See Moche. Huaca Prieta. A village site located in the Chicama valley of north-coast Peru with evidence of an early sedentary way of life. Excavated by Junius Bird and dating to the Pre-ceramic Period VI, it has an initial radiocarbon date of c2300 be. Built on an artificial hill of refuse and other debris, semisubterranean houses with walls of cobbles set in mud accommodated a population of several hundred. Although fishing was an important part of subsistence activities, Huaca Prieta is notable for its evidence of incipient plant domestication — the earliest in South America (see Bat Cave for North America). Squash, peppers, lima beans, gourds and cotton are all in evidence and basketry and textiles were produced both by twining and weaving. The site was abandoned before the introduction of either maize or pottery in cl200 be.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied