Andean Past
Volume 6 Article 8
2000 The irM aflores El Nino Disaster: Convergent Catastrophes and Prehistoric Agrarian Change in Southern Peru Dennis R. Satterlee
Michael E. Moseley University of Florida, [email protected]
David K. Keefer University of Maine, [email protected]
Jorge E. Tapia A.
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/andean_past Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Geology Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons
Recommended Citation Satterlee, Dennis R.; Moseley, Michael E.; Keefer, David K.; and Tapia A., Jorge E. (2000) "The irM aflores El Nino Disaster: Convergent Catastrophes and Prehistoric Agrarian Change in Southern Peru," Andean Past: Vol. 6 , Article 8. Available at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/andean_past/vol6/iss1/8
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Andean Past by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MmAFLoRES Et NINO DISASTER: CONVERGENTCATASTROPHESANDPREHISTORICAGRARIANCHANGE . INSOUTHERNPERU
Dennis R. Satterlee Michael E. Moseley University ofFlorida David K. Keefer United States Geological Survey Jorge E. Tapia A. American GeologicalInstitute
Introduction (masl). Because the lower two thirds of the basin is arid to hyperarid (lessthan 250 mm/yr), This article describes a severe EI Nifto..in.. river flowdiminishes and normallydisappearsat duced paleoflood episode, the MirafloresCatas.. 1200 masl adjacent to the site of Yaral (Figure trophe, that produced flood deposits that cur.. 1). Here the drainage enters a deep, narrow rentlyoverlie late prehistoricoccupation surfaces canyon that transects the ClemeslDesert, the c.
. in the Osmore River region of southern Peru (170 1000 meter..high Coastal Cordillera, and its South Latitude; Figure 1). This EINino event is western escarpment where the Osmore River pertinent to problems of change in' agrarian exits to the sea. Below 500 masl seeps and subsistence patterns between A.D. 1100 and springsare the principal water sourcesforfarm.. 1500. We first summarize these patterns. See.. ing in the coastal valley and in normally dry ond, we model.change as a response to conver.. drainages,calledquebradas,suchasMiraflores, gent catastrophes. produced by collateral flood which descend the Coastal Cordilleraalong and drought disasters. Third, we describe and short,steepcoursesthat parallelthe river. date evidence of the Miraflores Catastrophe. Foutth, we conclude with an assessment of Throughout the studyarea,farmingformerly implications of Osmore data for other Andean extended to large tracts of land that are no areas. longerin production. The reclamation, use,and abandonment of planting surfacescan be dated
. Problematic Change in Subsistence Patterns with varyingdegrees ofresolution bytheir canal associatedsettlements, construction techniques, Archaeological surveys and excavations in furrow patterns, relative preservation, cultural the Osmore River (also called the Moquegua superpositions, and geological superpositions River) extend from its headwaters through the (Clement and Moseley 1991; Owen 1993b; river mouth to nearby littoral areas. Therefore, Stanish 1992; Williams 1997). Abandoned changes in coastal and sierra subsistence and planting surfaces and their dependent settle.. settlement patterns can be interrelated. Open ments document a major shift from low eleva.. channel irrigation agriculture has sustained the tion to high elevation farming between AD indigenouseconomy for more than three millen.. 1000..1500. nia (Stanish 1985). In the sierra the principal sourceof agricultural water issurfacerunoff from Coastal agriculture, including that practiced seasonal precipitation averaging 400 mm at in the Osmore Valley and the quebradas, is elevations above 3000 meter above sea level inferred to have reached its maximum extent
ANDEANPAST 6 (2000): 95..116. ANDEANPAST6 (2000) ..96
ar.oundAD 1000-1100because plantingsurfaces maj.or change in econ.omic and demographic have their greatest spatial expansionat that time conditions has not been previ.ouslyexplained. both in the valley and in the coastal quebradas. Early agrarian expansi.on ar.oundA.D. 1000 is Convergent Catastrophes ass.ociatedwith the rise of the coastal Chiribaya culture Oessup 1991; Owen 1993a),. which We pr.oposethat the transformation of the spread int.othe arid sierra betweenYaraland the Osmore subsistenceand settlement patterns was modem city of Moquegua prior to collapsing a response to IIconvergent catastr.ophes" - sh.ortlybefore A.D. 1400. This Chiribaya c.ol.. crisesproduced by tw.o.ormare collateral natu- lapse was abrupt Oessup 1991), and it entailed ral disasters. The nature.of c.onvergentcatastro.. the permanent abandonment ofmore than 80% phes can be illustrated by an analogy between of all c.oastalsettlements (Owen 1993b)and an human disease and natural disasters. Suffered inferred population decline of equal magnitude. individually, a disease or a disaster is generally ByA.D. 1400allpreservedprehistoricsurfacesin survived by a healthy p.opulati.on.Yet, when a this area had been abandoned, and hydrological population is first struck by .one malady and models suggestthat pr.oductivecoastalfarmland then is afflicted by two or more disorders, the had declined by80%.ormore (Ortloffand Kalata likelihood .ofrecovery is reduced. The potency 1993). Cultural reorganization ensued, but .ofmultiple natural disasters lies in the com.. c.oastal p.opulati.onlevels remained depressed pound stress that they exert upon populations. until A.D. 1500 or later (Reycraft 1997). Lim.. Some may collapse, while .others can respond ited recovery offarmland isnot evident until the adaptively. In late prehist.oric times Osmore Spanish intr.oduced.olivetree cultivati.onar.ound Riverpopulati.onsexperiencedtw.ocatastrophes. A.D. 1575 (Clement and Moseley1991;Satter.. The first, pr.otracted draught, graduallyexerted lee 1993). . . pressures fav.oringhigh altitude reclamation, while selecting against low altitude farming. Large scale reclamati.on of the high sierra The second catastrophe, the Mirafl.oresflood, above 2250maslbegan after A.D. 1300. ByA.D. triggeredintense pressure far rapid changefrom 1500planting surfaceson canal..irrigatedterraces an agrarian..basedec.on.omy. reached tJ;teirgreatest spatial expansion and the maj.orityofthe Osm.orepopulationresidedin the Collateral Drought sierra headwaters (Conrad and Webster 1989; Owen 1994; Williams 1997). Highland expan.. TheA.D. 1100..1500draught exacerbated sian is associated with the Estuquiiia and the impact.ofthe Mirafl.oresElNiii.o. Precipita.. Estuquiiia..lnca archae.ological culture that ti.onis estimated to have declined by 10%..15%. endured into the Col.onialPeriod (Burgi 1993; However, the decline in runoff was dispropor.. Stanish 1985). High elevation irrigatedterracing ti.onallygreater because headwater soilsalways was,in part, de..emphasizedby the Inca p.olicy.of abs.orba fixed am.ount .ofm.oisture,260 mm, resettling-indigenous c.ommunities at lower bef.oresaturati.onallowsrun.off.Becauseannual altitudes (Van Buren 1993, 1996;Van Buren et precipitation averages 360 mm between 3900 al. 1993), and it further declined with the Span.. and 4900 masl, there is .only100 mm available ish introduction and expansi.onof viticulture at for run.offin a typical year. When rainfall de.. elevati.onsbetween 1200 and 2250 masl (Rice clines fr.om360 mm t.o324 mm.or even 306 mm 1997). during a 10% .or a 15% drought, runoff is re.. duced to 64 mm .or t.o 46 mm, respectively. In .overview,weestimate that morethan 80% Thus, the relationship between loss .ofrainfall of all prehispanic farming and settlement in the and loss .ofrunoff is n.onlinear. Factoring in Osmore drainage shifted fr.omthe c.oastand dry water from above 4900 masl, we estimate that sierra below 2000 masl into the humid sierra runoff from the m.oistsierra was at least 20%to above 2250 masl between A.D.1000..1500. This 30% below n.ormal during the attenuated 97.. Satterleeet al.:The MirafloresElNiiio
