The Block 2 survey area parallels the edge of the Huarancante lava flow where geological features include the contact between the toe of a Pliocene lava flow and the open pampa. The pampa consists of ignimbrites weathering into a sandy soil and surface water in this area creates grassland with bofedales. Considering the study area on the whole, the greatest intensity of occupation during the pre-pastoralist Archaic appears to have taken place at San Bartolomé (Block 2). Sites in the area were surface collected in previous years by students from field classes at the Catholic University of Santa Maria in Arequipa (José-Antonio Chávez Chávez, Sept 2002, pers. comm.), but nevertheless a high density of projectile points was found in this area.

The evidence for long duration and diversity of activities comes primarily from the spatial distributions of projectile points and their material types. The San Bartolomé area was also an important zone during the subsequent pastoralist periods, due in large part to the rich bofedales mentioned above, that make differentiating pastoralist from Archaic Foragers (Early, Middle, and Late Archaic) occupations difficult. For foragers during the Archaic Period the area contains a rich mixture of reliable hunting opportunities and access to lower elevation vegetative resources in the Colca valley, two days travel away.