Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Ancient Nasca World pp 47–64Cite as

The Geology of Cahuachi

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

The geological setting of Cahuachi was determined by means of a detailed field survey. However, the stratigraphic knowledge achieved during the previous two decades fundamentally framed the survey within the broader regional context. The bedrock of Cahuachi is built up by a succession of conglomerates, sandy-siltstones, and mudstones belonging to the uppermost stratigraphic level of the Changuillo Formation. The conglomerate at the top of the succession at Piramide Sur and Gran Piramide was not deposited by an extraordinary flood that followed the catastrophic El Niño event of the X century, as hypothesized in the literature. This conglomerate, instead, represents the progradation of an alluvial fan and must be assigned to the stratigraphic transition (Upper Pliocene–Lower Pleistocene) toward the Canete Formation that is exposed outside the Cahuachi area. The geology of the ceremonial center entails some hazards, such as seismic and hydrogeological ones, of varying degrees of danger. Consequently, heavy precipitation and strong earthquakes may have occasionally damaged the settlement as shown by archaeological investigations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See Chap. 2 by Orefici and Lancho Rojas.

References

  • Autoridad Nacional de Agua (2009) Diagnostico Situacional de Recarga de Acuíferos. Ministerio de Agricultura, Lima 122 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Báez Gómez DA (2006) Estudio paleoambiental de la formación Pisco: localidad Ocucaje. Rev Inst Investig Fac Minas Metal Cienc Geogr 9(18):64–69. ISSN: 1561-0888

    Google Scholar 

  • Beresford-Jones D, Lewis H, Boreham S (2009) Linking cultural and environmental change in Peruvian prehistory: geomorphological survey of the Samaca Basin, Lower Ica Valley, Peru. Catena 78:234–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castillo Aedo JL, Alva Hurtado JE (1993) Peligro sísmico en el Perú. VII Congreso Nacional de Mecánica de Suelos e Ingeniería de Cimentaciones, Lima, 6–10 Diciembre 1993

    Google Scholar 

  • Caviedes CN, Fik TJ (1992) The Peru-Chile eastern Pacific fisheries and climatic oscillation. In: Glantz MH (ed) Climate variability, climate change and fisheries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 355–376

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chlieh M, Perfettini H, Tavera H, Avouac JP, Remy D, Nocquet J, Rolandone F, Bondoux F, Gabalda G, Bonvalot S (2011) Interseismic coupling and seismic potential along the Central Andes subduction zone. J Geophys Res 116:B12405. Doi:10.1029/2010JB008166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cigna F, Tapete D, Lasaponara R, Masini N (2013) Amplitude change detection with ENVISAT ASAR to image the cultural landscape of the Nasca Region, Peru. Archaeol Prospection 20:117–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke JDA (2006) Antiquity of aridity in the Chilean Atacama Desert. Geomorphology 73:101–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dávila D (1989) Estratigrafía cenozoica del valle del río Grande, cuenca de Pisco, Perù. Boletín Sociedad Geológica del Perù 80:65–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham NE, Hughes MK, Ammann CM, Cobb KM, Hoerling MP, Kennett DJ, Kennett JP, Rein B, Stott L, Wigand PE, Xu T (2007) Tropical Pacific—mid-latitude teleconnections in medieval times. Climatic Changes 83:241–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grodzicki J (1990) Las catástrofes ecológicas en la Pampa de Nazca a fines del Holoceno y el fenómeno El Nino. In El Fenómeno El Nino a través de las fuentes arqueológicas y geológicas. Actas de la Conferencia. Redaction J. Grodzicki. Sociedad Polaca de los Amigos de las Ciencias de la Tierra, Varsovia, pp 66–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Grodzicki J (1992) Los geoglifos de Nasca segun algunos datos geologicos. In: Paleo ENSO records, internernational symposium on ORTOM-CONCYTEC, Lima, March 1992, pp 119–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Grodzicki J (1994) Nasca: Los síntomas geológicos del fenómeno El Nino y sus aspectos arquelógicos. Cesla series Estudios y Memorias, 12, Warszawa, 114 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall SR, Farber DL, Audin L, Finkel RC, Mériaux AS (2008) Geochronology of pediment surfaces in southern Peru: implications for Quaternary deformation of the Andean forearc. Tectonophysics 459:186–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houston J (2006) The great Atacama flood of 2001 and its implications for Andean hydrology. Hydrol Process 20:591–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • INGEMMET (1994) Mapa geologico del cuadrangulo de Palpa. Ministerio de Energia y Minas, Lima

    Google Scholar 

  • Intendencias de Recursos Naturales (2007) Estudio Hidrogeologico del Valle Nasca. Nasca, 176 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • James DE (1971) Plate tectonic model for the evolution of the central Andes. Geol Soc Am Bull 82(12):3325–3346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kulm LD, Dymond J, Dash Ej, Husong DM (eds) (1981) Nasca plate: crustal formation and Andean convergence. Geological Society of America, Memoir 154, 824 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Lasaponara R, Masini N (2012) Following the ancient Nasca Puquios from space, In: Lasaponara R, Masini N (eds) Satellite remote sensing: a new tool for archaeology, Springer, Berlin, pp 269–290. Doi:10.1007/978-90-481-8801-7_12. ISBN: 978–90-481-8800-0

