HAAS Et Al. (2004) - Dating The Late Archaic Occupation of The Norte Chico Region in Peru

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same location (A. Treguier, personal communication). Similarly, a version of the HYCOM17 with similar horizontal resolution to that of the FLAME model, but a rather different representation of the vertical coordinates, also shows eddy generation at 88 S and coherent eddies downstream (Z. Garaffo and E. Chassignet, personal communication). The FLAME model results as shown here therefore appear robust for several different model solutions. Eddy scales and translation velocities from the FLAME model agree well with the estimates from the observations. However, the model tends to produce more vigorous eddy activity from April to September, whereas the observations do not show a similar annual cycle (Fig. 2d). The model seasonality of eddy activity is caused by seasonal variations in strength of the upstream DWBC between 4 and 88 S: during the period AprilSeptember a strong upstream DWBC leads to enhanced eddy generation, while during the period OctoberMarch a weak upstream DWBC continues as a more laminar ow south of 88 S. We speculate, on the basis of this nding, that long-term MOC variations may be related to phases of a stable, laminar ow of the DWBC followed by phases of DWBC breaking into eddies at this location during strong MOC periods. Eddy formation in the Southern Hemisphere may be seen as a counterpart to the generation of north Brazil current (NBC) rings in the Northern Hemisphere (Fig. 1). It has been shown here that the DWBC eddies at 118 S are a major component of the cold water branch of the MOC, mirroring the role that NBC rings play for the upper limb of the Atlantic MOC18,19. From observations, the fate of the DWBC and its eddies farther to the south are as yet unclear. Moored records near the boundary at several latitudes between 188 and 288 S, partially at locations of complicated topography, suggest the presence of a mean southward DWBC superimposed by large intraseasonal variability20,21. At 118 S, on the other hand, an overall well-dened continental slope, the proximity to the eddy-generation region, and the combination of high-resolution shipboard measurements and moored records allowed us unambiguously to identify the existence of migrating eddies instead of a continuous DWBC, as reported here. A
rotation and translation) inside and zero velocity outside the eddy volume. The black line in Fig. 2d represents eddy transport evaluated for the same area as used for the time series transport.
Received 3 August; accepted 19 October 2004; doi:10.1038/nature03134.
1. Stommel, H. & Arons, A. B. On the abyssal circulation of the World OceanI. Stationary planetary ow patterns on a sphere. Deep-Sea Res. 6, 140154 (1960). 2. Lee, T. N., Johns, W. E., Zantopp, R. J. & Fillenbaum, E. R. Moored observations of western boundary current variability and circulation at 26.58 N in the subtropical North Atlantic. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 26, 962983 (1996). 3. Schott, F. A. et al. Circulation and deep-water export at the western exit of the subpolar North Atlantic. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 34, 817843 (2004). 4. Johns, W. E., Fratantoni, D. M. & Zantopp, R. J. Deep western boundary current variability off northeastern Brazil. Deep-Sea Res. I 40, 293310 (1993). 5. Fischer, J. & Schott, F. A. Seasonal transport variability of the Deep Western Boundary Current in the equatorial Atlantic. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 2775127769 (1997). 6. Ganachaud, A. & Wunsch, C. Improved estimates of global ocean circulation, heat transport and mixing from hydrographic data. Nature 408, 453457 (2000). 7. Lumpkin, R. & Speer, K. Large-scale vertical and horizontal circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 33, 19021920 (2003). 8. McCartney, M. S. Recirculation components to the deep boundary current of the northern North Atlantic. Prog. Oceanogr. 29, 283383 (1992). 9. Hogg, N. G. On the transport of the Gulf Stream between Cape Hatteras and the Grand Banks. DeepSea Res. I 39, 12311246 (1992). 10. Lozier, M. S. Evidence for large-scale eddy-driven gyres in the North Atlantic. Science 277, 361364 (1997). 11. Edwards, C. A. & Pedlosky, J. Dynamics of nonlinear cross-equatorial ow. Part I: Potential vorticity transformation. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 28, 23822406 (1998). 12. Richardson, P. L. & Fratantoni, D. M. Float trajectories in the deep western boundary current and deep equatorial jets of the tropical Atlantic. Deep-Sea Res. II 46, 305333 (1999). 13. Lux, M., Mercier, H. & Arhan, M. Interhemispheric exchanges of mass and heat in the Atlantic Ocean in January-March 1993. Deep-Sea Res. I 48, 605638 (2001). 14. Schott, F. A., Brandt, P., Hamann, M., Fischer, J. & Stramma, L. On the boundary ow off Brazil at 5108 S and its connection to the interior tropical Atlantic. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29 ( 17), 1840, doi:10.1029/ 2002GL014786 (2002). 15. Eden, C. & Boning, C. W. Sources of eddy kinetic energy in the Labrador Sea. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 32, 33463363 (2002). 16. Treguier, A. M., Hogg, N. G., Maltrud, M., Speer, K. & Thierry, V. The origin of the deep zonal ows in the Brazil Basin. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 33, 580599 (2003). 17. Bleck, R. An oceanic general circulation model framed in hybrid isopycnic-cartesian coordinates. Ocean Model. 4, 5588 (2002). 18. Johns, W. E., Lee, T. N., Schott, F. A., Zantopp, R. J. & Evans, R. H. The North Brazil Current retroection: Seasonal structure and eddy variability. J. Geophys. Res. 95, 2210322120 (1990). 19. Johns, W. E., Zantopp, R. J. & Goni, G. J. in Interhemispheric Water Exchange in the Atlantic Ocean (eds Goni, G. J. & Malanotte-Rizzoli, P.) 411436 (Elsevier Oceanography Series, Amsterdam, 2003). 20. Weatherly, G. L., Kim, Y. Y. & Kontar, E. A. Eulerian measurements of the North Atlantic Deep Water Deep Western Boundary Current at 188 S. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 30, 971986 (2000). 21. Muller, T. J., Ikeda, Y., Zangenberg, N. & Nonato, L. V. Direct measurements of the western boundary currents off Brazil between 208 S and 288 S. J. Geophys. Res. 103, 54295438 (1998).

