JASREP-00472; No of Pages 7

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep

Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the
Ring Site, southern Perú
Elizabeth J. Reitz a,⁎, Heather E. McInnis b, Daniel H. Sandweiss c, Susan D. deFrance d
a
Georgia Museum of Natural History, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
b
Research Competitiveness Program, Center for Science, Policy and Society Programs, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, DC, USA
c
Department of Anthropology and Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
d
Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Much of the discussion regarding the peopling of the Americas during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early
Received 28 May 2015 Holocene is focussed on advocating either a terrestrial route through an ice-free corridor or a coastal route
Received in revised form 13 May 2016 along the Pacific rim. Central to this question is the potential of marine resources to sustain human endeavours.
Accepted 16 May 2016
A growing body of archaeological data from the eastern Pacific rim shows that people did use marine resources as
Available online xxxx
they moved south through the hemisphere and that they took advantage of the opportunities and challenges of
Keywords:
coastal life in a wide range of different habitats. This is particularly evident in the vertebrate remains recovered
Terminal Pleistocene from two shell deposits on the southern coast of Perú: Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site. Jaguay is one of the
Early Holocene earliest known Terminal Pleistocene coastal sites in the hemisphere and the Ring Site was occupied during the
Southern Perú Early Holocene. The sites are located within ca. 120 km of one another. Together, they document both the
Zooarchaeology antiquity and the persistence of maritime strategies in southern Perú. At Jaguay the focus was on two fishes
Fishing strategies from a relatively high trophic level. The catch at the Ring Site was richer, more diverse, and drawn from a broader
Trophic level range of trophic levels. These data join a growing body of evidence demonstrating that discussions about the
Diversity
peopling of the Americas that presume marine resources were inferior to terrestrial ones, that propose simple
Quebrada Jaguay
models assuming a uniform, homogeneous “coastal” strategy prevailed, or that evaluate data in terms of stark
The Ring Site
dichotomies such as hunting versus fishing, simple versus complex, inland versus coastal, and mobility versus
sedentism, fail to capture the richness of human solutions to life on this, or any, coast.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction temporarily occupied as part of an inland/coastal seasonal round; ex-

Louis Binford (1968) was neither the first, nor the last, archaeologist
to underestimate the potential of coastal resources to support complex
sedentary communities and to overestimate the necessity of both ter-
restrial game and farming for a society to flourish. Decades later much
of the archaeological research in coastal regions of the world continues
to be either based on assumptions voiced by Binford or responses to
them (e.g., Bicho et al., 2011; Des Lauriers, 2006; Dillehay, 2000;
Erlandson, 2015; Erlandson and Fitzpatrick, 2006; Erlandson and Jew,
2009; Erlandson et al., 2008; Fitzpatrick et al., 2015; Mitchell et al.,
2015; Moss, 2012, among others). These assumptions might be
paraphrased as: most people did not use coastal resources; human pop-
ulations using coastal resources were small and mobile because coastal
resources were unproductive; coastal sites were extractive camps
⁎ Corresponding author at: Georgia Museum of Natural History, 101 Cedar Street,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-1882, USA.
E-mail addresses: ereitz@uga.edu (E.J. Reitz), hmcinnis@aaas.org (H.E. McInnis),
Dan_Sandweiss@umit.maine.edu (D.H. Sandweiss), sdef@mail.ufl.edu (S.D. deFrance).
tractive technologies were simple and required little skill or knowledge;
the most valued coastal resources were salt and mollusc shells; hunting,
and eventually farming, were superior subsistence pursuits.
In the Americas, the assumption that coastal resources could not
support human life year-round over decades or centuries is particularly
obvious in debates about the timing, processes, and consequences of
human dispersal and migration into the Americas as the Pleistocene
drew to a close. This debate focusses on immigration routes into North
America: broadly considered in terms of either a terrestrial route
through an unglaciated, ice-free corridor in the Northern Hemisphere
or a coastal route along the Pacific Rim (e.g., Davis, 2011; Fitzpatrick et
al., 2015). Until very recently it was assumed that people could not
move south of Beringia until continental glaciers retreated sufficiently
for the rest of the hemisphere to be accessed. This made occupations
older than ca. 10,000 BP, particularly those from sites in Central and
South America, difficult to explain.
Improved dating techniques, the sheer volume of early coastal sites
throughout the Americas, and mounting evidence for early sedentism,
long-distance trade, and other signs of social complexity now support

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035
2352-409X/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Reitz, E.J., et al., Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site,
southern Perú, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035
2 E.J. Reitz et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

