Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Environmental Dynamics and Cultural Processes at Cajamarquilla, Central Coast of Peru

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Under the supervision of Dr. Izumi Shimada, Rafael Segura will collect and analyze data from archaeological excavations at the major pre-Hispanic urban site of Cajamarquilla on the Peruvian central coast. Specifically, the project will investigate the role of inferred major hydrological disturbances during a time span of ca. 800 years in local and regional cultural processes from an interdisciplinary perspective.Previous paleonvironmental reconstructions in the central Andes indicate the occurrence of extraordinary and prolonged droughts and floods during the Middle Horizon (MH, ca. AD 550-1000) and Late Intermediate Period (LIP, ca. 1000-1470). These phenomena would have compelled people to develop appropriate adaptive responses and, in some cases, differentially accelerated cultural change. Thus, it has been hypothesized that rapid population nucleation and/or site abandonment episodes on the central coast would reflect crucial accommodations to hydrologic upheavals. However, serious voids still undermine understanding of the referred natural-cultural processes. Particularly, the region lacks reliable relative and absolute chronologies; systematic studies of local paleoenvironmental history and processes have barely started. In addition, excessive focus on one culture-one period impedes an assessment of links between paleoenvironmental variation and short and long-term human responses. Cajamarquilla provides an excellent setting to address these concerns because of its economically strategic but hazardous location and relatively well preserved multicultural occupation over MH and LIP, including associated canals and inferred reservoirs and storage facilities. To test the primary hypothesis that severe environmental fluctuations conditioned the foundation, abandonment, and reoccupation of Cajamarquilla during the MH and LIP, Mr. Segura will conduct the following: (1) collection of radiocarbon samples to refine occupational history vis-à-vis the postulated natural phenomena; (2) analysis of sedimentary deposits (including thin section microscopy analysis) and microbotanic remains (pollen grains, starch grains and phytoliths) from natural and cultural features, such as bank exposures of a nearby dry water course, abandoned canals and reservoirs, and house floors; (3) assessment of the structural and functional characteristics of selected canals, reservoirs and storage pits; and (4) characterization of abandonment and architectural reconstruction events vis-à-vis signatures of destructive flooding or severe water shortage. This research will have a broader impact beyond the research topics presented. Firstly, it will improve knowledge and appreciation of potential risk in an area historically impacted by floods and droughts, especially in the context of global warming. This will be relevant for preventive measures and urban planning as modern populations live on ancient channels around the site and elsewhere in the world. Second, because of its focus on combined cultural and natural data, the project will foster synergetic international collaboration of professionals and students representing different disciplines that will enhance their skills as well as their own disciplinary and cross-disciplinary knowledge and appreciation. Finally, the research will enrich and disseminate our knowledge of Cajamarquilla, one of the only two still-preserved large urban sites on the central coast. This will enhance future protection of the site against uncontrolled modern urban growth.