Piki Mach'ay ( Quechua ''piki''

flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

, ''mach'ay'' cave,Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary) "flea cave", also spelled ''Pikimachay, Piquimachay'', where ''machay'' means "drunkenness", "to get drunk" or "a spindle packed with thread") is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site in the Ayacucho Valley of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...

dates from this cave give a human presence ranging from 22,200 to 14,700 years ago, but this evidence has been disputed and a more conservative date 12,000 years BCE seems possible.

Richard S. MacNeish Richard Stockton MacNeish (April 29, 1918 – January 16, 2001), known to many as "Scotty", was an American archaeologist. His fieldwork revolutionized the understanding of the development of agriculture in the New World and the prehistory of sev ...

was the first archaeologist to explore Piki Mach'ay.Saunders, Nick
"The Civilising Influence of Agriculture."
''New Scientist.'' 13 June 1985: 18. (Retrieved 4 June 2011) Evidence of long-term human occupation has been found at the site, though that evidence still remains controversial. The cave is part of the Ayacucho complex, a culture defined by several cave sites including Jaya Mach'ay ("pepper cave")."Ayacucho complex."
''Archaeology Wordsmith.'' (Retrieved 3 June 2011)

Artifacts

Artifacts discovered in the site include unifacial chipped tools, such as basalt and chert tools, choppers, and projectile points, and bone artifacts of horses, camelids (''

Camelidae Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...

''), giant sloths (''

Megatherium ''Megatherium'' ( ; from Greek () 'great' + () 'beast') is an extinct genus of ground sloths endemic to South America that lived from the Early Pliocene through the end of the Pleistocene. It is best known for the elephant-sized type species ' ...

'') dating from 15,000 to 11,000 years BCE.Humphrey and Stanford, ''Pre-Llano Cultures of the Americas''

Agriculture

Piki Mach'ay yielded some of the oldest plant remains in Peru, including an 11,000-year-old bottle gourd. Strata from later periods at the site revealed fishtail point arrows, manos, and metates. Plant remains indicate that, before 3,000 years BCE,

amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely pack ...

, cotton, gourds, lucuma,

quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and ...

, and squash were cultivated in the Ayacucho Basin before 3,000 years BCE. By 4,000 years BCE corn (''

Zea mays Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

'') and common beans were grown. Chili remains date from 5,500 to 4,300 years BCE. The large amounts of

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

bones suggest possible domestication, and llamas may have been domesticated by 4,300 to 2,800 years BCE.

References

Bibliography

* Chapman, Jefferson. ''Tellico Archaeology: 12,000 Years of Native American History''. Knoxville: Tennessee Valley Authority, 1994. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Pikimachay Archaeological sites in Peru Indigenous culture of the Andes Paleo-Indian period Caves of Peru Archaeological sites in Ayacucho Region Pre-Clovis archaeological sites in the Americas

Artifacts

Agriculture

See also

References

Bibliography