the existence of an early Pacific coastal route into the Americas. The
coastal route has gained popularity in part because of the accumulating
number of Terminal Pleistocene dates from coastal North and South
America, despite the likelihood that many early coast sites have been
lost to post-glacial sea level rise. Although the growing number of Late
Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites known for the eastern Pacific rim
is compelling evidence that this coastal route did exist, it remains
relatively small by comparison to early sites from other continents
(e.g., Bicho et al., 2011; Davis, 2011). Information about the extent and
age of this coastal route is difficult to acquire due largely to eustatic
sea level rise, tectonic instability, other geomorphic processes, and
related environmental dynamics which changed climates and
paleoshorelines. Some of these likely changed the resources available
at specific locations. The earliest known sites in the Americas are not
proof of an even earlier coastal immigration, but they are highly sugges-
tive largely because of the variety and complexity of the human choices
recorded in the zooarchaeological record, even though some still argue
that coastal economies did not develop until after 10,000 BP (e.g.,
Dillehay, 2000:155).
Two sites in particular often figure in these discussions: Quebrada
Jaguay and the Ring Site (e.g., Davis, 2011). Vertebrate data from these
sites demonstrate that economies there were based on maritime strate-
gies, but that slightly different strategies were practised at each despite
their proximity to one another and access to similar resources. People at
these two sites made distinct economic decisions, using similar marine
resources in dissimilar ways. These differences are observed in the
persistent and overwhelming dominance of different suites of marine
vertebrates at the two sites; the habitat preferences of the vertebrates
commonly exploited at each site; the richness, diversity, equitability,
Fig. 1. Map of study area.
and trophic levels of animals in both assemblages; and the capture
methods used. These data document the antiquity, skill, and persistence
of two different maritime strategies that supported human populations
in southern Perú. This interpretation moves past whether coastal and provide further evidence of the many different ways resources
resources were adequate to support human life, to consider the variety were used in southern Perú from the Terminal Pleistocene into the Ho-
of ways in which people took advantage of the opportunities and met locene, a regional comparison elaborated upon elsewhere (Reitz et al.,
the challenges of coastal life. 2015).
Sector II at Jaguay was excavated under the supervision of Sandweiss
2. Site descriptions and excavation methods in 1996 and 1999 (for details of the site and the excavation see McInnis
[1999] and Sandweiss et al. [1998]). Terminal Pleistocene deposits exca-
Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site are vertically and horizontally vated in 1999 are separated into earlier (Level 2c) and later deposits
stratified shell deposits forming an occupational continuum from the (Level 1/2) by a thin, indurated layer (Level 2b) cemented by halite
Terminal Pleistocene into the Early Holocene (Table 1; McInnis, 1999; (Andrus et al., 2000). The induration layer is confined to the archaeolog-
Sandweiss et al., 1989, 1998). The sites are located ca. 120 km apart ical site and appears to be of human origin. It may be associated with salt
on the southern coast of Perú (Fig. 1). Both sites probably were within water, such as might accumulate when fish and other seafood is proc-
less than 7 km of the shoreline when they were occupied though the essed. In the following discussion, vertebrates recovered from above
exact distance is unknown. Today, similar suites of coastal vertebrates the induration layer are referred to as “post-induration” and those
are accessible from both sites, though the sites differ in their proximity from the induration layer itself and the strata below it are referred to
to the modern coast and probably did so in the past as well. The Ring as “pre-induration.” Terminal Pleistocene deposits in Sector II contain
Site is ca. 23 km north of Quebrada Tacahuay (deposit dates, 12,850– evidence of domestic structures. Obsidian recovered from the site
12,130 cal yr BP; deFrance, 2005; deFrance et al., 2009) and ca. 53 km originated in the Andean highlands some 130 to 150 km to the east
north of Quebrada de los Burros (deposit dates; 7735–7195 cal yr BP, (Rademaker et al., 2013). Vertebrate remains from Jaguay are so poorly
Béarez, 2012). These two sites are well-known to zooarchaeologists preserved that otherwise durable drum (Sciaenidae) otoliths break

Table 1
Summary of sites.

Site Deposit, cal yr BP Screen Size

Quebrada Jaguay (QJ-280), Sector II

T. Pleistocene post-induration (Levels 1/2) 11,706–10,248 1.7 mm
T. Pleistocene pre-induration/induration (Levels 2b, 2c) 13,145–11,188 1.7 mm

Ring Site (Unit C1̄)

Levels 3b–5 (middle Holocene) ca. 8200–7500 6.35 mm
Levels 6–12 (early Holocene) ca. 9400–8200 6.35 mm
Levels 13–14 (T. Pleistocene/Holocene boundary) ca. 11,700–9400 6.35 mm

Jaguay dates are from Jones (2009). Ring Site dates are from Sandweiss et al. (1989; see Sandweiss [2003]). Calibrations run with Calib 5.0 (Hughen et al., 2004; McCormac et al., 2004;
Reimer et al., 2004; Stuiver and Reimer, 1993). The deposit dates are for the contexts discussed in this paper; the full occupational dates for these sites are available in Jones (2009);
Sandweiss et al. (1989), and Reitz et al. (2015). Ring Site dates for each analytical group do not precisely correlate with the groups used in this study.

Please cite this article as: Reitz, E.J., et al., Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site,
southern Perú, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035
 E.J. Reitz et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 3