Methods
Eddy t
To quantify the individual and average structures and translation of the eddies, a multidimensional t of a model eddy to the current-meter records was performed. The velocity structure used for the eddy description has a linear velocity gradient for its interior, as required for solid-body rotation, and an outer gaussian decay, which is consistent with the observed structures (Fig. 2b). The alongshore (Veddy) and cross-shore (U eddy) velocity of the eddy model were formulated as x 2 x0 u0 t 2 t 0 expF 1 V eddy v0 A R0 v 0 t 2 v0 t 0 expF 2 R0 x2x0 u0 t2t 0 2 v0 t2v0 t 0 2 z2z 0 2 H 2 : Here, x is cross-shore distance, (v 0, u 0) with F R2 0 0 represents alongshore and cross-shore eddy translation, A is the amplitude of the gaussian, R 0 and H 0 are e-folding radius (the distance at which the amplitude has reduced to e 21) and height and nally (x 0, z 0) represents cross-shore distance and depth of the eddy centre. As the mooring was aligned along the cross-shore direction only, the alongshore coordinate was substituted by assuming a constant alongshore velocity for each time step y v 0t and an alongshore eddy centre at y 0 v 0t 0. The model was tted to subsequent 4060-day ensembles of 40-h low-pass ltered current-meter data from below 500 m (Fig. 2c) using a multidimensional unconstrained nonlinear minimization (NelderMead method). Eddy parameters could not be quantied for two time intervals during particularly weak signals (Fig. 2d). U eddy u0 A

Acknowledgements This study was supported by the German Bundesministerium fur Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung (BMBF) as part of the German CLIVAR/Marin programme. Competing interests statement The authors declare that they have no competing nancial interests. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M.D. (mdengler@ifm-geomar.de).

