Cultural impacts of severe droughts in the prehistoric Andes: Application of a 1,500‐year ice core precipitation record

Shimada, I., Schaaf, C. B., Thompson, L. G. and Mosley-Thompson, E. Cultural impacts of severe droughts in the prehistoric Andes: application of a 1,500-year icecore precipitation record Late in the sixth century, Andean peoples experienced major cultural upheavals, including a notablesettlement shift of the classic Mochica culture on the northern Peruvian coast. A recently establishedannual precipitation record derived from ice cores from the Quelccaya glacier in southern Peruallows assessment of the possible role of climatic disturbances in northern Peru. Both areas are in thesame tropical climatic regime. A comparison between the archaeological record and the Quelccayadata suggests the Mochica upheaval was conditioned by a series of severe sixth-century droughts,including one of the severest droughts of the past 1,500 years, spanning AD 562 to 594. Downloadedby[OhioStateUniversityLibraries]at12:4006August2013