apart when handled and other vertebrate remains are in equally poor
condition.
The Ring Site was excavated under the supervision of Sandweiss in
1983, 1985, and 1987 (for details of the site and the excavation see
Sandweiss et al. [1989]). This deeply stratified shell midden was topped
by shells late in the occupational sequence to form a ring ca. 26 m in
diameter and at least 2.5 m high. Vertebrate data are from Unit C-1, a
1-x-1-m unit excavated in 1985 in 15 natural strata to a depth of
230 cm into sterile. In order to summarize general diachronic trends
from the Terminal Pleistocene to middle Holocene, we rely on the
unusually clear stratigraphy in Unit C-1 to summarize the data using
four analytical groups (Table 1). These four analytical groups define a
relative sequence for fishing over time even though they are only
roughly associated with radiometric dates. No living floors, postmolds,
or other domestic features were encountered and lithic artefacts are
made from local materials (deFrance, 2005, 2008, 2009; deFrance et
al., 2009; Keefer et al., 1998).
Jaguay was excavated using 1.7 mm meshed screen whereas the
Ring Site materials reported here were excavated using a 6.35 mm
meshed screen (Table 1). This difference in recovery method may
diminish evidence for the use of anchovies (Engraulidae), herrings
(Clupeidae), and similar-sized fishes at the Ring Site. As demonstrated
by data from nearby Quebrada Tacahuay, anchovies can be abundant
in samples recovered with fine-meshed screens (deFrance, 2005) and
deFrance has observed anchovies in as-yet unstudied Ring Site soil sam-
ples. On the other hand, less than 1% of the fish individuals in the Jaguay
assemblage are anchovies despite the fine-gauge mesh used to recover
those materials (Reitz et al., 2016).
3. Zooarchaeology methods
Zooarchaeological methods are described in detail elsewhere (Reitz,
2001, 2003, 2004; Reitz et al., 2015; Reitz et al., 2009; Reitz and
Sandweiss, 2001; Reitz and Wing, 2008). Species lists for each site are
available in McInnis (1999), Sandweiss et al. (1989), and Reitz et al.
(2016) Differences in site formation processes, recovery methods, and
sample sizes advocate for conservative interpretations of these data.
The extent to which the materials reported here represent all of the ac-
tivities that occurred at either site is unknown. The recovery differences
and the biases inherent in these samples argue against statistical tests of
significance.
Minimum Number of Individual (MNI) estimates made during the
original studies are merged here into six analytical groups. The original
Jaguay MNI estimates were made for Level 1/2 (post-induration), Level
2b (the induration layer), and Level 2c (pre-induration). MNI estimates
for Levels 2b and 2c are combined into a single analytical group here be-
cause Level 2b is interpreted as the living floor for Level 2c when the in-
duration event occurred. For the Ring Site, MNI was estimated for each
of the 15 levels; these estimates are aggregated into four analytical
groups in this study. For further details about how MNI was estimated
for each site, the reader is referred to the original studies and to Reitz
et al. (2015).
In the following discussion, the terms “taxa” and “taxon” refer to tax-
onomic groups of vertebrates that bridge formal systematic categories
such as family, genus, or species. Broad taxonomic categories distinguish
among terrestrial and marine mammals, birds, and fishes. Many of the
mammals and birds could be taken from either coastal waters or the
adjacent shoreline, others, however, were more likely taken from
exclusively terrestrial settings. Likewise, habitat preferences of marine
vertebrates are used to distinguish among marine mammals, birds, and
fishes that typically are found in either cool-temperate waters or
warm-temperate waters. Vertebrates typical of cool-temperate waters
and/or the Peru Current often are very common in Peruvian faunal
collections, whereas animals typical of warm-temperate waters usually
are minor components of such collections. In some cases, a taxon cannot
be assigned to a habitat preference either because the animal ranges too
widely or because the archaeological specimen(s) are attributed to a tax-
onomic level that is too broad for a classification. These are considered
mixed-habitat forms. For information about specific animals in these
categories, the reader is referred to Reitz et al. (2015):Table 2).
Richness, marine diversity, and marine equitability also contribute
to the study. Richness is defined as the number of vertebrate taxa for
which MNI is estimated in each analytical group. Marine richness refers
to the number of taxa incorporated into estimates of marine diversity
and equitability. Marine diversity and equitability are estimated using
MNI for marine mammals and fishes. Diversity is estimated using the
Shannon-Weaver Index (Shannon and Weaver, 1949:14). The formula
used to estimate diversity is: H′ = −Σ (pi) (loge pi) where pi is the num-
ber of ith species divided by the sample size. Pi is actually the evenness
component because the Shannon-Weaver Index measures both the
number of species used and how much each was used. Equitability is
estimated using the formula: V = H′/loge S where H′ is the Diversity
Index and loge S is the natural log of the number of observed species
(Sheldon, 1969).
Mean trophic level (TL) and the range of trophic levels exploited (TL
range) is estimated using fisheries data from Froese and Pauly (1998)
and archaeological estimates of MNI for pinnipeds and fishes. Trophic
level values are not available for birds. The formula: TLi = ∑ (TLij)
(MNIij)/∑ MNIi solves for the mean trophic level for the time period
(TLi). The trophic level (TLij) of each taxon (j) for the time period (i) is

Table 2
Classification of Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) in terms of habitat preferences.

Categories QJ-pre QJ-pre QJ-post QJ-post L 9–14 L 9–14 L8 L8 L7 L7 L 3b–6 L 3b–6

MNI MNI% MNI MNI% MNI MNI% MNI MNI% MNI MNI% MNI MNI%

Mammals
Terrestrial 6 5.8 33 22.1 1 0.8 1 1.0 – – 2 1.6
Marine – – – – 5 4.1 4 4.1 5 5.4 2 1.6
Birds – – 1 0.7 42 34.1 50 51.0 22 23.9 9 7.3
Fishes 98 94.2 115 77.2 75 61.0 43 43.9 65 70.7 110 89.4
Total 104 149 123 100 98 92 123
Marine habitats
Cool waters 97 93.3 113 75.8 73 59.3 59 60.2 72 78.3 93 75.6
Warm waters – – 1 0.7 6 4.9 – – 2 2.2 3 2.4
Mixed waters 1 1.0 1 0.7 41 33.3 38 38.8 18 19.6 25 20.3
Terrestrial & mixed Habitats 6 5.8 34 22.8 3 2.4 1 1.0 – – 2 1.6
Total 104 149 123 98 92 123

Key to abbreviation: MNI, Minimum Number of Individuals. Collections are arranged in rough chronological order (Table 1). Jaguay is divided into pre-induration/induration levels (QJ-pre)
and post-induration levels (QJ-post). Ring Site levels are subdivided into four analytical groups, with Levels 9–14 the oldest and Levels 3b - 6 the most recent. None of the vertebrates sum-
marized here is exclusively found in the habitat to which it is assigned. By and large, vertebrates classified as preferring cool waters are those typical of the Peruvian Current; warm-water
vertebrates are those more typical of warmer conditions. Mixed-habitat vertebrates are either extremely widespread or the taxonomic attribution is not sufficiently detailed to assign those
individuals to a category. See Reitz et al. (2015):Table 2) for a list of the vertebrates summarized here and their habitat classifications.