drought of A.D. 1100. This decline was com.. a drought response that maximized the use of pounded by the fact that river flowloses4% ofits scarce rainfall and runoff. Osmore headwater volumeper kilometer to seepageand evaporation reclamation relied principally upon canal..irri.. at elevations of 2000 to 3000 masl (Williams gated agricultural terraces. Their adaptive 1997). At lower elevations increasing aridity, advantage lay in capturing moisture at or near greater evaporation, and longer transport 00" its source, thereby minimizingrunoff flowloss. tances magnify forfeiture of moisture. Reclamation of the upper sierra spread after \A.D. 1300and peaked between A.D. 1400and Rainfall in the wet sierra and stream flow A.D. 1500(Owen 1994;Stanish 1992;Williams supplysubsurface runoff that eventuallycharges 1997). Disadvantages of high altitude irrigated the coastal aquifer. Much of this moisturenever terraces include high construction and mainte.. resurfacesin the lowervalleyor coastalquebrada nance costs, high earthquake vulnerability,and springsthat are the primarymainstayof farming. reduced crop variation at high elevation. These Subsurface runoff passes through fine grained factors were ofgreater relative importance after depositsof the Moquegua Formationthat absorb. the A.D. 1500 advent of the Little Ice Age, fixedamounts ofmoisture. Similarto soilabsorp.. which is associated with two centuries of 20.. tion, this action magnifies drought..inducedloss 25% above normal precipitation (Binfordet al. ofsubsurfacerunoff. Thus, 10%to 15%declines 1997; Thompson et al. 1986). Greater rainfall in mountain rainfall result in highly amplified allowed re..establishment of sierra farming at spring flow declines. Mathematical modeling lower elevations, recharging of the coastal suggests a minimum decrease in spring flow of aquifer, and re..expansion of littoral spring..fed 80%at Quebrada Carrizalduringthe nadir ofthe farming. A.D. 1100 drought (Ortloff and Kolata 1993). Catastrophic El Nifio Flooding Basedon our geoarchaeologicalobse1Y8tions, we concur with Ortloff and Kolata (1993) that During strong El Nifio..Southem Oscillation irrigation agrict\lture in short, steep drainages of (ENSO) events the Osmore rainfall regime the arid Pacificwatershed is highlyresponsiveto reverses. Drought prevails at altitudes above depressed highland rainfall. Therefore, drought 2000 masl, and rainfall occurs in the lower stresswasmost severe at the distal,lower end of watershed (Caviedes 1984; SPCC 1985). the Osmore Basin. The impact ofthe A.D. 1100 Moquegua City experienced several showers drought on the Carrizal Quebrada spring..fed during the very strong ENSO event of 1982..83, canal systems,in the lower OsmoreDrainage, is and torrential rain and limited floodingoccurred calculated to have reduced arable land by more in the ClemeslDesert. The steep Pacificescarp.. than 80% (Clement and Moseley 1991; Figure ment of the Coastal Cordillera orographically 2). This reduction is compatible with the large influenced cloud cover moving off the ocean scale abandonment of planting surfaces after and intensified precipitation along the mid and A.D. 1000 and with marked reductions in the upper slopesof the maritime range, resultingin sizeofresidential settlements at the spring (Baw.. three separate incidents of coastal flooding den 1989;Clement and Moseley1991;Reycraft during the 1982..83event. Duringthe minor 1997). We consider Carrizalland loss to be 1992 event, we observed no rain below 200 symptomatic of reduced moisture in the coastal masl, but somequebradas with affluentshigh in aquifer and therefore indicative of concomitant the maritime range discharged small mud flows stress on other areas of spring..dependentfarm.. into the sea. The very strong event of 1997..98 ing,includingthe largeprehistoricOsmore Canal was generally similar to that of 1982..83.There Systemin the coastal valley (Satterlee 1993). were showers,but no flooding in the vicinityof Moquegua City. Some Clemes( quebradas At the oppositeend of the river basin,we flooded and inundated sections of the Pan model the expansion of high altitude farming as American highway, while episodes of strong ANDEAN PAST 6 (2000) ~ 98
flashfloodingtranspired alongthe Pacificescarp~ hill slopes. Lateral movement was then cut by ment of the Coastal Cordillera. flash floodscascading down quebradas. Finally, a very high flood surge plunged down the Os' Below 2250 masl, most slopesof the water, more river channel spillingover its lowerbanks. shed are covered with loose,weatheredrock and 'unconsolidated sediment. This material can be High fatalities are inferred because some entrained by runoff from ENSO precipitation. settlements were entirely washed away, and For exceptionally severe rainfall events, we others were completely buried by debris flows. define, based on our observations, three stages of Yet, somesites on high, welldrained promonto, runoff: entrainment, debris,flow, and flood ries escaped destruction. Flooding wreaked generation below 1500 masl (Figure3). First, exceptional havoc on low lying irrigation sys, during deluges, sheettloods and debris flows tems. The Osmore Canal, the highest, longest composed of sediment and water washdown hill reclamation system ever built in the lower slopes (1 in Figure 3). Some material comes to . valley,sufferedextensivedamage. The intake rest on the lower slopes and hill bases. More and lead,off channel were swept away. The typically ic flows into small channels that carry canal was breached and cut at every quebrada moistUreand sediment to largerquebradas. Here crossing, washed off every steep slope, and additional matter is commonly entrained from completely buried along every gentle slope the drainage channels, creating flashfloods and (Satterlee 1993). Damage to spring,fed irriga, large debris flows of viscous mud and coarse tion systemsin coastal quebradas was variable. sediments (2 in Figure 3). Quebrada floods Although intakes and quebrada crossingswere disgorgeinto the sea or into the Osmore drain, destroyed, distal planting surfaces and canal age. Third and finally, a high flood surge de, sections on high ground survived at Chuza, scends the Osmore River valley carryingrunoff Carrizal,and Pocoma (Figure2). However,the and debrisfrom the interior basin (3in Figure3). entire irrigation system at MirafloresQuebrada Floodsurgesdescendinglargeandsmallchannels was washed away. Pervasive damage to the splatter mud and deposit coarse debris. Surges agrarianinfrastructure must have contributedto are followedbylow flowsof relativelyclear slack post,disaster famine. The spread of pestilence water, which deposit fine sediment. With the and disease can be reasonably inferred because cessation of rainfall,debris flowand flooddepos, these conditions have accompanied historic EI its dry and harden, thus providing a geologic Niftodisasters (Beckand Davies 1976;Caviedes record of the event. For example, depositS 1984; Murphy 1926; Satterlee 1993). produced by the 1982,83 ENSO event remain well preserved, as do deposits of some earlier The 1982~83ENSO event was associated events. with pronounced drought at high altitUdesthat affected both pasture and farmland and led to Our studies indicate that the Mirafloresflood famine in the altiplano. In contrast, desert episode wasthe most severe EINino catastrophe precipitation sustained exfe)1sive blooms of to occur in the study area during the last millen, lomas vegetation that provided pastUre for nium. It destroyed much of the Chiribaya cuI, domesticated animals (lomas are dispersed turallandscape along the deeplyincisedOsmore communities of wild plants normally sustained drainage. Most farming transpired in valley by winter fog condensation; Dillon 1985). We bottom land only slightlyhigher than the active also observed limited farming in lomas areas. river channel. Settlements were typicallystrung However, returns from lomasexploitation were along steep valley sides above canals that pro' minor in comparison to EINifio,inducedlosses. vided potable water. Escaping the Miraflores Presumably,similarconditions prevailedduring deluge would have been difficult because the the Mirafloresdisaster. Elevated ocean temper, valley,side settlements were the firstto be inun, atures accompanying the ancient ENSO event dated bysheettloods and debrisflowsdescending also must have affected normal marine re, 99.. Satterleeet al.:TheMirafloresElNiiio
