Fishing in Peru between 10 000 and 3750 BP

Archaeozoological data for the period of 10 000–5000 bp were rare for the southeastern Pacific coast, until recent work provided data from eight sites in Peru and Ecuador. These sites span the early to mid‐Holocene period, during which time modern climatic conditions became established. Vertebrate faunal data from these sites provide an opportunity to explore the influence of mid‐Holocene environmental changes on fishing in Peru during this time. With two exceptions, most faunal collections are dominated by marine animals, with virtually no terrestrial vertebrates. Many of the marine organisms are catholic species, tolerant of a wide variety of water conditions, rather than ones which clearly prefer warm–tropical or warm–temperate ones. Warm–tropical species are more common in the northern assemblages, as would be expected. There is a temporal pattern as well. Within three subdivisions of this area, warm–tropical animals diminish in abundance, and warm–temperate animals increase. These differences probably reflect cultural responses to mid‐Holocene environmental change, in which coastal waters from southern Peru into Ecuador became cooler. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.