Please cite this article as: Reitz, E.J., et al., Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site,
southern Perú, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035
4 E.J. Reitz et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
multiplied by the estimated MNIij of the taxon (j) for the time period (i).
The sum of these products is divided by the summed MNI for the time
period (MNIi). This formula estimates the mean trophic level for each
analytical group. This same formula also can be used to estimate the
relative contribution of each individual trophic level.
Capture methods are inferred from estimates of fish body sizes. Fishes
with adult body size of less than ca. 250 mm today are considered small-
bodied; large-bodied fishes are those whose present-day adult body
size is generally larger than 250 mm (see Reitz et al. [2015:Table 2]
for specific classifications). Some individual members of the fishes clas-
sified as large-bodied may have been young enough to fall within the
small-bodied range. Without measurements and body size estimates
for all of the fish individuals in these two assemblages, it is not possible
to specify which individuals were large or small. It is unlikely that many
individuals of inherently small-bodied fishes were larger than 250 mm,
however, though not impossible given the limitations of ecological
analogies.
4. Results
Differences in site formation processes, excavation methods, sample
sizes, and analytical approaches underlie data from these two sites and
urge caution in evaluating the results. The dominance of drums in the
Jaguay assemblage may be due to site formation processes favouring
the preservation of otoliths, though this cannot be verified. All multi-
site syntheses encounter similar biases, requiring researchers to balance
the quality of their data against the validity of their interpretations.
Some aspects of these two assemblages are of interest despite these
issues.
4.1. Terrestrial versus marine resource use
There is no evidence of a Terminal Pleistocene terrestrial hunting
strategy being transformed into an Early Holocene fishing strategy
(Table 2). Instead we see several millennia during which a maritime
focus persisted, albeit with variations in the types of marine resources
used. Marine vertebrates dominate all of the analytical groups. The
Jaguay assemblage consists of fish and very little else, whereas the
Ring Site assemblage contains the remains of a wider variety of marine
vertebrates likely taken from several different habitats. The percentages
of fish individuals in the Ring Site assemblage reflect the abundance of
cormorants (Leucocarbo spp. or Phalacrocorax spp.). Neither terrestrial
nor marine mammals are abundant in these assemblages. Terrestrial
mammals are exclusively small New World rodents (Sigmodontinae).
The apparent abundance of terrestrial vertebrates in the Jaguay post-in-
duration layer is largely due to the abundance of small rodents in Fea-
ture 68 (NISP = 321). These small rodent bones suggest that the
absence of evidence for terrestrial hunting of larger animals is unlikely
to be due to preservation. No marine mammals are present in the Jaguay
assemblage though pinnipeds (probably eared seals [Otariidae]) and
Table 3
Characteristics of analytical groups.
Site and analytical group NISP MNI Total richness Marine richness
T. Pleistocene pre-induration/induration 352 104 4 3
T. Pleistocene post-induration 984 149 8 6
Ring Site (Unit C-1)
Levels 9–14 2632 123 27 18
Level 8 2521 98 22 14
Level 7 4972 92 21 16
Levels 3b–6 2910 123 25 21
Key to abbreviations: NISP, Number of Identified Specimens for the entire analytical group, including specimens attributed to Indeterminate Vertebrate; MNI, Minimum Number of
Individuals; Marine TL, mean marine trophic level. Marine richness, Marine TL, TL Range, Marine Diversity, and Marine Equitability all are based on MNI. Collections are arranged in
rough chronological order (Table 1). See Reitz et al. (2015):Table 2) for a list of the vertebrates summarized here, their TL classifications, and a discussion of the methods used to estimate
MNI, trophic levels, diversity, and equitability.
Please cite this article as: Reitz, E.J., et al., Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site,
southern Perú, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035
marine otters (Lontra felina) are present in small numbers in the Ring
Site assemblage.
Birds are very rare in the Jaguay assemblage and common in the
Ring Site assemblage. All of the birds in the Ring Site assemblage are
associated with the sea, with the exception of a single chachalaca
(cf. Cracidae) individual in Level 11. Cormorants contribute 22% of the
individuals in Levels 9–14 at the Ring Site and 33% of the individuals
in Level 8. They decline in the later analytical groups (11% of MNI in
Level 7 and 5% of MNI in Levels 3b–6) as lornas (Sciaenidae: Sciaena
deliciosa) and corvinas (Sciaenidae: Cilus [Sciaena] gilberti) increase.
Fishes dominate both assemblages, with the exception of Level 8 at
the Ring Site. The Jaguay assemblage consists almost exclusively of
two members of the drum family: lornas and corvinas. These two
members of the drum family constitute 99% of the pre-induration fish
individuals and 96% of the post-induration fish individuals. Lornas and
corvinas also are the dominant fishes in the Ring Site assemblage,
increasing over time from 39% of the fish individuals in Levels 9–14, to
44% of the individuals in Level 8, 41% of the individuals in Level 7, and
65% of the individuals in Levels 3b–6. Lornas are more abundant than
corvinas in every analytical group.
4.2. Water conditions
Despite changes in shoreline configurations, water temperatures,
and climate that likely occurred during the study period, the dominant
vertebrates in all six analytical groups consistently are vertebrates
preferring cool-temperate waters (Table 2). Although fishes more
typical of cool-temperate conditions dominate all of the analytical
groups, mixed-water vertebrates are more abundant in the Ring Site
assemblage than in the Jaguay assemblage. The lower percentage of
cool-temperate individuals in the post-induration Jaguay analytical
group is associated with the abundance of small rodents in Feature 68.
Mixed-water conditions are prominent in the Ring Site largely, but not
entirely, because of the high number of cormorants. These cormorants
were probably members of the typical cool-temperate Peruvian coastal
avifauna, even though the taxonomic attribution is inadequate to
demonstrate that.
4.3. Richness, diversity, and trophic levels
The Sector II data suggest that the economy at Jaguay was much
more specialized than at the Ring Site, as represented by Unit C-1. As a
general rule, richness is associated with sample size (Table 3). Nonethe-
less, the two Jaguay analytical groups, which are small in terms of NISP,
contain the remains of many individuals though few taxa. The Ring Site
analytical groups, which are much larger in terms of NISP, are similar in