sources, but fishing certainly recovered faster one high altitude farmstead (Stanish 1992),the than did farming. Chiribaya sierra occupation focused exclusively upon the use of river runoff below 2000 mas!. ConsequencesofDroughtandFloodCatastrophes This focusfacilitated interchange with the lower valley and perhaps helped to charge the de.. Prior to the Miraflores catastrophe, two and pleted coastal aquifer. Yet, arid sierra irrigation a half centuries of drought led to the gradual is hydrologically inefficient during drought agrarian contraction of spring..fed irrigation because runoff flowslong distances with signifi- systemsin the lowervalleyand in coastalquebra.. cant loss before reaching planting surfaces. A das (Ordoff and Kolata 1993). Upstreamexpan.. major consequence of the Miraflores catastro.. sion ofChiribaya culture from the coast into the phe was the removal of cultural constraints on mid..valleysierracan be modeled as an adaptive high sierra agrarian reclamation. Although response, particularly if highland setdements efficient, headwater farming drew down runoff wereexportingagriculturalproduceto the low... supplies, and, consequently, downstream the lands. Dietary diversification may represent Yaralsection ofthe Osmore River remainedout another drought response. In the lower valley of production until the Colonial Period. there was a long..termincrease in the variety of plants used and consumed by Chiribayapopula.. Systematic survey and excavation ofsettle- tions (Dendy 1991). Sustained by ocean fog, ments in the Otora River headwaters indicate lomas vegetation supported intensive llama that this area was colonized before the floodby herding (Wheeler 1991), and"there was also smallgroupsofpeople livingin open farmsteads. substantial exploitation of seafood (Bawden They constructed very long canals to reach 1989;Jessup 1990). gently sloping land that did not require large investments in terrace'construction. This wasa Although catastrophic lossof life is inferred labor-saving, but water..expensive irrigation for the Miraflores disaster, the meager demo.. strategy. The strategy was reversed to one of graphicrecovery in the study area is particularly shorter canals irrigating steep, terraced slopes noteworthy. In addition to the Osmore valley, during the Estuquifta occupation, when the Carr~al Quebrada also exhibits a comparable number and size of settlements increased dra.. decline in populfltion with poor post..floodrecu.. matically (Stanish 1985, 1992). Throughout peration (Bawden 1989;Reycraft 1997), and we the Osmore headwaters all major Estuquifia have found scant evidence ofpost..floodoccupa.. settlementswerefortified(Borstelet al. 1989; tionsin other coastal quebradas. We hypothesize Owen 1994;Rice et al. 1989;Stanish 1992). that demographic recovery was tied to agrarian However, warfare and physical conflict are not recoverywhich, in turn, washindered bycontin.. evident in Estuquiftamortuary populations that ued drought. There wassimplyinsufficientwater have received study (Buikstra 1995; Williams to warrant reconstructing the Osmore Canal 1990). Nonetheless, we suggestthat settlement System or to reactivate coastal spring-fedfarm.. fortification reflects concern with maintaining ing, other than on a very minor scale. Conse.. claimsto scarce water resources and arableland. quently, once Chiribaya was impaired by an El Conquest wasinvolved in the Inca and Spanish Nifio disaster, it could not recover its former intrusions into the Osmore drainage. We cultural preeminence in the Osmore drainage. propose that their policies of resettling indige- nous people and re..expanding agriculture at We postulate that between A.D. 1200 and lower elevations were made tenable by increas.. 1400there wasinsufficient rainfalland runoff to ing rainfallthat exceeded long-term norms after support intensive farming in eitherthe upper or A.D. 1500. the lower sierra. During drought, high altitude farming draws off stream flowneeded to sustain lowerelevation irrigation. With the exception of ANDEANPAST 6 (2000)
The Miraflores Unit transported large clasts and boulders up to 3 m in diameter across the coastal plain. There are Flooddepositsthat overlieChiribayacultural no subsequent flood deposits of comparable remainscomprise the MirafloresUnit ofthe local scalein the sedimentary r~cordpreservedat the Holocene geological column, which has a par- Miraflores Quebrada, including the historic tially dated "BasalSequence" of earlier deposits Chuza Unit. (Keefer et al. 1998). Miraflores sediments are often overlain by: the A.D. 1600Huayna Putina A measured section through the Holocene Unit of tephra (Thouret et al. 1999);the Chuza sedimentary sequence is shown in Figure 5. Unit of earthquake and flood debris tentatively This section is in the bank of a tributary to the' dated to A.D. 1607; and flooddepositsfrom the main Miraflores quebrada (Figure 4:2). The 1982-1983 and the 1997-98 EI Nmos. The uppermost unit exposed in the section is the tephra unit is securely dated to the February 0.005 m thick deposit from the 1982-1983EI A.D. 1600violent eruption ofthe HuaynaPutina Nmo event that consists of grayish-brownsilty. volcano located about 120 Ian northeast of lIo. sand, containing some grit up to 0.002 m in This is the only late Holocene as well as early diameter. Below this deposit is .3 to .7 m of historic period tephra to be identified in the dark yellowish-brownaeolian sand, containing entire Osmore drainage, and samplesfrom the a little silt. Underlyingthis stratum isthe Chuza Moquegua region have been chemicallyidenti- Unit, a 0.15 to 0.2-m-thick layer of very com- fiedin and cross-dated to the Quelccayaicecores . pacted siltysand, that isdark yellowish,brownin (Thompson et al. 1985). colQr and contains much grit and some rock fragments up to about 0.07 m in diameter. The MirafloresQuebrada Belowthe ChuzaUnit isanother layerofaeolian sand with a little silt, which is 0.0025 m thick. With affluentshigh in the CoastalCordillera, Belowthis sand lies the MirafloresUnit deposit the incisedMirafloresdrainageisthe coastal type consisting of 0.66 to 1.00 m of well-compacted locality for the Miraflores Unit. The quebrada silty sand, pinkish gray in color and containing exits the range through a constricted canyon, rocks up to 0.08 m in diameter. Underlyingthe where a number ofspringsfluoresce.The canyon Miraflores deposit is a O.OI,m-thick layer of opens onto a short coastal plainthat the drainage brown aeolian sand containing little silt. The crossesin a narrow, incised channel more than 2 lowest unit, the base ofwhich is not exposed,is m deep (Figure 4). In the canyon, mud and OA5 to 0.8 m of the pre-Miraflores Basal Se, debris flows produced by the 1982-1983ENSO quence that consists of brownish..yellowcoars~ event resulted in depositsthat buriedspringsand sand, containing a little silt and gravel, and inundated grove areas. Downstream from the rocks up to 0.8 m in diameter. canyon in the coastal plain area, the flowswere largely contained within the incised quebrada The Miraflores event swept away the local channel. The 1982-1983depositsare typicallya Chiribayaoccupation in a torrent ofwater,mud, fewcentimeters thick, with a maximumobserved and huge boulders, leaving the characteristicsof thickness of 20 em. They are composedmostly this culture to be inferred frombetter..preserved of sand and silt with a few pebbles and rock Chiribaya remains in adjacent quebradas. At fragments less than 4 cm in diameter. Miraflores, the indigenous irrigation system presumablyextended from the springsdownthe Deposits ofthe MirafloresUnit are ofa much canyon onto the upper margins of the coastal greater order of magnitude, with a thickness plain.This system was operational when spring ranging up to 1.0 to 1.2 m. They extend up the flowwasgreater than it is today and distalfields canyon walls and expand laterally out of the extended somewhat farther downslopethan the quebrada channel, across the coastalplain down confines of the Colonial olive grove that was tO'the sea (Figure 4:1). Mirafloresflooding also enclosed by a largestone wall (Figure4:3). The 101 ~ Satterlee et al.: The MiraJloresEI Nino
