(Please read from the start)
“Agriculture
Agriculture in South America may have begun in coastal Ecuador with the domestication of squash about 8000 BCE by the Las Vegas culture.
Some scholars believe that the earliest civilizations on the Peruvian coast initially relied more upon maritime resources than agriculture during the formative period of their societies.[12][13] However, as in all civilizations until the late 19th century, agriculture was the principal occupation of the great majority of the people. The greatest contribution of Andean civilization to the modern world has been the plants its people domesticated. Crops grown by the Andeans were often unique to the region. Maize, which found its way to the Andes from Mexico, was often the most important crop at lower and intermediate elevations. The Andeans cultivated an estimated 70 different plants, almost as many as were cultivated in all of Europe and Asia.[14] Many of these plants are no longer cultivated, or are minor crops, but important plants which were domesticated in or near the Andes include potatoes, quinoa, tomatoes, chile peppers, cotton, coca, tobacco, pineapples, peanuts, and several varieties of beans.[15] Animals domesticated in the Andes were llamas and guinea pigs.
The challenges of the environment required sophisticated agricultural technology.[16] Unlike the Middle East, the Andes lacked easily domesticated and large-seeded plants such as wheat and barley and large and easily domesticated animals such as horses and cattle.[17] Agriculture on the desert coast required the development of irrigation. In the mountains, the climate and steep terrain required a range of technological solutions such as terraces (andén), exploitation of microclimates, and selective breeding. Due to the climatic uncertainties, farmers traditionally farmed several crops at several elevations and exposures. At a macro level, societies and states did the same with the vertical archipelago, establishing colonies at different elevations and locations to increase the possibilities of agricultural success.”
>> I don’t know about you anons, but for me, to be able to transform the terrain into terraces, make the irrigation system and manage the agriculture as they did in such a harsh environment means that the Andean Civilization had advanced knowledge and yes….even, maybe, just maybe, advanced technology. It’s not easy to “tame” and “accommodate” such harsh environment conditions.
Next we are going to check the MANY civilizations and cultures in the area, so detours are in order when talking about each one of them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_culture_(archaeology)
“The Las Vegas culture is the name given to many Archaic settlements which flourished between 8000 BCE and 4600 BCE.(10,000 to 6,600 BP) near the coast of present-day Ecuador. The name comes from the location of the most prominent settlement, Site No. 80, near the Las Vegas River and now within the city of Santa Elena. The Las Vegas culture represents "an early, sedentary adjustment to an ecologically complex coastal environment."
The Las Vegas culture is important because it was one of the earliest cultures in South America to practice agriculture.”
“Setting
The Las Vegas culture was located on the Santa Elena Peninsula of Ecuador. The Santa Elena peninsula is the northernmost extension of the coastal desert that stretches for some 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) along the Pacific coast of South America. The city of Santa Elena receives about 250 millimetres (9.8 in) of precipitation annually nearly all of it from January to March. Under the influence of the cool waters of the Humboldt Current, temperatures are mild, averaging 23 °C (73 °F) with only a few degrees in seasonal variation. The natural vegetation near the coast is xeric featuring cacti and other desert plants. Inland, precipitation generally increases and the vegetation becomes more varied and lush, changing from desert to seasonally dry forest.”
>> This is important. Reminds of what happened around the Med Sea.
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