terms of MNI, but contain many more taxa.
The greatest contrast between the two assemblages is in marine
diversity. Marine diversity in the Jaguay assemblage is remarkably
low, especially when compared to the Ring Site. The 3% decline in
lorna and corvina individuals in the Jaguay assemblage through time,
Marine TL TL range Marine diversity Marine equitability
3.499 3.4–3.5 0.642 0.585
3.483 2.2–3.5 0.726 0.404
3.508 3.2–4.0 2.479 0.858
3.451 3.2–3.6 2.321 0.879
3.497 3.2–4.0 2.331 0.841
3.469 2.6–3.9 1.968 0.646
 E.J. Reitz et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
accompanied by an increase in richness, explains the higher diversity in
the post-induration collection. All Ring Site analytical groups are richer
than those from Jaguay. The decline in marine diversity at the end of the
Ring Site sequence reflects the increase in lornas and corvinas summa-
rized in Subsection 4.1.
People at Jaguay and the Ring Site also targeted a different range of
trophic levels. People at Jaguay specialized in lornas and corvinas,
which broadly feed at trophic level 3.5. The key difference between
the pre-induration and the post-induration analytical groups is that
one fish taxon (and one fish individual) from a trophic level below 3.5
is present in the pre-induration group compared to four fish taxa (also
four individuals) from lower trophic levels in the post-induration
group. The strategy practised at the Ring Site took fish from a wider
range of trophic levels, including higher trophic levels. Over time, the
strategy at the Ring Site shifted away from heavy use of pinnipeds and
high-trophic-level fishes to include fewer pinnipeds and more lower-
trophic-level fishes. This shift also is evident in reduced equitability as
lornas and corvinas came to dominant Levels 3b–6. The lower mean
trophic levels in Level 8 and Levels 3b–6 are both associated with
substantial reductions in the use of fishes from trophic levels above
3.5, an increase in the use of fishes below 3.5, and lower marine
diversity.
4.4. Capture methods
Little direct evidence for capture technology is available from these
sites. Small cordage was recovered from an Early Holocene component
at Jaguay, but no evidence of technology was associated with the Sector
II vertebrates summarized here. Some shells recovered from the Ring
Site had holes caused by percussion and might have been net weights.
Other bone and shell objects are similar to barbs from compound
hooks/gorges found in Early Holocene shell middens on the north
coast of Chile (Bird, 1943). Much can be inferred about capture technol-
ogy, however, from the habitat preferences of vertebrates used, the
possible size range of the fishes used, and the trophic levels exploited.
This information suggests that several different capture techniques
were used.
Most of the catch at Jaguay consisted of small-bodied lornas suscep-
tible to mass-capture devices such as nets. Some of the fishes, however,
were potentially large fishes captured using gear such as hooks, gorges,
leisters, or other individual-capture technologies. The induration layer
may be evidence that fishes, particularly lornas, were commodities
processed for transport elsewhere, perhaps in exchange for obsidian
from the Andean highlands.
The richness of the Ring Site assemblage, the higher diversity, and
the wide range of trophic levels suggest several different capture
techniques were deployed in several different locations to capture
many different types of mammals, birds, and fishes. Fewer of the Ring
Site fishes might be considered small-bodied, mass-captured taxa,
though this number likely would be higher if the fine-screened samples
were studied. Although small-bodied lornas are the most abundant fish
in all four of the Ring Site analytical groups, they are not as abundant as
they are in the two Jaguay analytical groups. Although the strategy at
the Ring Site varied over time, the marine focus persisted.
5. Discussion and conclusion
These sites do not provide clear evidence for an exclusively coastal
route or a highland route (and it seems unlikely that there was a single
route). Many of the earliest sites are presumed lost to sea level rise and
other coastal phenomena; Late Pleistocene sites are rare and likely to
remain so. But Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site are examples of the
antiquity, diversity, and permanence that might be expected of such
early coastal occupations.
In terms of Binford's perspective on coastal life, these data clearly
show that people used coastal resources almost exclusively for a very
Please cite this article as: Reitz, E.J., et al., Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site,
southern Perú, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035
5
long period of time, from which we may infer that these resources
were considered productive and adequate to sustain life. Data are
unavailable to demonstrate that these were permanently occupied
sites or to suggest the number of people living at each location; both
of which are key ingredients to determining the role of these sites in a
regional social and economic network, though both sites suggest long-
term residence if not actual year-round settlements. The variety of
fishes represented demonstrates that several different extractive
technologies were used; the men and women who fished undoubtedly
relied on their skill and local knowledge to survive the hazards of life at
sea. The sites were undoubtedly used for more than collecting salt and
molluscs, but they offer no evidence that hunting terrestrial animals
was an important activity at either site. Rather, fishing was the principal
economic activity at both sites.
A core fishery persisted over millennia at both of these sites, and
more than one fishing technology was used in both locations. Variations
within the two assemblages raises the possibility that similar marine
resources were used in dissimilar ways due to distinct economic
decisions and social ties influencing the choices people made about
which resources to use, when, and how. Targeting fish that could be
captured in large numbers, preserved, and transported may have been
a significant economic motivation at Jaguay, which has multiple lines
of evidence for contact with the Andean highlands (Sandweiss, 2009).
The economic activities at the Ring Site yielded a vertebrate assemblage
that was richer and more diverse, perhaps designed to produce goods
for local use or consumption; the Ring Site has no evidence of contact
with the interior, nor does the nearby site of Tacahuay (Sandweiss et
al., 1989; deFrance et al., 2001).
Some of the differences between and within these assemblages may
be explained by site formation processes, excavation methods, sample
sizes, and analytical methods. Alternative explanations for these
differences also include anthropogenic (e.g., resource depression) and
non-anthropogenic (e.g., climate change) events. In particular, changes