Chiribaya settlement was situated on the south entrapment and subsequent preservation of side of the quebrada immediately below the more cultural materials. The 2 x 2 m test in the irrigation system. Residential structures ex~ east wall of this sunken structure. produced tended for at least 100 m along the quebrada seven Chiribaya shards, one unidentifiable channel and for an equal distance inward across shard, spun alpaca threads, four textile &ag~ the coastal plain (Figure 4:4). The habitation ments, a fragment of com stalk and cob, and a area waslargebecause the Mirafloresspringflow few guinea pig bones. There is no evidence of washigh and could support a large agricultural post~floodfarming or settlement by indigenous systemin comparison with the 10other irrigated people. However, surface evidenceofreoccupa~ quebradas that we have investigated. tion close to the springswould be obfuscatedby later centuries of olive farming. Chiribaya residences typically occupy long residentialterraces, cut into the natural substrate Olive trees were first planted in the Mira~ andback~filledalongretainingwallsthatmaybe . flores flood sediments before the deposition of faced with mortarless stonework. Rectangular thin, intermittent accumulations of tephra &om rooms and compartments are of cane construc~ the FebruaryA.D. 1600eruption ofthe Huayna tion, with bound canes set verticallyin narrow Putina volcano, located about 120kmnortheast trenches and vertical posts supportingmat roofs of 110. Shortly after this eruption, the Chuza of plant material. Quebrada settlementS occa, Unit was deposited, and at a number of points sionallyinclude special purpose buildingsin the along the quebrada the MirafloresUnit is over~ form of large, semisubterranean, one~room lain by tephra, by the Chuia Unit, and by the structures. Occupational refuseis common, and 1982~1983mud flows. midden with plant debris often occursin terrace fill. . The Osmare Canal
Surface traces of the Mirafloressettlement The river type locality for the Miraflores arenowlimited t~ lowirregularitiesin the overly~ Unit is the Tomb Site on the prehispanic ingMirafloresdeposits produced byremnants of Osmore Canal System (Figure 6: site 266; all domestic terraces and two semisubterranean site numbers are from Owen 1992), the largest structures. Exploratory tests in the area include irrigation system ever erected in the lower 12shallow 1x 1m probes, a 2 x 2 m probe in the drainage. Apparently built by A.D. 900 or east wall of the northernmost sunken structure, 1000,the systemwasoperational when.Chiriba~ 1m trenches acrossboth sunken structures, and .ya people sharedrhe lower valleywith an ethni. aim wide x 2 m deep x 8 m long profile cut cally distinct populace called the Ilo~Tumilaca/ &omthe quebrada channel into the settlement Cabuza (I~TIC) population. Over time the (Satterlee 1993). These probes revealed the latter population diminished; whereas the heavily eroded outlines of structural features, Chiribaya population grew. Occupying hillsides such as terraces, that were originallycut into the above the second planting surface (Figure6:site consolidated substrate. Architecture of cane or 215), the ITIC site of Loreto Alto is one of the masonry built atop the substrate was gone. larger settlements potentially associated with Similarly, refuse and midden had been swept the irrigation system. Loreto Alto produced away prior to the deposition of at least 0.68 m four calibrated HCdates that fallbetween A.D. and possibly as much as 1.2 m of fine debris. 1000 and 1250 (Owen 1992), and we presume Excavated artifacts from the trenches were that the irrigation systemwasoperational at this limited to three shards and severalfragments of time. cane. Historic and recent farming have taken However, the walls and the depth bf the place along the river floodplain and on sections north sunken structure had allowed for the of very low fluvial terraces. Irrigated by.short ANDEANPAST 6 (2000) ..102
canals, this accessible land was presumably human bone and a fragmentarywoodenartifact, reclaimed early in antiquity. Other potentially which was ..c dated to A.D. 900 :t 35 yrs. arable land is much less accessibleto river water (PITI0949, uncalibrated; caIA.D. 983..1154,2 because it is limited to remnants of a high (5..15 sigma,using Struiver and Pearson 1993). m) fluvial terrace that survivesdiscontinuously, primarily along the north side of the canyon. Some8 m upstream from the cistern, slump.. Designed to irrigate three widely separated ing exposed the deposits banked against the northern remnants of the high terrace, the canal that are illustrated in the stratigraphic Osmore Canal originated in a bedrock constric.. profile, Figure 7. The oldest unit in the profile tion in the valley that forms'a hydrologicchoke, (except for the canal itself) is a talus deposit, forcing und~rflow and ground water.to surface consisting of small, angular rock fragments, (Figure6). The canal pursued an inclined con.. weathered from nearby bedrock that slid down tour course along the canyon side. To reach the gully, burying the canal and upper terrace arable terrace surfaces, it traversed many near.. face (Figure 7 a). This unconsolidated talus vertical bedrock facesalong a coursecut into the includes a minor admixture of cultural debris mountain side and supported bymasonrysuspen.. from the human occupation immediately up.. sion structures. The Osmore systemwas water slope.. There is no evidence of subsequent costly because it transported water over such occupation in the gully, and the canal did not long distances between irrigated terraces, and function after it was buried. Burial may be earth bank canals of this length typically lose interpreted as the product ofENSO rainfalland more than 50% of the water they transport. runoff transporting this rocky debris down the Therefore, we infer that the canal wasoriginally gully and over the canal. If this supposition is constructed when spring and stream flow were correct, then significant ENSO..derived flow substantially gre3:ter. began in this gully (and, presumably, other nearby gullies) even before the principal Mira.. The Tomb Site floresriver flood surge reached this point in the main valley. Erosionaland depositionalfeaturesassociated with the Miraflores Unit interdict the ancient The main riverfloodsurgedepositedpinkish irrigation'system along virtually all of the 9 km sandy silt, comprising the MirafloresUnit here, canal.courseand completelyobliterateit in many against the masonry support structure of the areas. The remarkable height of the paleoflood canal (Figure 7 b). The top of the surviving surge that swept down the canyonis revealed at deposit is 4.3 m above the active river channel. the Tomb Site (Figure6: Site 266). This site is The MirafloresUnit is in turn overlain by thin located in a short, steep bedrock gullycrossedby deposits of the Huayna Putina tephra (Figure7 the intake section ofthe canal that here wasonly c). The tephra is capped by the Chuza Unit 5.8 m above the active flood plain. The narrow (Figure 7 d) which is a compact debris flow gully was crossed by a short earthen aqueduct composed of talus material from the lateral created by infilling behind a two..step,boulder.. gully. Chuza river flow material was not ex.. faced retention terrace (Figure 7). Limited posed in this profile. Loosetalus debrispartially occupation developed in the gully above the covers the Chuza Unit. Flood depositsfromthe canal. Potable water drawn from the canal was 1982..1983ENSO event occur near the base of stored in a sunken circular cistern,constructed of the profile, 1.5m above the active river channel masonry, beside the channel. After the destruc.. (Figure 7 e). tion of the canal, the cistern wasused as a tomb for an adult. Because of recent erosionalunder.. . First Planting Surface cutting, some two..thirdsof the cistern and most of its burial content had slumped downhill by Downstream from the Tomb Site, the Os.. 1989. Excavation of the remaining fill yielded more Canal rose well above the river bed and 103.. Satterleeet al.: The MiraJloresEINino
