1 101 X The coastal zone @ The Peruvian coast is a desert dissected by river valleys, with patchy vegetation on the adjoining hillslopes. Off its shores lie the richest fisheries in the world, extensively exploited after 5000 BC. As the population of the region grew, they began to cultivate domestic plants introduced from the highland regions with which they traded.
#Coast of Andean zone, Huaca Prieta material
2 101 X Inland irrigation @ By 2500 BC, inland farming settlements appeared along the river valleys of the Andean coast, often employing small scale irrigation. In time, irrigation became increasingly important. A wide range of crops were grown but it was not until around 1800 BC that maize was adopted. Cotton was a major crop: from it patterned textiles were woven.
#Inland irrigation, Aspero or textile cf Andean zone above
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3 101 X Andean highlands @ The early inhabitants of the high Andes hunted game including llamas. By 4000 BC these were being herded in the high grasslands, while at lower altitudes guinea pigs were kept for food. Cultivated plants were probably first introduced from the lowland jungles to the east; by 6500 BC, however, many Andean plants were also grown.
#Andean highlands, camelid or plant remains from Guitarrero or Ayacucho
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5 101 X Maize farmers @ By 3000 BC inland villages of farmers were established in Ecuador, growing bottle gourds, maize, beans and rootcrops. Maize, a Central American crop, probably reached South America by sea: by 5000 BC, the coastal Ecuadorians had seagoing boats, as is shown by the colonization of Trinidad, and may have voyaged northward to obtain prestigious spondylus shell.
#Ecuador etc, Spondylus shell
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4 101 X Amazonia @ Amazonia's floodplains provided a rich zone for ancient cultivation, mainly of manioc (a starchy rootcrop). We cannot say how early this began as the plants themselves leave no trace. Stone tools and pottery used to process manioc appear by 2000 BC. In the south-west, ridged fields and settlement mounds were constructed, protecting crops and houses from flooding.
#Amazon, Manioc griddle
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6 101 X Camelids @ The camelids, which include llama, alpaca and vicuÒa, were pack animals and provided meat, wool and leather, and dung for fuel and fertilizers. Evidence from highland caves show they were being herded by 4000 BC. The high grasslands of the Andes, useless for agriculture, were used by 3000 BC as seasonal pastures.
#Camelids
7 101 X Guinea pigs @ Large numbers of guinea pig bones in the highland Ayacucho caves indicate that by 4500 BC they were being domesticated and kept for food. Several thousand years earlier they were already an important source of meat. They were not, however, kept on lowland sites until about 200 BC.
#Guinea pigs
8 101 X Dogs @ Finds of dog bones from sites dated around 9000-8000 BC suggest that dogs may have accompanied the early colonists of America from Asia. Dogs were used for hunting and were also kept for meat.
#Dogs
9 101 X At the time of the European conquest, tobacco smoking played an important part in rituals, along with various hallucinogenic substances. Unfortunately no evidence survives of its early cultivation in South America.
#Tobacco
18 101 X Potato and other tubers @ Wild potatoes and other tubers like ulluco and oca were gathered from early postglacial times. By 4500 BC, they were being grown in Andean highland sites, becoming the staple of the region. In the wet season herders from the high pastures descended to the Andean woodlands to cultivate tubers. Potatoes could be freeze-dried for long-term storage.
#Potato and other tubers
19 101 X Quinoa and other seeds @ Quinoa and other hardy seed-bearing plants were important crops of the Andean highlands, where they were being cultivated by about 4500 BC. Quinoa was important as it provided vegetable protein.
Quinoa and other seeds
10 101 X Coca @ Coca leaves, chewed with lime, were in historical times widely used in ritual practices connected with war and sacrifice. There is evidence for the use of coca as early as 3000 BC in the highlands, and on the coast funerary offerings included coca leaves, along with equipment for taking hallucinogenic snuffs.
#Coca
11 101 X Cotton @ Cultivation of cotton began in the coastal region by 3500 BC; it was used to make fishing nets and twined textiles. By 2000 BC heddle looms were in use for weaving cotton cloth. Textiles with stylized animal designs at Huaca Prieta are the first in a long line of fine decorated fabrics.
#Cotton
12 101 X Maize @ Maize was domesticated in Mesoamerica and was probably carried to South America by fishermen and traders. By about 5000 BC it was cultivated in Panama and the Andean highlands, surprisingly not reaching the Andean coast until about 1500 BC. Its adoption on the Amazon coast around 800 BC allowed rapid population growth there.
#Maize
13 101 X Beans @ The highland cave of Guitarrero has the earliest evidence of cultivation in South America, beans being one of the crops grown here by 6500 BC. They may have been introduced from the tropical forest region, where cultivation probably began at an even earlier date.
#Beans
14 101 X Squashes @ Squashes were cultivated in the Andean highlands by 4500 BC. They were among the earliest crops adopted by the people of the coast, around 3600 BC, as a result of trade with the highland zone.
#Squashes
15 101 X Sweet manioc @ Sweet manioc (a starchy tuber, also known as cassava) was cultivated in the tropical regions of Venezuela by around 2000 BC (and possibly earlier). The evidence comes in the form of pottery vats and bowls, similar to those used today in the preparation and consumption of sweet manioc beer.
#Sweet manioc
16 101 X Bitter manioc @ Bitter manioc (a starchy tuber) requires elaborate preparation to remove its poison. Small flints recovered on Amazonian sites may have been set in wooden boards for grating the tuber, which was then squeezed, a ceramic vessel catching the poisonous juices. The resultant paste was cooked on flat ceramic griddles which appear in Amazonia around 1000 BC.
#Bitter manioc
17 101 X Chili @ Chilis were among the earliest crops in South America: known by 6500 BC in the Andean highlands, they must already have been under cultivation in their tropical home in the Amazon Basin. Burnt offerings including chilis were made at the highland site of Huaricoto around 2800 BC, a practice which continued in historical times.