in regional and local conditions such as sea level and shoreline configu-
rations, short-term shifts in water temperatures, and El Niño/Southern
Oscillation (ENSO) likely did alter behaviours at these two sites as
well as within the region, at least occasionally for relatively brief periods
of time. The apparent persistence at these two sites of lornas and cor-
vinas over millennia of use, however, suggests that the overall resource
base and fishing strategy accommodated such events.
The details of vertebrate remains from Jaguay and the Ring Site dem-
onstrate that people lived on this coast and used coastal resources long
before modern climatic regimes were established, and persisted in
doing so. They add to the growing body of evidence documenting the
extent to which coastal resources sustained human endeavours along
the eastern Pacific rim, an observation made by many others for Perú
and Chile (e.g., Ballester et al., 2012; Béarez, 2000, 2012; Béarez et al.,
2015; deFrance, 2009; deFrance et al. 2009; deFrance et al., 2001;
Fantle, 2003; Jackson et al., 2012; Jackson et al., 2007; Keefer et al.,
1998; Lavallée et al., 2011; Llagostera Martinez, 1979; Llagostera
Martinez, 1992; McInnis, 2006; Plourde, 1998; Reitz et al., 2008; Reitz
et al., 2015; Reitz and Sandweiss, 2001; Sandweiss, 2003, 2009;
Sandweiss et al., 1998; Sandweiss et al., 1989; Wing and Reitz, 1982),
though still debated by others (e.g., Dillehay, 2000:155; Dillehay et al.,
2008). As a group, these sites indicate that people took advantage of
the opportunities and challenges of coastal life in a wide range of
habitats using a variety of strategies. Such strategies were in place by
ca. 13,145 cal yr BP, if not earlier, and persisted for millennia.
More importantly, the temporal sequence offered by Quebrada
Jaguay and the Ring Site shows that discussions of the peopling of the
Americas need to consider the possibility that many different strategies
were practised even at early coastal sites relatively close in space and
time. These data join a growing body of evidence demonstrating that
discussions about the peopling of the Americas based on a simple
model that presumes a single “coastal” strategy or that rely on stark
dichotomies such as hunting versus fishing, simple versus complex,
6 E.J. Reitz et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
inland versus coastal, and mobility versus sedentism, fail to capture the
richness of human solutions to life on this, or any, coast. These data
suggest that simplistic models of maritime behaviour do not do justice
to the complexity of early coastal fishing strategies. As these data show,
there is more than one way to catch a fish and enjoy life by the sea.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge James B. Richardson, III for his support of
this research and the contributions made by Kristin Sobolik and David
Sanger to McInnis's master's research. We are grateful to Elizabeth
S. Wing and Kitty Emery for permission to use the Environmental
Archaeology comparative collection at the Florida Museum of Natural
History and to the Museo Contisuyo for research space and use of the
comparative collection. We are grateful to C. Fred T. Andrus for informa-
tion about the induration layer at Quebrada Jaguay and to the 1987
University of Georgia Zooarchaeology class. We also appreciate the
comments of our colleagues who reviewed this manuscript. Fig. 1 was
drafted by Susan Duser and Oswaldo Chozo provided technical help at
Jaguay. Funding was provided in part by the H. John Heinz III Charitable
Trust, the M. Graham Netting and Edward O′Neal funds of the Carnegie
Museum, and the University of Pittsburgh's Central Research Develop-
ment Fund, Provost's Development Fund, and the Center for Latin
American Studies; the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute;
the Timex Corporation; and Thor Heyerdahl. An earlier version of
this paper was presented at the 12th International Conference of
Archaeozoology, San Rafael, Argentina.
References
Andrus, C.F.T., Crowe, D.E., Sandweiss, D.H., 2000. Anthropogenic induration of sediments
at the Terminal Pleistocene Peruvian site Quebrada Jaguay. Geol. Soc. Am. Meet
Program A276.
Ballester, B., Jackson, D., Carré, M., Maldonado, A., Méndez, C., Seguel, R., 2012. An Early
Holocene task camp (~8.5 ka cal BP) on the coast of the semi-arid north of Chile.
Antiquity 86, 88–98.
Béarez, P., 2000. Archaic fishing at Quebrada de los Burros, southern coast of Peru.
Reconstruction of fish size using otoliths. Archaeofauna. 9, pp. 29–34.
Béarez, P., 2012. Los peces y la pesca. In: Lavallée, D., Julien, M. (Eds.), Prehistoria de la
costa extremo-sur del Perú. Los pescadores arcaicos de la Quebrada de los Burros
(10000–7000 A.P). IFEA-PUCP, Lima, Peru, pp. 99–123.
Béarez, P., Jackson, D., Mollaret, N., 2015. Early Archaic fishing (12,600–9,200 cal yr BP) in
the semiarid north coast of Chile. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 10, 133–148.
Bicho, N.F., Haws, J.A., Davis, L.G. (Eds.), 2011. Trekking the Shore: Changing Coastlines
and the Antiquity of Coastal Settlements. Springer, New York.
Binford, L.R., 1968. Post-Pleistocene adaptations. In: Binford, S.R., Binford, L.R. (Eds.), New
Perspectives in Archaeology. Aldine, Chicago, pp. 313–341.
Bird, J.B., 1943. Excavations in northern Chile. Anthropological Papers of the American
Museum of Natural History 38, pt. IV.
Davis, L.G., 2011. The North American paleocoastal concept reconsidered. In: Bicho, N.F.,
Haws, J.A., Davis, L.G. (Eds.), Trekking the Shore: Changing Coast Lines and the
Antiquity of Coastal Settlement. Springer, New York, pp. 3–26.
deFrance, S.D., 2005. Late Pleistocene marine birds from southern Peru: distinguishing
human capture from El Niño-induced windfall. J. Archaeol. Sci. 32, 1131–1146.
deFrance, S.D., 2008. Human use of the Andean littoral during the Late Pleistocene:
Implications for social and economic behavior. In: Steinbrenner, L. (Ed.), Flowing
Through Time: Exploring Archaeology Through Humans and Their Aquatic Environ-
ment. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Chac-Mool Conference, pp. 137–147 Calgary,
Canada.
deFrance, S.D., 2009. Quebrada Tacahuay and early maritime foundations on the far
southern Peruvian coast: The 2001 field season. In: Marcus, J., Stanish, C., Williams,
P.R. (Eds.), The Foundations of Andean Civilization: Papers in Honor of Michael
EMoseley, Volume 1, Maritime Foundations: The Coastal Preceramic. Cotsen Institute
of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, pp. 55–73.
deFrance, S.D., Grayson, N., Wise, K., 2009. Documenting 12,000 years of coastal occupa-
tion on the Osmore littoral. Peru. J. Field Archeol. 34, 227–246.
deFrance, S.D., Keefer, D.K., Richardson, J.B., Umire Alvarez, A., 2001. Late Paleo-Indian
coastal foragers: specialized extractive behavior at Quebrada Tacahuay. Peru. Lat.
Am. Antiq. 12, 413–426.
Des Lauriers, M.R., 2006. Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene occupations of Isla de
