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Daniel H. Sandweiss and Jeffrey Quilter
5.8. Population, risk, and complexity on the Peruvian coast, 3000 BP–present. See figure
5.5 caption for sources. Figure drafted by Kurt Rademaker.
to determine directly. Population drops marked by reduced village sizes may be
difficult to recognize when archaeologists cannot be sure if particular houses
were abandoned or, if abandonment is noted, of the reasons for a smaller population
when many reasons are possible. These negative aspects of archaeological
research must be balanced, however, with the discipline’s great potential to
examine long-term changes.
The clear pattern of increasing population sizes on the Peruvian coast,
apparently throughout prehistory and certainly in its later phases, is a testament
to humanity’s success as a species in adapting to a challenging and changing
environment. Embedded in this grand narrative are interesting questions
about the shorter-term patterns of the rise and fall of what are generally termed
“complex” societies. From a shorter-term perspective, complexity is never
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