A03-777 "Puma 3" [A03-777 - A03-780]

As with the Puma 2 [A03-229] site higher in the valley, this site consists of a small shelter on the edge of a lava flow with improvements through the construction of rock walls.

Table 6-22. Lithic artifacts from site A03-777 excluding 1 Series 5 projectile point.

Two patterns emerge from the lithic materials encountered at this site. First, the Pastoral period signature is weak as there is only one Series 5 point (and it was completely flaked, Ob1 material). The Archaic Foragers points are all Middle Archaic and they were made of volcanics and chert, not obsidian. A second notable pattern about these lithics is that it appears that there was reduction of primarily Ob2 obsidian at the site based on cores left at the site. These cores were not exhausted, one weighed 47 g and measured 4.5 x 4.1 cm. This is consistent with the evaluations of Ob2 obsidian more generally, in that it is used because it is widely available, yet there appears to have been a preference for Ob1 material and, in particular, for projectile point manufacture. This site is only 3 km from the exposures of surface gravels of Ob2 obsidian on the south-east flanks of Hornillo, but over 6 km from the Maymeja zone with the Ob1 material.

A03-910 "Collpa" [A03-910 - A03-925]

Collpa [A03-910] is approximately 9 km from the Maymeja area of the Chivay source, and it is also 8 km from Callalli to the north, therefore it is roughly equidistant between Block 1 and Block 3 survey areas. Collpa is an important site in this study because due to its position between the two survey blocks, it provides an opportunity to observe lithic consumption patterns midway between the obsidian source and the B3-Callalli zone. In fact, both the modern owner of Maymeja and his hired herder are from Callalli and this site of Collpa lies directly along their path from Callalli to Maymeja.

This site is located among a cluster of unusual-looking tuff outcrops that occur at the western extension of the Pichu formation to the south of Callalli (Ellison and Cruz 1985). This cartographic unit is described by the INGEMMET study as crystalline tuffs and ignimbrites. These outcrops are potentially in the same formation as the tuffs described and dated recently by Noble et al. (2003) as the ash flow sheets belonging to the "Upper Part" of the Castillo de Callalli section, a formation that was described above (Section 4.3.2). If so, then these tuff outcrops date to the Early Pliocene and are probably associated with volcanic activity at the Cailloma caldera to the north of the Colca valley.

Figure 6-14. Multicomponent site of A03-910 "Collpa" among crystalline tuff outcrops. Two dark figures are visible, standing apart in the right and center-right half of the photo, providing scale.

The site of Collpa [A03-910] contains predominantly Series 5 projectile points and is potentially, then, a pastoralist occupation however several projectile points dating to the Archaic Foragers were also found here. The reduction strategies applied in this area are summarized below, although it is difficult to establish if these data on reduction activities at Collpa reflect the Archaic Foragers time or to the later pastoralist period.

The site contains several small rock shelters but the principal lithic scatter is located on a high point in the grassy center of the Collpa area. The site has distinctive concentrations of obsidian and high intrasite variability, however the temporally diagnostic artifacts are not patterned such that one can differentiate components in these scatters. Thus, the site will be considered in one group here.

Table 6-23. Lithic artifacts from site A03-910 excluding five Series 5 Ob1 projectile points.

The site contained a relatively high frequency of Kombewa flakes (also known as Janus flakes), a flake with bulbs of percussion on both ventral and dorsal surfaces that appears to have served as blanks for a Series 5 projectile point production. This is an artifact type that will be discussed in more detail in the discussion of the Q02-2u3 test unit at the Maymeja workshop in Chapter 7. Collpa contained a relatively high frequency of bifacial thinning flakes (n = 10) as per the calculated BTF index.

The material types in use at Collpa are consistent with the geographical position of this site as it lies half-way between the Maymeja zone of the Chivay source and Callalli. The Maymeja zone contains Ob1 obsidian, the eastern flanks of Hornillo contain Ob2 obsidian, and the area of Callalli in Block 3 contains abundant use of quartzite and chert that had often been heat treated. At Collpa [A03-910] a number of cores of both Ob1 and Ob2 chert were recovered.

Table 6-24. Complete Cores at Collpa [A03-910].

Reduction in the Collpa site shows that there was provisioning occurring from both Maymeja and the eastern flanks of Hornillo where Ob2 obsidian is found, as well as chert being used that perhaps came from the Callalli area where chert is abundant. Ob1 cores are clearly dominant at this site. Ob1 is more common, larger, and heavier despite the greater distance to the Maymeja area where this study shows that Ob1 obsidian is found. It is difficult to establish the antiquity of the Callalli ownership of Maymeja, but if movement between Callalli and Maymeja is a pattern that has a long history, then perhaps the greater presence of Ob1 obsidian reflects this larger mobility pattern.

A03-109 through A03-118 "Escalera" Area

A number of Middle Archaic points, as well as other Archaic points, were identified along the major travel route climbing up from the Chivay area of the Colca valley to the puna; hence the name "Quebrada Escalera". This was a route out of the Colca valley that was widely used until the 1940s when alternative roads were improved. These projectile points are essentially isolates although the A03-109, 110, 111 projectile points were found in a small cache adjacent to a large corral - possibly due to salvaging and aggregation by the pastoralists that use the large corral.

Figure 6-15. Photo of moraines and bofedales of Escalera south-west of Chivay source.

The region of Escalera contains extensive moraines interspersed with large bofedales due to the runoff from the glaciers of Nevado Huarancante. A major thoroughfare that bypasses the Chivay source to the south climbs through this valley following the moraines. This area contains varied habitat that probably offered relatively rich hunting throughout Archaic, as well as serving as a transition zone between valley and puna ecological zones.