Maritime Peoples of the Western Andes

Maritime adaptation on the Pacific coast of the Central Andes started as early as the peopling of this region during the terminal Pleistocene. Several archaeological sites between Ecuador and Chile show an early colonization of the western central Andes by well-adapted foraging groups. These initial coastal establishments led to more diversified settlement patterns, complex subsistence economies, and dynamic social interactions during the early Holocene. All the available archaeological evidence must be understood within the changing climatic and environmental context that characterized the western central Andes throughout this time. In particular, studying the nature of interactions between El Niño and maritime communities of the Central Andes is key to understanding the development of specialized economies, more permanent settlements, population growth, social resilience, and the development of social complexity.