Spatial and temporal trends in Peru's radiocarbon record of middle Holocene foragers

Abstract

The middle Holocene saw major changes in political and socioeconomic organization in Peru. Still, not all Peruvian groups transitioned to food production or engaged in mound or monument construction, yet we know relatively little about those who maintained a mobile lifestyle centered on foraging. Using GIS and statistical analyses to interrogate a database of radiocarbon dates, we assess the Peruvian record of forager distributions through the middle Holocene. We identify patterns consistent with biases stemming from disproportionate research attention, regional and intrasite sampling methodologies, and taphonomy that may be hampering our study of middle Holocene foragers. Further confounding our understanding of foragers during this period are reports of middle Holocene radiocarbon gaps attributed to population decline across South America in response to climate-induced scarcity of freshwater and other resources. We show, however, that this might also be an artifact of sampling in some cases and argue for both increased archaeological attention to middle Holocene foragers and greater awareness of perceptual biases that might influence research design and, therefore, research attention and outcomes.