Cedros, Baja California. Mexico. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 1, 255–270.
Dillehay, T.D., 2000. The Settlement of the Americas: A New Prehistory. Basic Books, New
York.
Dillehay, T.D., Ramfrez, C., Pino, M., Collins, M.B., Rossen, J., Pino-Navarro, J.D., 2008.
Monte Verde: seaweed, food, medicine, and the peopling of South America. Science
320, 784–786.
Please cite this article as: Reitz, E.J., et al., Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site,
southern Perú, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035
Erlandson, J.M., 2015. Coastal versus interior: some thoughts on the archaeology of
California's Channel Islands. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/
15564894.2015.1105886.
Erlandson, J.M., Fitzpatrick, S.M., 2006. Oceans, islands, and coasts: current perspectives
on the role of the sea in human prehistory. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 1, 5–33.
Erlandson, J.M., Jew, N., 2009. An early maritime biface technology at Daisy Cave, San
Miguel Island, California: reflections on sample size, site function, and other issues.
N. Am. Archaeol. 30 (2), 145–165.
Erlandson, J.M., Moss, M.L., Des Lauriers, M., 2008. Life on the edge: early maritime
cultures of the Pacific coast of North America. Quaternary Sci. Review 27 (23–24),
2232–2245.
Fantle, P.W., 2003. Archaic period marine mammal hunting strategies on the south coast
of Peru. Master Thesis. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Fitzpatrick, S.M., Rick, T.C., Erlandson, J.M., 2015. Recent progress, trends, and develop-
ments in island and coastal archaeology. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 10, 3–27.
Froese, R., Pauly, D. (Eds.), 1998. FishBase 98: Concepts, Design and Data Sources. The
International Center for Living Resources Management, Makati City, Philippines.
Hughen, K.A., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C., Blackwell, P.G.,
Buck, C.E., Burr, G., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich,
M., Guilderson, T.P., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S., Bronk Ramsey, C.,
Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van
der Plicht, J., Weyhenmeyer, C.E., 2004. Marine04 marine radiocarbon age calibration,
0-26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46 (3), 1059–1086.
Jackson, D., Méndez, C., Sequel, R., Maldonado, A., Vargas, G., 2007. Initial occupation
of the Pacific coast of Chile during Late Pleistocene times. Curr. Anthropol. 48,
725–731.
Jackson, D., Méndez, C., Aspillaga, E., 2012. Human remains directly dated to the
Pleistocene-Holocene transition support a maritime diet among the first settlers of
the Pacific coast of South America. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 7, 363–377.
Jones, K.B., 2009. Mollusk-shell radiocarbon as a paleoupwelling proxy in Peru. Ph.D.
Dissertation. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Keefer, D.K., deFrance, S.D., Moseley, M.E., Richardson III, J.B., Satterlee, D.R., Day-Lewis, A.,
1998. Early maritime economy and El Niño events at Quebrada Tacahuay, Peru.
Science 281, 1833–1835.
Lavallée, D., Julien, M., Béarez, P., Bolaños, A., Carré, M., Chevalier, A., Delabarde, T.,
Fontugne, M., Rodríguez-Loredo, C., Klaric, L., Usselmann, P., Vanhaeren, M., 2011.
Quebrada de los Burros. Los primeros pescadores del litoral Pacífico en el extremo
sur Peruano. 43. Chungara, Revista de Antropología Chilena, pp. 333–351.
Llagostera Martinez, A., 1979. 9,700 years of maritime subsistence on the Pacific: an anal-
ysis by means of bioindicators in the north of Chile. Am. Antiq. 44, 309–323.
Llagostera Martinez, A., 1992. Early occupations and the emergence of fishermen on the
Pacific coast of South America. Andean Past 3, 87–109.
McCormac, F.G., Hogg, A.G., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Higham, T.F.G., Reimer, P.J., 2004.
ShCal04 southern hemisphere calibration, 0–11.0 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46,
1087–1092.
McInnis, H.E., 1999. Subsistence and Maritime Adaptations at Quebrada Jaguay, Camaná,
Peru: A Faunal Analysis. Master Thesis. Institute for Quaternary Studies (now Climate
Change Institute), University of Maine, Orono.
McInnis, H.E., 2006. Middle Holocene climate and culture on the south coast of Peru:
archaeological investigation of the Pampa Colorada. Ph.D. Dissertation. Department
of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene.
Mitchell, D.R., Huckleberry, G., Rowell, K., Dettman, D.L., 2015. Coastal adaptations during
the Archaic Period in the northern Sea of Cortez. Mexico. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 10,
28–51.
Moss, M.L., 2012. Understanding variability in northwest coast faunal assemblages: be-
yond economic intensification and cultural complexity. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 7, 1–22.
Plourde, A.M., 1998. Subsistence intensification and the origins of sedentism:
Zooarchaeology of Kilometer 4, a Late Archaic period site on the south-central
Andean coast. Master Thesis. Department of Anthropology, University of California,
Los Angeles.
Rademaker, K., Glascock, M.D., Kaiser, B., Gibson, D., Lux, D.R., Yates, M.G., 2013. Multi-
technique geochemical characterization of the Alca obsidian source, Peruvian
Andes. Geology 2013, 779–782.
Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C., Blackwell, P.G., Buck,
C.E., Burr, G., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M.,
Guilderson, T.P., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S., Bronk
Ramsey, C., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor,
F.W., van der Plicht, J., Weyhenmeyer, C.E., 2004. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon
age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46, 1029–1058.
Reitz, E.J., 2001. Fishing in Peru between 10000 and 3750 BP. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 11,
163–171.
Reitz, E.J., 2003. Resource use through time at Paloma, Peru. Bull. Fla Mus. Nat. Hist. 44,
65–80.
Reitz, E.J., 2004. The use of archaeofaunal data in fish management. In: Lauwerier,
R.C.G.M., Plug, I. (Eds.), The Future from the Past. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 19–33.
Reitz, E.J., Sandweiss, D.H., 2001. Environmental change at Ostra Base Camp, a Peruvian
pre-ceramic site. J. Archaeol. Sci. 28, 1085–1100.
Reitz, E.J., Wing, E.S., 2008. Zooarchaeology. second ed. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Reitz, E.J., Andrus, C.F.T., Sandweiss, D.H., 2008. Ancient fisheries and marine ecology of
coastal Peru. In: Rick, T.C., Erlandson, J.M. (Eds.), Human Impacts on Ancient Marine
Ecosystems: A Global Perspective. University of California Press, Berkeley,
pp. 125–145.
Reitz, E.J., Quitmyer, I.R., Marrinan, R.A., 2009. What are we measuring in the
zooarchaeological record of prehispanic fishing strategies in the Georgia Bight,
USA? J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 4 (1), 2–36.
 E.J. Reitz et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 7

