Paloma is an archaeological site in Peru, located 65 km south of Lima in Chilca District, Cañete Province. Based on radiocarbon dating, it was a village from roughly 5700 to 2800 BCE. This corresponds to the late Preceramic IV and Preceramic V periods. It is one of the earliest villages in the Americas that archaeologists have been able to date stratigraphically. It is on the north edge of the Chilca River valley, in hills separating the main valley from a dry canyon called Quebrada de los Perdidos. The inhabitants would have been "within easy walking distance" from both the Chilca River itself (7-8 km south) and the Pacific coast, 3-4 km west. The site is bounded by coastal hills on the north and south. Paloma lies on the edge of the lomas - areas where moisture from fog allows plants to grow in an otherwise arid region. However, how the ancient settlement got access to fresh water is not clear. There are several possibilities: first, the inhabitants could have dug wells down to the water table. Second, a spring located about five minutes' walk east of the village may have provided water (it is possibly intermittent and was recorded by archaeologists in June 1976 but was not afterward). Finally, sand-lined pits may have been used to trap moisture from fog.
Overview The site contains the buried remains of reed huts. Crushed white shells cover the ground in an area of 15 hectares, making the site easily detectable. The densest midden deposits are found on the edge of a small canyon near the western end of the site - this area appears to have served as a garbage dump for at least part of Paloma's existence. Food debris and broken artifacts are densely accumulated here.
The midden's thickness varies across the site. There are about a dozen surface concentrations, which slightly overlap the clusters of houses and burials. Subsurface concentrations, on the other hand, are relatively continuous throughout the site. The largest concentrations is called "Unit 1", which extends over an area of 6500 square meters and ranges from a few centimeters to about a meter in depth. Unit 1 is divided into 7 main strata, from top to bottom:
+ Layers at Paloma (from Quilter, 1989) Level Dating Description Level 100 Not given Light gray windblown surface dust Level 120 Not given Medium gray surface dust mixed with darker ash, shell debris, and stone tool fragments Level 200 5200-4600 BP Dense crushed mussel shells in light gray, ashy matrix Level 300 5500-5200 BP Moderately dense crushed mussel shells; coprolites; light gray ash; lots of plant remains Level 400 7000-5500 BP Moderately concentrated dark gray ash mixed with plant parts and, usually, few shell fragments; sometimes shells are densely concentrated and mixed with burnt hearth stones Level 500 7000-5500 BP Concentrated, dark gray ash with few other contacts; usually in contact with pampa (powdered rock) Level 600 Lowest extreme dated to 7735 BP Ashy yellow pampa dust mixed with some shell, ash, and charcoal; difficult to distinguish from true pampa
These layers are likely present throughout the site, not just in Unit 1. They are arbitrary and are not measured from any fixed point, and they are not always all present - for example, in some areas on the east side of Unit 1, Level 500 deposits are found directly below the surface. In Unit 1, the predominant strata are Levels 200, 300, 400, and 500; these four layers also contain most of the houses, burials, and artifacts.
Timeline The site is dated to 6500 radiocarbon years before present. This is about the same time as the final deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, and the rising of worldwide sea levels to their present-day levels. Nearby coastal regions may have been home to earlier settlements that were inundated by the rising sea levels at this time.
Paloma's population increased during the Middle and Late Preceramic periods. This was either because more children were surviving until adulthood, multiple local populations were combining into a single settlement, or both. The health and life expectancy of Paloma's residents also seems to have improved over time - skeletal remains from later burials show fewer signs of stress and include a lower proportion of young people.
At the same time, gradual overexploitation of the fog-watered lomas led to a decline in plant resources and water production. The local subsistence economy became increasingly focused on maritime resources, particularly during the last phase of occupation.
Based on an analysis of human physical remains at Paloma, there was a distinct new group that came to occupy the site during Levels 200 and 300.
The worldwide climatic optimum ended around 3000 BCE. In South America, conditions became drier and more unpredictable.
During the final period of occupation, the growth rate at Paloma was decreasing, while the overall population of the region was increasing. The inhabitants of Paloma eventually moved to the nearby Chilca River valley.
The settlement at Paloma probably ended around 2500 BCE. However, the site has probably been occasionally occupied since then. Several ears of maize found buried along with some sort of canine in 1979 were estimated by radiocarbon dating to have an age of 1,830 years - i.e. around 150 CE.