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Dating the Late Archaic occupation of the Norte Chico region in Peru
Jonathan Haas1*, Winifred Creamer2* & Alvaro Ruiz2*
Department of Anthropology, The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA
2 1

Transport estimates
Western boundary transport was estimated from the moored velocity time series as well as from the individual eddy events that were parameterized by the t (Fig. 2d). Data processing for transport estimates from velocity records included an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) interpolation of small temporal gaps and subsequent interpolation of the time series onto a 5 km by 20 m grid using gaussian weights. Transport was then estimated for the area 1,200 to 3,800 m deep and from the continental slope to 170 km offshore, as indicated in Fig. 2a. Finally, the transport time series was smoothed using a 10-day lowpass lter. Eddy transport was estimated by dening eddy volume as the area within the 1 cm s21 contour that was determined from the individual eddy parameters excluding eddy translation velocity. Transport was then calculated from the total velocity eld (eddy

* These authors contributed equally to this work .............................................................................................................................................................................

The Norte Chico region on the coast of Peru north of Lima consists of four adjacent river valleysHuaura, Supe, Pativilca and Fortalezain which archaeologists have been aware of a number of apparently early sites for more than 40 years (refs 13). To clarify the early chronology in this region, we undertook eldNATURE | VOL 432 | 23/30 DECEMBER 2004 | www.nature.com/nature