Reitz, E.J., deFrance, S.D., Sandweiss, D.H., McInnis, H.E., 2015. Flexibility in southern Peru
coastal economies: a vertebrate perspective on the Terminal Pleistocene/Holocene
transition. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. 10, 155–183.
Reitz, E.J., McInnis, H.E., Sandweiss, D.H., deFrance, S.D., 2016. Variations in human
adaptations during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Quebrada Jaguay
(QJ-280) and the Ring Site. Southern Perú. J. I. Coast. Archaeol. http://dx.doi.org/10.
1080/15564894.2016.1172381.
Sandweiss, D.H., 2003. Terminal Pleistocene through mid-Holocene archaeological sites
as paleoclimatic archives for the Peruvian coast. Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl. 194, 23–40.
Sandweiss, D.H., 2009. Early fishing and inland monuments: Challenging the maritime
foundations of Andean civilization? In: Marcus, J., Stanish, C., Williams, P.R. (Eds.),
Andean Civilization: Papers in Honor of Michael E. Moseley. Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology, Los Angeles, pp. 39–54
Sandweiss, D.H., Richardson III, J.B., Reitz, E.J., Hsu, J.T., Feldman, R.A., Rice, D., Stanish, C.,
Scarr, P.R., 1989. Early maritime adaptations in the Andes:Preliminary studies at the
Ring Site, Peru. Ecology, Settlement and History in the Osmore Drainage, Peru. BAR
International Series 545(I), pp. 35–84, Oxford.
Sandweiss, D.H., McInnis, H., Burger, R.L., Cano, A., Ojeda, B., Paredes, R., Sandweiss, M.,
Glascock, M., 1998. Quebrada Jaguay: early maritime adaptations in South America.
Science 281, 1830–1832.
Shannon, C.E., Weaver, W., 1949. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. University
of Illinois Press, Urbana.
Sheldon, A.L., 1969. Equitability indices: dependence on the species count. Ecology 50,
466–467.
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., 1993. Extended 14C data base and revised CALIB 3.0 14C age
calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, 215–230.
Wing, E.S., Reitz, E.J., 1982. Pisces, reptilia, aves, mammalia. In: Bonavia, D. (Ed.),
Precerámico Peruano: Los Gavilanes, Mar, Desierto y Oásis en la Historia del Hombre,
pp. 191–200 Ausonia-Talleres Graficos, Lima.

Please cite this article as: Reitz, E.J., et al., Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene fishing strategies at Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site,
southern Perú, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.035