Structures Houses Huts ranged in shape from circles to ovals to quadrilaterals. Floors were usually sloped towards the center, and they were dug down 25 to 60 centimeters so that the floor level was below ground. The basic support for the huts was provided by a frame of willow and cane (Gynerium sagittatum) poles, which were sometimes bound together by reed twine into groups of two or four for extra strength. Often, there were stones wedged in at the poles' bases for extra supports. The poles may have been further supported by parallel cross poles, forming a grid or lattice structure. Loose bunches of grass, sedges, or reeds were then stuffed between the poles to provide insulation. It's likely, though not completely certain, that large reed mats were then thrown on top to provide extra insulation. The floors, on the other hand, were definitely covered with them - some of the mats have been found like this.
The shape of the roof is not entirely certain. At first, archaeologists assumed that the huts were dome-shaped like the ones at the nearby Chilca I site, but the well-preserved House 101 had a collapsed section of latticework lying on the floor, which led Engel to propose that it was originally a flat, square roof on top of a hut with a round base.
Many of the huts have an extra outer wall extending out in an arc, always on the southwest side of the house. These most likely functioned as windbreaks to help insulate the house from cold winter winds - the prevailing winds today come from the southwest, and they probably did in ancient times as well. The area enclosed by these outer walls may have also been used as a storage area.
On average, the houses at Paloma were 10.9 square meters - which might seem small, but Paloma's residents would have spent most of their time outdoors, so they wouldn't have needed big houses. Additionally, sleeping close together would have helped provide more warmth on cold winter nights. Even today, the most basic of huts in the region often measure about 10 square meters.
Burials One of the most important sources of information at Paloma is the numerous burials - not only do they reveal how Palomans buried their dead, but the physical remains also provide a source on health and mortality. Most of them were buried wrapped in a reed mat either below the floor of a house or outdoors. The soil and midden preserved the skeletons in good condition. Although not abundant, there were also small amounts of skin and muscle preserved in places where the wrappings protected them from disintegrating. Hair, brains, and internal organs were also found in some cases, but in most cases the only trace of internal organs was as stains in the soil. The relative lack of soft body parts can be explained by water seepage below ground, which happens in relatively damp lomas - better-preserved burials tend to be found in drier places. In general, deeper burials were better preserved because relatively less fog moisture seeped down that far.
Almost all Paloman burials seem to have been first-time burials, with only a few minor cases where they were later disturbed. Most burials were done in specifically-dug grass-lined pits below the floor of a house. There are also a couple of cases where infants were buried in abandoned storage pits. Towards the later part of Paloma's occupation, Level 200, another option for burial also appeared: instead of digging a burial pit, the dead were simply placed on the floor and then the house was destroyed. (A similar practice has also been noted at Chilca I, which took place at about the same time.)
Usually, the dead were posed with the knees tucked in toward the chest. Hands were often placed at the face or hips. Broken bones and cuts in hands and feet indicate that the bodies may have been forcibly positioned like this after death. Benfer and Edward suggested that the bodies may have been covered with salt before being buried. The presence of coprolites in some graves indicates that burial likely took place quickly after death.
A relatively high proportion of burials at Paloma are infants. According to Benfer, this is because relatively good preservation of burials at Paloma means that a relatively complete sample is available, and the proportion of infant burials is therefore accurately represented.
Grave goods are relatively scarce at Paloma. The most common items found in graves are things like ornaments and clothing. After the dead were placed in a grave, there may have been a ritual ceremony involving fire - singed burial wrappings indicate that hot hearth stones were taken from the fire and placed on top of the bundle. Once the grave was covered up with earth, people may have sometimes built a fire on top of it. Sometimes the graves were topped by a smooth beach pebble.
Others At least 500 round storage pits were dug at Paloma, usually outside of huts and ranging from small ones 10 cm deep and 20 cm wide to large ones about a meter deep and wide. Some of the larger ones were lined with grass, probably so that their contents wouldn't be in contact with dirt - these may have been used to store food, but this is unclear. Most of the pits were empty when archaeologists came across them, indicating that they might have only been in use for short-term storage. The sheer number of storage pits dug at Paloma indicates that storage played an important role in the settlement's subsistence economy. Some small pits next to burials were also used for grave offerings.
Remains of hearths have also been found both in huts and outdoors. Inside the huts, ashes and carbonized twigs were found on the floor and may have been burned to provide warmth during cold foggy winters. Outdoors, large oval-shaped hearths covered in burnt cobbles probably served as cooking areas.
The garbage dump on the west may have also been used for food preparation and other activities at various times. The presence of burials and part of a house (House 102) in the lower layers of the area indicate that it only came to be used as a garbage dump later on.
To the northeast of the main midden, there are some partly-underground stone structures whose original purpose is unknown. A burial underneath one of them had cotton textiles and was radiocarbon dated to between 2170 and 1960 BCE, during the Late Preceramic period.