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work in 2002 and 2003 to determine the dates of occupation of sites in the Fortaleza and Pativilca valleys. Here we present 95 new radiocarbon dates from a sample of 13 of more than 20 large, early sites. These sites share certain basic characteristics, including large-scale monumental architecture, extensive residential architecture and a lack of ceramics. The 95 new dates conrm the emergence and development of a major cultural complex in this region during the Late Archaic period between 3000 and 1800 calibrated calendar years BC . The results help to redene a broader understanding of the respective roles of agricultural and shing economies in the beginnings of civilization in South America. The Norte Chico region has greatly inuenced the development of theories on the rise of complex societies in South America. Fieldwork done in the 1970s and 1980s47 at the site of Aspero at the mouth of the Supe Valley showed that this shing community was occupied during the Late Archaic period8. With its several platform mound structures, Aspero inspired the theory that the initial emergence of complex society in the Andes was based on the exploitation of maritime resources rather than agriculture, a theory often referred to as the maritime foundations of Andean civilization3,5. In the 1980s the rst dates for a number of large inland sites in the Supe Valley suggested that these sites were occupied during the Late Archaic period9. Extensive excavations in the 1990s at the Supe Valley site of Caral10 rmly established the presence of a major inland, agriculturally based, component to the Late Archaic occupation in the Norte Chico11,12. Our recent work in the neighbouring Pativilca and Fortaleza has revealed that Caral and Aspero were but two of a much larger number of major Late Archaic sites in the Norte Chico. There is now evidence of an extraordinary complex of more than 20 separate major residential centres with monumental architecture concentrated in just three small valleys (Fig. 1). To complement the earlier work in the Supe Valley and assess the overall extent of the Late Archaic occupation in the Norte Chico, we began eldwork in the Pativilca and Fortaleza valleys in 2002 and 2003. Our limited reconnaissance in these two valleys identied at least 16 sites with surface characteristics of Late Archaic occupations: a lack of ceramics, monumental stone architecture and large circular ceremonial structures12,13. These sites vary in size from ten to more than 100 hectares in area. Each has between one and seven platform mounds. The mounds, rectangular terraced pyramids, range in size from 3,000 to over 100,000 m3 (Fig. 2). Rooms were constructed on the tops and upper terraces of the structures. Another hallmark of Late Archaic sites is the sunken circular plaza. These plazas range from 20 to 40 m in diameter and are 12 m deep14. The sites also had large expanses of associated residential architecture, as manifested in surface indications and in stratied house oors in test pits. Excavations revealed stratied household refuse 50 to 200 cm deep. Importantly, the sites are consistently located immediately adjacent to short irrigation canals watering large tracts of land in the rst terrace immediately above the river bottom. Test excavations were conducted at a sample of 13 of the sites in the Pativilca (seven sites) and Fortaleza valleys (six sites). These excavations were designed to yield suitable material for radiocarbon dating from successive events of mound construction and from stratied levels of residential refuse. The 95 radiocarbon dates (Table 1) obtained from excavations conrmed that 11 of the 13 tested sites were occupied during the Late Archaic period (Fig. 2). When the 95 new dates are added to the existing published dates from previous projects, there is a combined total of 127 radiocarbon dates available for the Norte Chico region, extending from 9210 to 186 calibrated calendar years BC (cal. BC ). Both the earlier and later ends of this range are under-represented in this sample owing to a research focus on sites most likely to fall into the
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period from 3000 to 1800 cal. BC . Ten samples date before 3500 cal. BC . One early date of 9210 cal. BC provides limited indication of an Early Archaic occupation. The remaining nine dates conrm occupation in the region both on the coast and at inland locations between 6300 and 3500 cal. BC during the Middle Archaic period. Two of the early dates, 3710 cal. BC at Aspero7 and 3710 cal. BC at Porvenir are directly associated with communal architecture. The single date from Aspero is considered an anomaly6 and the date from Porvenir, although derived from construction material, is 700 years earlier than the next closest date. Thus it should not be inferred on the basis of these two isolated dates that mound construction had started in the fourth millennium BC . The succeeding 700 years, between 3200 and 2500 cal. BC , with 27 dates, marks the clear appearance of large-scale communal construction and population aggregation in the Norte Chico region. Dated samples from this period have been found in direct association with the construction or occupation of platform mounds at Aspero6, Caral10 and Lurihuasi9 in the Supe Valley, at Upaca in the Pativilca Valley and at Huaricanga, Porvenir and Caballete in the Fortaleza Valley. The dates at Aspero t well within the range of dates for the inland sites and indicate that the rst construction of communal architecture occurs at both inland and coastal sites at the very beginning of the third millennium BC . On the basis of this new evidence, it is not feasible to view the maritime development at Aspero as having preceded the large-scale inland occupations. Given the signicant and ongoing destruction of these early sites, including the use of Aspero as a modern landll, it is unlikely that which site was rst can ever be known. What is clear from the new body of

Figure 1 Map of major Late Archaic sites in the Norte Chico region.
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Figure 2 Late Archaic communal architecture. a, Aerial photograph of Punta y Suela in the Patavilca Valley taken in 1969 (mound A in lower left is 60 m 50 m 12 m). b, Mounds A (left, 85 m 74 m 23 m) and B (right) at Vinto Alto in Pativilca Valley.

c, Overview of central ceremonial zone at Porvenir in Fortaleza Valley (open plaza area between mounds is 500 m across). d, Circle of stone stela or huancas at site of Caballete in Fortaleza Valley.