the Miraflores flood surge. However, the the rear of irrigated terraces it was buried by Miraflores..HuaynaPutina tephra..Chuza..1982.. thick deposits of sediment that washed down 1983floodsequence recurs in overbankdeposits adjacent hill slopes. Systematic survey has at .many sites along the river course. Figure 8 identified no surface exposures of intact canal illustrates the deposits banked against the first and has shown that the destruction of the canal irrigated terrace where the cut bank of the ter.. was essentially total (Satterlee 1991, 1993). race is about 3 m high (Figure 6: Site 236). Traces ofthe fieldterraces and planting surfaces Here, the MirafloresUnit is about 1.45 m thick. do survive on sections of the second (Figure6: The lowermost 1.2m of the Unit consist of sand Site 215) and third (Figure6: Site 208) irrigated and silt containing rock fragments and rocks as terraces. On the second terrace, a post..flood large as 0.25 m in diameter; these deposits are indigenous settlement was establishedon aban.. interpreted asbeing derivedfromalocaltributary doned planting surfaces that were never farmed quebrada. Above these are 0.2 m of fine sands again. Nonetheless, there have been no Chiri.. and silts, devoid of rocks, which are interpreted baya or I..T/C cultural remains found strati.. as being deposited by the flood descending the graphically above the Miraflores Unit in the main valley. The upper few centimeters of the lower valley. riverlaid sediments are a fire..altered pinkish.. white color, and the Unit is coveredbya 0.03..m.. Situated on the south side of the valley . thick layer of carbon that resultedfrom local about 5 km upstream from the coast, Chiribaya burning of cane and vegetable matter. The Baja is one of the biggest prehispanic settle.. carbon deposit isi in turn, overlain by 0.02 to ments in the lower Osmore drainage aessup 0.03 m of volcanic ash, which is cappedby 0.1 m 1991). Cane..walled structures occupied the of aeolian sand. The- overlying Ch.uza Unit tops of large residential terraces that werebuilt consists of 0.8 m of coarse colluvial sand with along more than 300 m of the lower valley numerous rocl}fragments and angular clasts up slopes. Examination of numerous looters' pits to 0.2 m in diameter. It is cappedby0.02 to 0.04 and a nearby river profile indicates that an m of aeolian sand layer overlain by0.4 to 0.55 m extensive flowof colluvial debrissweptover the of post..Chuza El Niiio debris that is topped by occupation area inundating cane buildingsand aeoliansand mixedwith anthropogenicvegetable collapsingothers. The flood deposits are over.. matter. River flooddepositsfromthe 1982..1983 lain by tephra, which is, in turn, capped by EINino flooding are represented by a splatter of another flow of colluvial debris. We interpret sand and silt plastered against the Miraflores the stratigraphic sequence as Miraflores,Huay.. Unit about 4 m above the modern channel. na Putina, and Chuza Units. Outside the valley proper wehave examined a number ofChiribaya OtherSites sites that occupy high terrain that is not subject to inundation from upslope runoff. These sites At the first planting surface, and elsewhere, are capped by tephra, but not by flooddeposits. the exceptional height and thickness of the Miraflores Unit stands out in sharp contrast to Initial geoarchaeological reconnaissance in the more modest river flood deposits from the the upper drainage has not identified the Mira.. 1982..1983ENSO event. Becausemostof the floresor Chuza Units at elevations above 2,000 Osmore Canal System occupied high ground, it m. We presume that this absence results from was not destroyed by the main Mirafloresflood the drought experienced by the high sierra surge that descended down the river course. during ENSO events. However, paleoflooding Rather, it was destroyed by collateralrunoff that is evident in the lower, usuallyarid sierra. Sierra descended down the canyon sides and by mud farming ends where the middle valleyconstricts debrisflowingout ofthe tributaryquebradas; the into a narrow gorge, and the large site ofYaral canal was completely washed away at every is situated above the last arable land (Figure1). quebrada it crossed. Where the canal ran along The Chiribaya occupation was located on the ANDEANPAST 6 (2000)
top of a fluvial terrace remnant more than 7 m and residential architecture at Yaral, where above the active flood plain and on steep hill.. excavations indicate that the extensive Chiri.. sides behind and above the terrace. Occupa.. baya occupation was brought to a devastating tional remains are capped by two separate flood and abrupt end byMirafloresflooding. Archae- deposits, separated by volcanic tephra, a se.. ologicalevidence indicates that no Chiribayaor quence indicative of the Miraflores, Huayna I..TIC remains have been found stratigraphically Putina, and Chuza Units. The Mirafloresflood above the MirafloresUnit in the Osmore drain- deposits are extensive. They comprise thick age or in coastal quebradas. sediments that poured down hill slopesinto and over the Chiribaya settlement. While the Chiri.. In,the regionalcultural sequence,Chiribaya..' baya settlement in the MirafloresQuebrada was style art and architecture are succeeded by the swept away, the Yaral settlement was simply Estuquifia..styleand then Estuquifia..Incamate.. buried by collateral debris flow,and so domestic rials Oessup 1990; Owen 1992, 1991; Stanish terraces and cane wall structures are relatively 1985). Inthe lower valley, the replacement of well..preserved. A three..foldflood..tephra..flood Chiribaya by Estuquifia has been characterized sedimentary sequence is also exposed in the as abrupt with no evidence of temporal overlap terrace bank below the settlement. The upper Oessup 1991). Surface remains associatedwith flood deposit appears to be Chuza colluvium. the post..flood settlement atop the second Here the Mirafloresflooddepositsarecomprised, terrace (Figure 6: Site 215) of the Osmore at least partly, offluvialmaterial, suggestingthat Canal System appear to be of Estuquifiaaffilia- the river flood surge was about two meters high. tion. At Carrizal Quebrada, late prehispanic A surge of this magnitude would decimate con.. burials yield Estuquifta ceramic forms that are temporary irrigation agriculture that occupies also associated with Burro Flaco cultural re.. areas that are little higher than the river flood mains that overlie Miraflores deposits at the plain. mouth of the Pocoma Quebrada (Reycraft 1997). Dating If the Miraflores Unit were the product of At the Tomb Site, a charcoal sllmpletaken severeEINino conditions, then these conditions froma plant ash and carbon lens,partlyoverlying should be reflected in ice-core data from Quel.. and partially inco~oiated into the Miraflores ccayaglacier,located about 200 Iannorth oHIo. deposits, yielded a 4Cdate of A.D. 1360 :t 35 The composition of the glacial material is sensi.. yrs. (PITI..0948, uncalibratedj cal A.D. 1314.. tive to climatologicalperturbations and provides 1437,2 sigma,using Stuiver and Pearson 1993). chronological constraints for past ENSO events This ash and carbon lens, which was capped,by (Thompson et al. 1984). For late prehistoric Huayna Putina ash, probablyslumpeddown into times the ice core data indicate: 1. below aver.. the moist flood deposits from the pre..flood age precipitation from A.D. 1000 to 1500; 2. human occupation material immediately upslope drought episodes at A.D. 1250..1300and 1450.. in the gully. . 1500; and, 3. periods of ENSO activity at A.D. 1270..75, 1350..1370,and 1482..1493,with the In terms of the regional archaeological se- A.D. 1350episodebeing pronounced (Thomp.. quence for the Osmore drainage, we postulate son et al. 1985;Thompson, personal communi- that the Miraflores Unit dates to the end of the cation 1995). Chiribaya Phase occupation. In the lowervalley and in coastal quebradas the Miraflores Unit The last of the three periods of ENSO stratigraphiCally overlies Chiribaya and I..TIC activity is not compatible with the dating ofthe occupational surfaces. In mid..valley, at an Miraflores Unit; the 1482-93 date falls within elevation of 1200m, Miraflores,Huayna Putina, the era of Inca domination and can be elimi.. and Chuza deposits overlie a Chiribayacemetery nated because late pre..Inca remains overlie 105~ Satterlee et a1.: The Mirajlores El Niiio
