Fishing on the frontier: vertebrate remains from Amotape, Siches, and Honda Phase occupations at Sitio Siches (PV 7-19), Perú

Abstract

This study provides zooarchaeological data and interpretations of cultural and environmental changes between ~10,700 and 5200 cal B.P. by comparing diachronic trends within a single coastal site (Sitio Siches) with synchronic trends across multiple coastal sites in different, adjacent ecological regions. Sitio Siches (PV 7-19), located at 4° 24.7’ S on the Pacific coast of Perú, is a stratified site with an occupational sequence extending from the Early to the Later Preceramic period. Radiocarbon dates divide the occupation into three cultural phases: Amotape (9500–9000 ¹⁴C B.P./~10,700–10,100 cal B.P.), Siches (7100–6000 ¹⁴C B.P./~7900–6800 cal B.P.), and Honda (5150–4550 ¹⁴C B.P./~5800–5200 cal B.P.). The total Sitio Siches assemblage contains 27,180 vertebrate specimens (NISP) and the remains of an estimated 2,759 minimum number of non-human vertebrate individuals (MNI). Marine vertebrate individuals dominate the assemblage. A temporal trend within the assemblage suggests changes in fishing strategies that may reflect changes in marine conditions. These measures are variable within the Siches-phase occupation, likely reflecting responses to environmental and cultural transitions between 7100 and 6000 ¹⁴C B.P. Overall the results show that people living at the site during the Amotape phase experienced warm marine waters. During the Siches phase, coastal waters were even warmer, an interpretation consistent with isotopic values in sea catfish otoliths. Variations in fishing strategies during the Siches phase may be responses to sharper annual or seasonal fluctuations in Sea Surface Temperature than were experienced during the Amotape or Honda occupations. The Amotape collection from Sitio Siches offers a glimpse of an early fishing tradition on the northern coast of Perú. The Honda collection reflects modern conditions at the frontier between the Peru-Chilean and Panamanian provinces. A comparison of Sitio Siches with other vertebrate assemblages from within the Peru-Chilean province finds broad similarities among assemblages at similar latitudes throughout the province. This suggests that the patterns observed in these assemblages are not due exclusively to cultural dynamics, but also reflect larger environmental patterns influencing the economies of all human communities in the region.