dates is that the early development of complex societies along the Peruvian coast in the Late Archaic involved an extensive inland occupation based on irrigation agriculture coupled with a more localized and much smaller-scale maritime occupation on the coast15. The period from 2500 to 2000 cal. BC , represented by 61 dates, marks a considerable expansion of the Late Archaic occupation in the Norte Chico region. This was when most of the platform mounds were constructed, as shown by dates in this range from thirteen sites. The proliferation of sites during this period is lopsided, however, in that all the development was inland. The available dates from Aspero come only from the beginning of this period6. The large number and size of inland sites in the Norte Chico, all continuing to be dependent on sh and shellsh, is hard to reconcile with the scarcity of maritime sites in the same area. It therefore seems likely that residents maintained exchange relationships with maritime communities outside the Norte Chico region. At the end of the Late Archaic and into the Initial Period, with 18 dates from 2000 to ,1500 cal. BC , some sites continued to be occupied and new sites were founded. Large multi-mound sites, typical of the preceding millennium, were abandoned and two
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new site types appear: single platform complexes with attached sunken plazas, and U-shaped mound complexes. The nature and chronology of the later occupations in the Norte Chico remain to be dened. The new dates for the Norte Chico Late Archaic provide insights into the intensity and longevity of this early development. It is now clear that Aspero, Caral and the sites in the Supe Valley were parts of a much more extensive cultural system that reached across at least three valleys and an area of 1,800 km2. The concentration of monumental sites in the region is unique on the Andean landscape during the third millennium BC . The clustering of dates at the start of the third millennium BC also suggests that the Norte Chico was an important historical location, where the path of cultural evolution in the Andean region diverged from a relatively simple hunting and gathering society to a much more complex pattern of social and political organization with a mixed economy based on agriculture and marine exploitation. Domesticated plants recovered include cotton (Gossypium barbadense), squash (Cucurbita sp.), chilli (Capsicum sp.), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris and P. lunatus), lucuma (Pouteria lucuma, formerly Lucuma obovata), guava (Psidium guajava), pacay (Inga feuillei), camote (Ipomoea batatas), avocado (Persea americana), and achira (Canna edulis). While the nature of


