Based primarily on the distribution of diagnostic projectile points and associated environmental data in the Maymeja area, it appears that "logistical camps" are prevalent in the settlement organization of the Chivay source area during the Archaic. Foragers likely visited the Maymeja area as an embedded strategy, combining obsidian procurement with hunting as the high relief area and talus boulders shelter a relative abundance of wildlife. Today, hunters visit the area to shoot viscacha, and a small population of vicuñaare occasionally seen in the area.

Site size estimates for logistical camps were not included in this portion of the study because all of these sites are multicomponent and, in most cases, obsidian scatter sizes more accurately reflect later periods with greater intensification of production.

Table 6-20. Environmental characteristics of potentially Archaic Foragers logistical camps in Block 1.

The sites identified as possible Archaic Foragers logistical camps in this study are, on average, lower in elevation because the sample is small and one site in the low portion of Quebrada de los Molinos pulls down the average elevation. The sites are on slightly steeper slopes and they are predominantly on slopes with a northwest aspect at roughly twice the rate of the entire dataset of archaeological features in Block 1. The pattern of settlement location that prioritizes steeper slopes with a northwest aspect would ensure the maximum of afternoon sun and therefore higher temperatures. The viewshed analysis indicates that these locations are slightly lower visibility and exposure than is typical in the Block, although the standard deviation on these measures is quite high. Finally, the logistical camps are slightly further from bofedales than is typical in the Block 1.

The land-use patterns of these six potential logistical camps in the obsidian source area are consistent with models of forager behavior (Kelly 1992). In these models, access to water is not a top priority, as short stays at dry camps are common. Expedient shelters were probably used at these obsidian source logistical camps due to relatively high mobility and short stays. According to this locational model, places with higher ambient temperature would have been a top priority for logistical camps because of the generally cold environment and the limited built shelter offered in logistical camp construction. These settlements contrast with the later pastoralist settlement pattern that prioritizes access to pasture and water for the herd. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate small forager logistical camps from the common small pastoralist camps that were encountered on the tops of moraines and other exposed locations that have commanding views of bofedales where the herd was presumably grazing through much of the day.

However, as is apparent in Figure 6-7, only one pre-pastoralist projectile point style [A03-184] was identified on these exposed moraine sites in the center of the Maymeja zone, and this point was located relatively close to the obsidian exposures at 4900 masl. The point was found at an area later used by pastoralists (with good views of bofedales to the north and south), the site had no other features consistent with forager logistical sites in the area, and therefore it was not interpreted as such.