Miraflores deposits at several sites. Calibrated flores deposits which, in the lower valley,con~ radiocarbon dates on Chiribayaremainsindicate tain substantial quantities of fine, red sediment that this occupation spanned the A.D. 1270~ derived from the inland Moquegua Formation. 1275 episode of ENSO activity without interrup~ These features suggestlargequantities ofwater. tion (Owen 1992). In contrast, Chiribaya re~ If the deposits resulted exclusivelyfrom ENSO mains have not been found stratigraphically rainfall and runoff, then the Miraflores Unit above the Miraflores Unit. 'Therefore, the unit should represent a geoarchaeological horizon doesnot appear compatiblewith thisearlyperiod marker produced by exceptionally severe El of El Nino conditions. Deposition of the Mira~ Nino conditions that affected the entire Cordil~ floresUnit, however,is compatiblewith the A.D. lera. Assessing this possibility is hampered by 1350~70episode of pronounced ENSO activity problems of cross~dating distant paleoflood recorded in the Quelccaya cores,based both on deposits to one another and to the glacial ice these stratigraphic relations and on the l"Cdata . cores. EI Niiio flooding dated to A.D. 1300or discussedabove. shortly thereafter has been reported for the Casma and Moche drainages of northern Peru In the Quelccaya glacial cores,the dating of (Moore 1991; Pozorski 1987; Wells 1987). the A.D. 1350,1370ENSO activityisbasedupon Therefore, the possibilitythat the MirafloresEl counting varve~likeannual depositsof both wet Nino episode was a Pan~Andean catastrophe season snow and dry season dust accumulations should not be dismissed. (Thompson et al. 1984). This method offers more precise chronological calibration than that If the A.D. 1100~1500drought affected the of the available HC assayspertaining directly or entire central Andean Cordillera, asisprobable, indirectly to the Miraflores Unit. Nonet#eless, then the decline.in precipitation at high eleva~ the available l"C data conform to the ice core tions constituted a water lossthat wasamplified dates, and we th~refore postulate that the Mira~ progressively at successively lower elevations flores episode of paleoflooding occurred during along the arid watershed. Therefore, drought the A.D. 1350~70ice core episodeofpronounced stress was greatest on coastal populations and ENSO activity. relatively less severe on sierra populations. In the sierra, agrarian reclamation of high terrain Implications in close proximity to restri~ted rainfall should prove to be pervasive after A.D. 1100. Decades The Andean paleoflood record must be ago Donald Lathrap (1970) pointed out that interpreted with caution. Large flood deposits along the eastern watershed high altitude terrac, can result from large quantities ofEl Niiio rain~ ing underwent unprecedented expansion in late fall. They can alsoresult from smallerquantities prehistoric times. He saw this as a processthat of ENSO precipitations that entrain debris began in the south, moving north from Bolivia dislodgedby a precedingearthquake of large through Peru. If altitudinous reclamation did magnitude (Moseleyetal. 1992). We believe the indeed proceed longitudinally, then it can be Chuza Unit wasproduced by A.D. 1607El Nino modeled as a drought response process that runoff that entrained copious materialdislodged began in the south where the Cordillera isdriest by the A.D. 1604 magnitude 8.5 earthquake. and advanced north as decreased precipitation Therefore, large Chuza flood depositsshould be began to affectlessarid regions ofthe mountain restricted to the region impacted by the earth~ range (Moseley 1997). Always provocative, quake. Lathrap (1970:179) associated the spread of high elevation reclamation with the radiation of Chuza deposits often contain high quantities Quechua~speaking peoples and the rise of the of large, angular sediments derived from the Inca Empire. Regardless of linguistic consider~ Coastal Cordillera, and well~preserved plant ations, catastrophe clearly contributed to indusions. Plants survive only asmoldsin Mira~ change in the political landscape ofthe Osmore ANDEANPAST 6 (2000) # 106
River basin, if not other drainages. Byrespond~ Phillip R. Scarr, pp. 371~394. Oxford: BAR, ing successfullyto diminishedrainfall,high sierra International Series 545(ii). Burgi,Peter T. populations grew in sizeand were positioned to 1993 TheInkaEmpire'sExpansioninto theCoastalSierra dominate their wan coastal counterparts, who RegionWestofLakeTiticaca.UnpublishedPh.D. had few means of mitigating their drought~de~ dissertation, AnthropologyDepartment, Univer- pressed agrarian production. sity of Chicago. Buikstta, Jane E. 1995 Tombsfor the Living. . . or. . . Forthe Dead: Acknowledgments The OsmoreAncestors.In Tombsfor theLiving: AndeanMortuaryPractices,edited by Tom D. We thank Adan Umire A. for field assis~ Dillehay, pp. 229-280. Washington, D.C.:' tance; Nikki Clark and Ian Curry for initial Dumbarton Oaks Research Libraryand Collec- descriptions and profiles of the Tomb Site and rion. Planting Surface #2; Rick Reycraftfor informa~ Caviedes, cesar N. tion on Carrizal;Bruce Owen forinformationon 1984 El Nino: 1982,83. The GeographicalReview . 74(3):267-290. the lower and upper valley; David Jessup for Clement, Christopher Ohm and Michael E. Moseley information on Chiribaya; Karen Wise for infor~ 1991 The Spring,Fed Irrigation System of Carrizal, mation on MirafloresQuebrada; ShawnPenman Peru: A Case Study of the HypothesisofAgrar- and Garth Bawden for information on Burro ian Collapse. Journal of Field Archaeology Flaco; Don Rice, M. Nene Lozada,Elva Torres, 18(4):425-443. Conrad, GeoffreyW. and Ann D. Webster and Jane Buikstra for information on Yaral;Paul 1989 Household Unit Patterning at San Antonio. In Goldstein for information on mid,valley; P.R. Ecology,SeulementandHistory in the Osmore Williams for information on hydrology;and Dan Drainage,editedbyDonS.Rice,CharlesStanish, Belknap and other, anonymous manuscript and PhillipR. Scarr, pp.395,414. Oxford:BAR, reviewers for constructive' commentary. Re~ International Serie&545(ii). Dendy, John H. search support wasprovided bythe Heinz Foun~ 1991 A DescriptiveCatalogandPreliminaryAnalysisof dation, the UniveI:sityofFloridaFoundation, the BotanicalRemains[romArchaeologicalExcava£ions United States GeologicalSurvey,the Asociaci6n at Chiribaya Alta, Lower OsmoreDrainage,Pern. Contisuyo, and Southern Peru Copper Corpora~ Master's thesis, Washington University, St. tion. Louis. Dillon, Michael O. References Cited 1985 The Silver Liningofa Yery Dark Cloud: Botani- cal Studies in Coastal Peru During the 1982-83 EINii'ioEvent. FieldMuseumofNaturalHistory Bawden, Garth Bu11etin56:6-10. 1989 Pre-Inca Cultural Ecology of the 110Region. In Jessup, David Ecology, Settlement, and History in the Osmore 1990 Rescate arqueo16gicoen el museode sitiode San Drainage, Peru, edited by Don S. Rice, Charles Ger6nimo,110. In Trabajosarqueo16gicosen Stanish, and Phillip R. Scarr, pp. 183-205. Ox, Moquegua,PerU,3, editedbyLuisK.Watanabe, ford: BAR, International Series 545 (i). Michael E. Noseley, and Fernando Cabieses,pp. Beck, J.Walter and John E. Davies 151-165. Lima: Programa Contisuyo delMuseo 1976 Medical Parasitology.St. Louis: C.V. Mosby. Peruano de Ciencias de la Salud and Southern Binford, Michael W., Alan L. Kolata, Mark Brenner, John Peru Copper Corporation. W. Janusek, MatthewT. Seddon, Mark Abbott, and Jason 1991 Desarrollosgenerales en el IntermedioTardioen H.Curtis ' el valle de 110,Peru. Informe Interno del Pro- 1997 ClimateVariationand the Riseand Fallof an grama Contisuyu. Paper presented at the 56th AndeanCivilization.QuaternaryResearch47:235- Annual Meeting of The Society for American 248. Archaeology, April 28, 1991, New OrleanS, Borstel, Christopher L., Geoffery W. Conrad, and Keith P. Louisiana. Jacobi 1989 AnalysisofExposedArchitecture at San Antonio: Foundationforan ExcavationStrategy.In Ecol, ogy,SettlementandHistoryintheOsmoreDrainage, edited by Don S. Rice, CharlesStanish, and 107.. Satterlee et al.: The MirafloresElNino