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Table 1 Radiocarbon dates from the excavations in the Pativilca and Fortaleza valleys Site CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAB CAR CB1 CB1 CB1 CB1 CB1 CB1 CB1 Radiocarbon yr BP 3,920 ^ 70 3,590 ^ 70 3,680 ^ 70 3,720 ^ 70 3,890 ^ 80 4,450 ^ 290 3,810 ^ 70 3,630 ^ 70 3,670 ^ 50 3,980 ^ 70 4,050 ^ 80 3,740 ^ 50 3,330 ^ 90 3,920 ^ 70 4,000 ^ 70 4,440 ^ 40 3,760 ^ 70 2,950 ^ 70 2,960 ^ 70 3,080 ^ 70 3,110 ^ 70 3,370 ^ 80 3,090 ^ 70 3,420 ^ 70 Cal. BC 2400 1940 2060 2120 2360 3120 2260 2000 2050 2490 2600 2140 1620 2400 2520 3100 2180 1160 1180 1330 1370 1640 1340 1720 Site CB2 CB2 CB2 CPA HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HCG HYT HYT POR POR POR POR POR Radiocarbon yr BP 3,390 ^ 70 3,630 ^ 80 3,720 ^ 90 3,789 ^ 48 2,580 ^ 80 3,870 ^ 40 3,940 ^ 40 3,970 ^ 110 4,110 ^ 70 4,780 ^ 50 3,770 ^ 70 3,860 ^ 40 3,910 ^ 40 3,940 ^ 70 4,030 ^ 70 4,230 ^ 90 3,950 ^ 70 3,800 ^ 70 3,820 ^ 70 3,630 ^ 70 3,890 ^ 40 4,110 ^ 70 4,160 ^ 70 3,710 ^ 70 Cal. BC 1680 2000 2120 2220 670 2350 2430 2480 2690 3570 2190 2330 2390 2420 2560 2790 2440 2240 2270 2000 2370 2690 2740 2100 Site POR POR POR POR PSJ PSJ PSJ PSJ PSJ PSJ POT PYS PYS PYS PYS PYS PYS PYS PYS PYS PYS PYS SHA SHA Radiocarbon yr BP 3,780 ^ 60 4,930 ^ 70 3,040 ^ 80 3,850 ^ 40 3,540 ^ 70 3,600 ^ 40 3,600 ^ 60 3,710 ^ 70 3,710 ^ 70 3,790 ^ 60 3,215 ^ 35 3,775 ^ 35 3,935 ^ 35 3,210 ^ 70 2,430 ^ 70 2,550 ^ 70 9,750 ^ 110 2,600 ^ 70 3,520 ^ 70 6,440 ^ 70 6,450 ^ 90 7,410 ^ 70 3,540 ^ 60 3,080 ^ 70 Cal. BC 2210 3720 1280 2320 1870 1950 1950 2100 2100 2230 1480 2200 2420 1480 560 660 9170 750 1840 5410 5410 6280 1870 1330 Site SHA UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC UPC VTA VTA VTA VTA VTA VTA VTA VTA VTA Radiocarbon yr BP 3,660 ^ 60 3,880 ^ 60 4,080 ^ 70 4,180 ^ 110 3,850 ^ 70 3,770 ^ 70 3,820 ^ 70 3,820 ^ 70 3,860 ^ 70 2,700 ^ 60 2,910 ^ 70 2,910 ^ 80 2,160 ^ 70 2,950 ^ 70 3,970 ^ 70 3,970 ^ 70 4,010 ^ 70 3,700 ^ 110 3,860 ^ 60 4,040 ^ 70 3,930 ^ 70 3,930 ^ 60 3,940 ^ 70 Cal. BC 2030 2380 2650 2740 2310 2190 2270 2270 2330 870 1110 1110 210 1160 2480 2480 2540 2100 2330 2580 2410 2400 2420
...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... CAB, Caballete; CAR, Carretera; CB1, Cerro Blanco 1; CB2, Cerro Blanco 2; CPA, Cemetery CP; HCG, Huaricanga; HYT, Huayto; POR, Porvenir; PSJ, Pampa San Jose; POT, Potao; PYS, Punta y Suela; SHA, Shaura; UPC, Upaca; VTA, Vinto Alto. See Methods for dating procedures.

