COASTAL CHANGE AND CULTURAL CHANGE IN LATE PRECERAMIC PERU

A number of linked geologic processes drive coastal change in Peru, including seismic activity, sediment pulses from El Niño-derived flooding operating on tectonically destabilized landscapes, beach ridge formation, and sand deposition. Each of these processes impacts human activity in this region, with the effects caused or enhanced by El Niño. After a hiatus of several thousand years, El Niño activity became prominent at the start of the Late Preceramic Period (ca. 5800-3800 cal BP). At the same time, human populations increased in size and social complexity, increasing the vulnerability to coastal change processes. In this presentation, the author reviews his work and that of other investigators on Late Preceramic coastal change and possible causal links to cultural change.