Most of the research concerning the cultural and social adaptations of Andean high elevation foragers has been focused upon the excavation of single sites, many of which have taken on an iconic status, such as Lauricocha (Cardich 1964) or Toquepala (Ravines 1972). Other important sites, such as Guitarrero Cave (Lynch 1980), Pachamachay (Rick 1980), Telarmachay (Lavallee 1987), Puente (MacNeish et al. 1980), Asana (Aldenderfer 1998), Jiskairumoko (Aldenderfer 2004), and Puripica 1 (Santoro and Nunez 1987) have been extensively excavated as well but are also embedded within systematic settlement pattern surveys that provide a better sense of their place in regional settlement systems (Figure 9.1).
Figure 9.1. Location map of Archaic Period sites discussed in this paper. 1: Guitarrero Cave; 2: Lauricocha; 3: Pachamachay and Telarmachay; 4: Puente; 5: Asana; 6: Toquepala; 7: Jiskairumoko; 8: Puripica-1. (Mark Aldenderfer)
Aside from Asana and Puripica 1, these sites are all rock shelters. The sites are found in distinctive ecological and elevational contexts, ranging from about 2,600-2,700 masl in high, arid valleys (Guitarrero Cave, Puente, Toquepala), slightly more humid, but still dry high valleys ranging from 3,400 masl (Asana) to about 3,900 masl (Lauricocha), high puna sites at elevations beyond 4,200 masl (Pachamachay, Telarmachay), the high, wet puna of the circum-Titicaca at about 3,900 masl (Jiskairumoko), and hyperarid valleys of the salt puna at 3,200 masl (Puripica 1). These sites also have an impressive history of habitation; occupations at Guitarrero Cave, Puente, Pachamachay, Telarmachay, and Asana span a time frame that includes the very earliest use of high elevation regions (ca. 11,000-9500 BC) at least to the end of the Archaic (1800 BC), and in most cases, well into the ceramic period. Occupations at Jiskairumoko cover the critical Late Archaic/Terminal Archaic transition into the Early Formative (3200-1800 BC), while at Puripica, the occupation spans the Late Archaic.
World History