Late Archaic society is still being dened, there are indications of social hierarchies, centralized decision-making, formalized religion, and a multifaceted economy based on inland irrigation of cotton and food plants, diverse marine resources, and a system of regular exchange of food crops, cotton, sh and shellsh6,9,15. The new dates establish that the people in this region were a signicant force on the Andean cultural landscape for more than 1,200 years. By 1800 cal. BC the Norte Chico was losing its status as a focal point on the Andean landscape. Much larger polities were arising to the north and south along the coast as well as in the highlands to the east. However, basic architectural and organizational patterns rst appearing in the third millennium in the Norte Chico provided a foundation for many underlying similarities that dene the distinctiveness of the Andean region in the succeeding 4,000 years. A

calibration program16,17. Previously published dates have been recalibrated using Calib 4.4 for consistency. Each single cal. BC date is derived from the mean probability rounded to the nearest decade. All dates from excavations in the Fortaleza and Pativilca valleys are provided in the Supplementary Information, with laboratory numbers, radiocarbon years before present (that is, before 1950; yr BP ), provenance and calibration ranges.
Received 17 March; accepted 26 October 2004; doi:10.1038/nature03146.
1. Kosok, P. Life, Land, and Water in Ancient Peru 216226 (Long Island Univ. Press, New York, 1985). 2. Burger, R. Chavn and the Origins of Andean Civilization 2755 (Thames and Hudson, London, 1995). 3. Moseley, M. The Incas and Their Ancestors 2nd edn 99160 (Thames and Hudson, London, 2001). 4. Moseley, M. & Willey, G. Aspero Peru: a reexamination of the site and its implications. Am. Antiq. 37, 452468 (1973). 5. Moseley, M. The Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization (Cummings, Menlo Park, 1975). 6. Feldman, R. Aspero, Peru: Architecture, Subsistence Economy and Other Artifacts of a Preceramic Maritime Chiefdom. PhD dissertation, Harvard Univ (1980). 7. Feldman, R. in Civilization in the Ancient Americas (eds Leventhal, R. & Kolata, A.) 289310 (Univ. New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1983). 8. Zechenter, E. Subsistence Strategies in the Supe Valley of the Peruvian Central Coast During the Complex Preceramic and Initial Periods. PhD dissertation, UCLA (1988). 9. Shady, R. & Leyva, C. (eds) La Ciudad Sagrada de Caral-Supe: Los Origines de la Civilizacion Andina y la formacion del Estado Prstino en el Antiguo Peru (Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Lima, Lima, 2003). 10. Shady, R., Haas, J. & Creamer, W. Dating Caral, a preceramic urban center in the Supe Valley on the central coast of Peru. Science 292, 723726 (2001). 11. Haas, J. & Creamer, W. Amplifying importance of new research in Peru, response. Science 294, 1652 (2001). 12. Williams, C. in Early Ceremonial Architecture in the Andes (ed. Donnan, C.) 227240 (Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, 1985). 13. Vega Centeno, R., Villacorta, L. F., Caceres, L. E. & Marcone, G. Arquitectura monumental temprana en el valle medio de Fortaleza. Bol. Arqueol. 2, 219238 (1998). 14. Williams, C. La difusion de los pozos ceremoniales en la costa peruana. Apuntes 1, 19 (1972). 15. Haas, J. & Creamer, W. in Andean Archaeology (ed. Silverman, H.) 3550 (Blackwell, Oxford, 2004). 16. Stuiver, M. & Reimer, P. J. Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, 215230 (1993). 17. Stuiver, M. et al. INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 240000 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, 10411083 (1998).

Methodology
Survey areas and site sampling
The Pativilca Valley extends 35 km from the coast until it narrows markedly to enter the foothills of the Andes. Today, there are approximately 140 km2 of land under irrigation. At the mouth of the valley it is hard to distinguish the arable land of Pativilca from that of Supe and Fortaleza, because the three share a common coastal plain. The Pativilca Valley has never been systematically surveyed, and there have been only limited, unpublished excavations at a small number of sites. The Fortaleza Valley extends 46 km from its mouth at the Pacic shoreline to the town of Chasquitambo where it narrows to enter the foothills of the Andes. Approximately 115 km2 of land are under irrigated elds today. In 1996 an archaeological survey of the middle portion of the Fortaleza Valley oor, between 20 and 1,600 m above sea level, was conducted in conjunction with construction of a power line13. None of the sites recorded on this survey were immediately recognized as belonging to the Late Archaic period. Reconnaissance in 2000, 2001 and 2002 revealed nine sites in the Pativilca Valley and eight sites in the Fortaleza Valley with all the hallmarks of the Late Archaic: monumental architecture, circular plazas, residential architecture and incidental surface ceramics. To obtain dates from the sites that appeared to belong to the Late Archaic and to assess their overall chronological placement, test excavations were conducted at seven of the nine in Pativilca and six of the eight sites in Fortaleza. Two strategies were used to obtain radiocarbon samples at the sites: excavation of 1 m 2 m test units placed in areas of stratied refuse; clearing exposed proles left by previous construction projects and looting activities. The latter allowed for the extraction of radiocarbon samples in the interior and earlier construction phases of platform mounds and other architectural features. In all these cases, modern surfaces were completely removed to expose undisturbed, in situ deposits to ensure that the samples were not contaminated.

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on www.nature.com/nature. Acknowledgements Research for this project was supported by the National Science Foundation, the California Community Trust, The Field Museum, and the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, Northern Illinois University. We thank the Instituto Nacional de Cultura of Lima, Peru and the municipalities of Pativilca, Paramonga and Barranca. Competing interests statement The authors declare that they have no competing nancial interests. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.H. (jhaas@eldmuseum.org).

Radiocarbon dates and calibration

Dates in this paper are given in calibrated calendar dates derived from the Calib 4.4


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* These authors contributed equally to this work .............................................................................................................................................................................

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Radiocarbon dates and calibration

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