The Late Archaic period occupation at Carrizal, Peru

Abstract

Recent archaeological research at a Late Archaic period (5000-3500 B.P.) component of the site of Carrizal on the far south coast of Peru reveals evidence of domestic terraces located on hill slopes overlooking a shell midden. The pattern of domestic terraces overlooking a midden area is similar to that documented at Quiani on the coast of northern Chile and to Kilometer 4, a site located on the coast approximately 7 km south of Carrizal. A burial excavated at Carrizal is similar to burials documented from Quiani, from Kilometer 4, and from other Late Archaic and Early Formative period sites in the coastal south-central Andes. The Carrizal site probably represents a basic settlement type of the Late Archaic period on the south-central Andean coast, which is associated with the mortuary complex sometimes called Quiani. It is proposed that this type of site may represent early sedentary villages of Late Archaic peoples.