Avian Remains from Khonkho Wankane, an Urban and Ceremonial Center in the Southern Lake Titicaca Altiplano

Climate is a fundamental and independent variable of human existence. Given that 50 percent of the Earth’s surface and much of its population exist between 30oN and 30oS, paleoenvironmental research in the Earth’s tropical regions is vital to our understanding of the world’s current and past climate change. Most of the solar energy that drives the climate system is absorbed in these regions. Paleoclimate records reveal that tropical processes, such as variations in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), have affected the climate over much of the planet. Climatic variations, particularly in precipitation and temperature, play a critical role in the adaptations of agrarian cultures located in zones of environmental sensitivity, such as those of the coastal deserts, highlands, and altiplano of the Andean region. Paleoclimate records from the Quelccaya ice cap (5670 masl) in highland Peru that extend back ~1800 years show good correlation between precipitation and the rise and fall of pre-Hispanic civilizations in western Peru and Bolivia. Sediment cores extracted from Lake Titicaca provide independent evidence of this correspondence with particular reference to the history of the pre-Hispanic Tiwanaku state centered in the Andean altiplano. Here we explore, in particular, the impacts of climate change on the development and ultimate dissolution of this altiplano state.

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The Rise and Fall of Wiñaymarka: Rethinking Cultural and Environmental Interactions in the Southern Basin of Lake Titicaca

Human Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10745-021-00222-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 131-145

Author(s):

Maria C. Bruno ◽

José M. Capriles ◽

Christine A. Hastorf ◽

Sherilyn C. Fritz ◽

D. Marie Weide ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lake Titicaca ◽

Southern Basin ◽

Environmental Interactions

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The Percy Sladen Expedition to Lake Titicaca, 1937: Discussion

Geographical Journal ◽

10.2307/1787416 ◽

1938 ◽

Vol 91 (6) ◽

pp. 539

Author(s):

William Goodenough ◽

Mr. Crawford ◽

Mr. Morris ◽

Dr. Clarke

Keyword(s):

Lake Titicaca

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Climate Variation and the Rise and Fall of an Andean Civilization

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1006/qres.1997.1882 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 235-248 ◽

Cited By ~ 207

Author(s):

Michael W. Binford ◽

Alan L. Kolata ◽

Mark Brenner ◽

John W. Janusek ◽

Matthew T. Seddon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Production ◽

Climate Changes ◽

Drainage Basin ◽

Sediment Cores ◽

Agricultural Field ◽

Lake Levels ◽

Level Variation ◽

Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽

Lake Titicaca ◽

Basin Water

Paleolimnological and archaeological records that span 3500 years from Lake Titicaca and the surrounding Bolivian–Peruvian altiplano demonstrate that the emergence of agriculture (ca. 1500 B.C.) and the collapse of the Tiwanaku civilization (ca. A.D. 1100) coincided with periods of abrupt, profound climate change. The timing and magnitude of climate changes are inferred from stratigraphic evidence of lake-level variation recorded in14C-dated lake-sediment cores. Paleo-lake levels provide estimates of drainage basin water balance. Archaeological evidence establishes spatial and temporal patterns of agricultural field use and abandonment. Prior to 1500 B.C., aridity in the altiplano precluded intensive agriculture. During a wetter period from 1500 B.C. to A.D. 1100, the Tiwanaku civilization and its immediate predecessors developed specialized agricultural methods that stimulated population growth and sustained large human settlements. A prolonged drier period (ca. A.D. 1100–1400) caused declining agricultural production, field abandonment, and cultural collapse.

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