA81924 4084-3838 Wood charcoal

AA81927 4147-3875 Wood charcoal

AA86948 5848-5585 Wood charcoal

AA82121 6882-6657 Cotton yarn

AA81907 7162-6808 Wood charcoal

Beta263318 7927-7673 Charred
 material

Beta294021 7979-7752 Wood charcoal

AA75321 8040-7847 Wood charcoal

TP-3 (Ext. of HP-3)

Beta278233 4081-3730 Charred
 material

TP-6

Beta247696 3823-3483 Charred
 material
TP-9-13

AA86944 3614-3398 Wood charcoal

TP-22

AA86947 5711-5335 Wood charcoal

Beta210862 [11000]-10579 Wood charcoal

Beta290620 13720-13440 ** Wood

Bird's [sup.14]C samples from HP-3 *

321 3905-2160 Gourds, chewed
 fibre, squash
 stems, cotton,
 wood,
 barkcloth
Beta9286 4845-3272 Gourd
 (Lagenaria
 siceraria)
Beta9288 4784-3989 Gourd
 (Lagenaria
 siceraria)
Beta9287 3692-3169 Gourd
 (Lagenaria
 siceraria)
318b 5446-2344 Twigs and
 treated
 huarango
 wood
362 5298-3648 Carbonised
 cattail roots
315 4423-3267 Shell

316 5590-4158 Misc. woody
 plants
313 5462-3999 Misc. woody
 plants

Geological dates mentioned in text

AA83255 3077-2505 Wood charcoal

Beta244172 3078-2742 Organic-rich
 soil

AA83252 3868-3610 Wood charcoal

AA81933 39G4-3696 Wood charcoal

AA83258 6633-6321 Non-marine
 gastropod

OS-77302 7158-6901 Plant matter

OS82737 7428-7279 Plant matter

OS77304 7432-7269 Plant matter

OS77303 7518-7416 Plant matter

All dates calibrated using shca104 (McCormac et al. 2004).

[] = calibrated range impinges on end of calibration data set.

* Bird's corresponding layers in HP-3 are based on study of his
photographs, notes, and profile drawings.

** Calibration done on curve other than shca104.