Keefer, David K., Susan D. deFrance, Michal E. Moseley, the Society for American Archaeology, Ana- James B. Richardson nI, Dennis R. Satterlee, and Amy Day heim, California. Lewis pozorski,Thomas 1998 Early Maritime Economy and EI Nifio Events at 1987 Changing Prioritieswithin the Chimu State:The Quebrada Tacahuay, Peru. Science 281 (no. Role of Irrigation Agriculture. In The Origins 5384): 1833-1835. andDevelopmentoftheAndean State, edited by Lathrap, Donald W. Jonathan Haas, Shelia Pozorski,and Thomas 1970 The Upper Ama.ton:Ancient Peoplesand Places. Pozorski, pp. 111-120. Cambridge: Cambridge New York: Praeger. University Press. Moore, Jerry D. Reycraft, Richard 1991 Cultural Responses to Environmental Catastro- 1997 Calamity, Collapse, and Continuity: Varied phes: Post-EI Nifio Subsistence on the Prehistoric Response to EI Nifio in Southern Peru Circa North Coast of Peru. Latin American Antiquity A.D. 1400. Paper presented at the 62nd Annual 2(1):27-47. Meeting of the Society for American Archaeol- Moseley, Michael E. ogy,Nashville,Tennesee. . 1997 Climate, Culture, and Punctuated Change: New Rice,Don S., CharlesStanish,and PhillipR. Start (edi- Data, New Challenges. The Review of Archarology tors) 18:9-27. 1989 Ecology,Settlement,andHistoryin the Osmore Moseley,Michael E.,DavidWagner, andJamesB.Richard- Drainage,Peru. Oxford:BARInternational sonIII Series 545(i), 545(ii). 1992 Space Shuttle Imagery of Recent Catastrophic Rice, Prudence M. Change on the Arid Andean Coast. In Paleo- 1997 Wine and Brandy Production in Colonial Peru: ShorelinesandPrehistory:AnIntlestigationofMethod, A Historical and Archaeological Investigation. edited by Lucile Lewis Johnson and Melanie JournalofInterdisciplinaryHistory27:455-479. Stright, pp. 215-235. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Satterlee, Dennis R. Murphy, Robert Cushman . 1991 Impact ofEI Nino.Flooding on PrehistoricAgri- 1926 Oceanic and Climatic Phenomenaalongthe West culture in Southern Peru. Paperpresented at the Coast of South America During 1925. The Geo- 56th annual meeting ofthe SocietyforAmerican graphicalReview16:26-54. Archaeology, New Orleans. Ortloff, Charles and Alan Kolata 1993 TheImpactof a FourteenthCenturyElNinoFlood 1993 Climate and Collapse: Agro-ecologicalPerspec- onan IndigenousPopulationNear 110,Peru. Ph.D. tives on the Dedine of the Tiwanaku State. dissertation,Universityof Florida,Gainesville, . JournalofArcharologicalScience20:195-221. Florida. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Owen, Bruce Microfilms International. (Now a division of 1991 Colonization and Complexityin the Twilight of Bell & Howell Company.) Tiwanaku: The Coastal Osmore Valley, Peru. S.P.C.C. (Southern Peru Copper Corporation) Paper presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of 1985 Estadlsticashidrometeoro16gicasdeestaciones the Society for American Archaeology, New contro/adasparS.P.C.G.enlosdepartamentosde Orleans, louisiana. TacnayMoquegua,1949a1985.Cuajone, Peru. 1992 Coastal Colonies and the CollapseofTiwanaku: Struiver, Minze and Gordon W. Pearson The Coastal Osmore Valley, Peru. Paper pre- 1993 High Precision Bidecadel Calibration of the sented at the 57th annual meetingof the Society Radiocarbon Time Scale, AD 1950-500BCand forAmerican Archaeology,Pittsburgh,Pennsylva- 2500-6000BC. Radiocarbon35(1):215-230. nia. Stanish, Charles 1993a EarlyCeramic Settlement in the Coastal Osmore 1985 Post-Tiwailaku RegionalEconomicsin the Orora Valley: Preliminary Report. Paper presented at Valley, SouthernPeru. Ph.D.dissertation,Uni- the Institute of Andean Studies 1993 Annual versity of Chicago. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Meeting, Berkeley,California. University Microfilms International. (Now a 1993b A ModelofMultiethnicity:StateCollapse,Competi- division of Bell & Howell Company.) tion, and SocialComple:dtyfrom Tiwanaku to 1992 Ancient Andean Political Economy. Austin: Chiribayain theOsmoreValley,Peru.Unpublished University of Texas. Ph.D. dissertation, Department ofAnthropology, Thompson, Lonnie G., Ellen Moseley-Thompson, J. F. University of California. Bolzan, and B. R. Roci 1994 Were Wari and Tiwanaku in Conflict, Competi- 1985 A 1500-YearRecord ofT ropical Precipitationin tion, or Complementary Coexistence? Survey Ice Cores from the Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru. Evidencefromthe UpperOsmore Drainage,Peru. Science 229(no. 4717):971-973. Paper presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of ANDEANPAST 6 (2000) . -108
Thompson, Lonnie G., Ellen Moseley~Thompson,and Wells, LisaE. BenjamfnMorales Amao 1987 An Alluvial Record of EI Nifio Events from 1984 EINiii~uthem OscillationEventsRecordedin Northern Coastal Peru. Journal of Geop1r;ysical the Stratigraphyof the TropicalQuelccayaIce Research 92(c13): 14,463~14,470. Cap,Peru. Science226(no.4670):50,53. Wheeler, Jane C. Thompson, Lonnie G., E. Moesley~Thompson,W. 1991 Origen, evoluci6n y status actual. In Avances 'J Dansgaard, and P. M. Grootes perspectivas del COTJOCimjenu)de los camllidos 1986 The Little Ice Age as Recorded in the Stratigra~ sudamericanos,edited by S. Fernwdez~Baca,pp. phyof the TropicalQuelccayaIceCap. Sciena 11~48. Santiago: FAO. 234:361~364. Williams, Sloan Thouret, Jean~CIaude, Jasmine Davila, Jean~PhilUp Essen 1990 The Skeletal Biology of EstuqUiiia:A late I~~ 1999 Largest explosive eruption in histotic times in the diate Site in Southern Peru. Ph.D. dissertation" Andes at Huaynaputina volcano, A.D. 1600, Northwestern University, Evanston, IlUnois. Southern Peru. Geology 27(5):435~438. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms
VanBuren,Mary . International. (Now a division of BeD & Howell 1993 Communityand Empirein SouthernPeru:The Site Company.) of Torata Alta under Spanish Rule. Unpublished Williams, Patrick Ryan Ph.D. dissertation, Anthropology Department, 1997 Disaster in the Development of Agriculture and the University of Arizona. EvolutionofSocialComplexityin theSouth-Central 1996 Rethinking the Vertical Archipelago. American Andean Sierra. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Anthropologist 98:338~351. University of Florida, GainesvUle. Van Buren, Mary, Peter T. Burgi, and Prudence M. Rice 1993 Torata Alta: A Late Highland Settlement in the Osmore Drainage. In DomesticArchitecture, Ethnicity, andComplementarityintheSouth~Ce71tral Andes, edited by Mark S. Aldenderfer, pp. 136~ 146. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. 109~ Satterlee et al.: The Miraflores El Nino
Pacific Ocean
4000m
JOO
o 5 10 20 Kilometers
Figure 1. Average annual precipitation, in millimeters, occurring in the Osmore Drainage. Changes in rainfall amounts are indicated by the dark, dashed lines. Elevations are given in meters. ANDEANPAST 6 (2000)
Pocoma
..,,:.,-.,.,-. .- Miraflores "-' ~, '81\......
