Marine Communities in the Atacama Desert

Chapter 2 reviews ancient maritime communities for the hyperarid coast of northern Chile and southernmost Peru throughout the Holocene, with focus on the mid-Holocene Archaic Period. Two regions represent the exorheic and arheic coasts: Caleta Vitor (9,500 cal BP through the Inca occupation) and Copaco (mostly 7100 to 5200 cal BP), respectively. Despite some signs of increasing complexity, the authors conclude that maritime societies of this region remained relatively egalitarian up to the Spanish Conquest. In this hyperarid region, marine resources were always extremely important.