Chuza " Chuza , ~.. Lomas.. '-.. ..-c-('-,,, ,..., .. ...""-
o 1 2 3 JWometers
OSMORE RIVER 110
Figure 2. Coastal Quebradas north of the Osmore River. 111.. Satterlee et al.: The Mirajlores El Nino
Figure3: Stagesofdebrisflowandflashfloodgenerationin the coastalvalleybeginning1,withhillslope sheetwash,progressing2,throughquebradaflashfloods,andculmiriating3,in alargefloodsurge descendingthevalley. ANDEANPAST6 (2000) ..112
Figure4: AerialViewof MirafloresQuebradaindicating:1) extent of the coastalplaindebrisflow;2) canyonand tributaryarea;3) ColonialPeriodwalledolivegrove;and 4) Chiribayasetdement area. 113.. Sauerleeet al.: The Mirajlores EINino
1982-83 0 ..". Deposits .-.0... AeoUan - 0 - ...0 e.-...... 10 ""~..'... to.."0.4 ".j 8. . ~ DepositS · (i .4 · ~ ~ '=...C).D~O 4 .. ~.'. O. Chuza 20 "... '* . QV. .. d.,.~ , ·I ... .O.el . q.-umt .(3...,·· .~.. .".4 ..QO.". ~ '. /IJ ~ . ~ 4 '.' 30 .· 0 .0.. ... , II.~~ Sand . . .· .0 . . e. O...~,. ~u~ 40 . . .cJ. . . c:::>. . . 50 . . . . c:J.. 4'. 60 ...... o .0 . · I Mlraflores 70 . . CJ. . ~ Unit . . .0. . . .. 80 ...... C:::J. . . . . 90 t:) .0 . . '0 ...... -..-. 100 . . . . C) . 110 . . .. . 0 · 0 120 .l)~o..c:!Z) · c · Q. 130 .~8 C)0 .. . @ 8fl£.P'...~.~ 08 <:J ~ · Basal 140 6 eo c:> ~ t3 +-' Sequence o 150 ~.. . 160 170 Cm. 0 25 so 75 100
Centimeters ..~ - Fine ...- - Silty - ..'- ...... - . -Sandy . :. Sand ...- Sand :::::I Silt ~.i'~-- RockFrags ---- - Coarse__e. - Clay I?7Z72J _ Basal Sand --.. ~ - Pebbles ~ Sequence
Figure5. Geologic Column-Miraflores Quebrada. \nos) 3rd Planting Surfac!.' N / 1 /I i .. Qw/Jbl'ad o.u~bf!\da l. / s 01m10r~ River i b.U.I!I'J$ Figure6. OsmoreCanalSystem. liS ',' " ~:'?-7"ri",;"~-". . . l.at~ 't'alua {~ _ Ch~&4 DtWri$ (d) (taILlS) H~Yn" Put'jO,;;\Ash tc} '"'~,- Miraflores Unit fp) fA\rHer-~~ :..~..!.. 0 (river deposit) T4\I'.,!~;~brls (a) HarHer Ta1us Debris ~:1) Unexposed Basal Sequence 19$2-53 EJ NH'iQIe} (over qCPOs.lt} Figure 7. Tomb Site Prome. ANDEANPAST 6 (2000) ..116 o _ -i .. .. .-.".--'.9".ID-.-. 10 . . .'.'';'. It. " ..,I') 411.t ... ~ ...... , c:::/)~JIIf12"" 20 .'~ ,',.'''\ ,." , ~ ~.. ,,~-,..\>.~~";: " ~'A "'. Post-<:huza .;- '4 \'1 " '. .A., .. '. ," #)., flood 30 44f,.,-" , ~ ~.. t .. , , ",.'0... .1#.'" .".., ." -Deposits ,(?/f '! from .. '., ...,.,..,.. .., . . Lateral 40 .. ~, ~ _' '.,; , '. .. ~.: c . .. .., ,.. "...~ ~.. '<0: ... Qpebrada , #II".. f .. .. 8. so ''''.. "..~A"" .. ' '"... r '...,..' ~ ... .,., ~ ~ .. ... 4 .".. .. 4 "*\0...r.. ,. ,,,. .. . Aeolian 60 ,... ~ .~ , ~',...,. ~i. .~"".:.;.-;..~: ;..~.... ~ '~.. .. ;..;£..~..:...... 0 ..:.':.: :~;".~ ~ Deposits .., .. . , ..-""..~~~. . tL~ , ... ,.... 70 "40-' ,." ~'r .''\> "Q"''''''':'''''~'.;~ "',r.,' 80 c::> 4 ' . ,... ,.. .ft ,". r...~ ,4";o.1!) ,.".. .. . 4 /7\ . · 90 i~,,· r ,.. ..~ '..- ,.. . .' ., .. -, ...','!:P' " .-.411'8..." .,~ ..4 Chum 100 .,"' ' ..~.'..7;;\ .."~.~ Deposits R". - SandCoane ..rI . ~.,,,~.~. ,,, a; r · , I-from 110 ,,'... ".. ,e-4 , '.III...'~ ,~, ,'", .,... ..4 .,. ,".. .. Lateral ." - Fine ...~ .,' .,.. QJ1ebrada . ....:. Sane! 4 f...4't2' 'J?IO ,: ,,', ..' . 120 ~.,-'.f) .. ~..r Aeolian ,. "'"'' "..,.., ~,. , ,,-.I lIffi]-Silty:::: Sane! 130 .. 'E;i;r.. ~ .," 4 , Deposits "~ ~ ~ " ~ .. ~ "'" -~ Huayna , ...' 4 r .. (3 ~ -::::00 001_ Sandy SUt 140 ~ ~.. , '. Figure8. GeologicColumn-FirstPlantingSurface.