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefort A, Grippa M, Walker N, Stewart LJ, Woodhouse IH (2004) Change detection across the Nasca pampa using spaceborne SAR interferometry. Int J Remote Sens 25(10):1799–1803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • León W, Aleman A, Torres V, Rosell W, De La Cruz O (2008) Estratigrafía, sedimentología y Evolución de la Cuenca Pisco Oriental. INGEMMET, Boletín serie D, 27, 144 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Macharé J (1987) La marge continentale du Pérou: Régimes tectoniques et sédimentaires cénozoiques de l’avant-arc des Andes centrales. Thèse Doct. Sc., Univ. Paris XI, 391 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Macharé J, Ortlieb L (1992) Plio-Quaternary vertical motions and the subduction of the Nasca Ridge, central coast of Peru. Thectonophysics 205:97–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mächtle B, Eitel B (2013) Fragile landscapes, fragile civilizations—how climate determined societies in the pre-Columbian south Peruvian Andes. Catena 103:62–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mächtle B, Unkel I, Eitel B, Kromer B, Schiegl S (2010) Molluscs as evidence for a Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene humid period in the northern Atacama desert, southern Peru (14.5°S). Quatern Res 73:39–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masini N, Lasaponara N, Orefici G (2009) Addressing the challenge of detecting archaeological adobe structures in Southern Peru using QuickBird imagery. J Cult Heritage 10S:3–9. Doi:10.1016/j.culher.2009.10.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masini N, Lasaponara R, Rizzo E, Orefici G (2012) Integrated remote sensing approach in Cahuachi (Peru): studies and results of the ITACA mission (2007–2010). In: Lasaponara R, Masini N (eds) Satellite remote sensing: a new tool for archaeology, remote sensing and digital image processing 16, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., Dordrecht, pp 307–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Montoya M, Carcía W, Caldas J (1994) Geología de los cuadrángulos de Lomitas, Palpa, Nasca y Puquio. INGEMMET, Boletín serie A, 53, 100 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Newell ND (1956) Reconocimiento Geológico de la Región Pisco-Nasca. Bol Soc Geol Perú 30:261–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Oficina Nacional de Evaluación de Recursos Natural, 1971

    Google Scholar 

  • Orefici G (2012) Cahuachi capital teocrática Nasca. Universidad de San Martín de Porres, 622 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Orefici G, Lancho Rojas J (2016) The Nasca area and its environment (Chap. 2). In: Lasaponara R, Masini N, Orefici (2016) (eds) Ancient Nasca world. New insights from science and archaeology, Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortlieb L, Vargas G (2003) Debris-flow deposits and El Niño impacts along the hyperarid southern Peru coast. In: Haas J, Dillon MO (eds) El Niño in Peru biology and culture over 10000 years. Botany, vol 43, pp 24–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen G (1954) Informe preliminar sobre la geología de la faja costanera del Departamento de Ica. Bol Tec Emp Petrol Fiscal 1:33–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulgar Vidal J (1987) Geografía del Perú Las Ocho Regiones Naturales. Editorial Inca SA, Lima, 244 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramos VA (1999) Plate tectonic setting of the Andean Cordillera. Episodes 22(3):183–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruescas AB, Delgado JM, Costantini F, Sarti F (2010) Change detection by interferometric coherence in Nasca Lines, Peru (1997–2004). In: Proceedings of “Fringe 2009”, Frascati, Europen Space Agency, SP-677

    Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez Borjas A(2010) Estaquería: sobreviviendo a la extinción. In: Orefici G et al (eds) Nasca El desierto de los dioses de Cahuachi, Graph Ediciones, Lima, pp 60–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandweiss DH, Richardson JB (2008) Central Andean environments. In: Silverman H, Isbell W (eds) Handbook of South American archaeology. Springer Science & Business Media LLC., New York, pp 93–104

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schittek K, Forbriger M, Kromer B, Mächtle B, Reindel M, Schäbitz F, Eitel B (2011) Tracking late-Holocene environmental change in the western Andes of southern Peru (14°) using high-altitude peatland archives. In: Götz S, Bengtson P, Cueto BFJ, Stinnesbeck W (eds) 22nd international colloquium on Latin American earth sciences, abstracts and programme. GAEA heidelbergensis 18, p 198

    Google Scholar 

  • Schreiber KJ, Lancho Rojas J (1995) The puquios of Nasca. Latin American Antiquity 6(3):229–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sebrier M, Macharé J (1980) Observaciones acerca del Cuaternario de la Costa del Perù. Central Bull Inst Fr Et And 9:5–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman H (1993) Cahuachi in the ancient Nasca world. University of Lowa Press, Lowa, 376 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Teves N (1975) Aspectos sedimentarios y estructurales del sector costanero Peruano frente a la dorsal de Nasca. Bol Soc Geol Perù 50:87–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb EC, White CD, Longstaffe FJ (2011) Exploring geographic origins at Cahuachi using stable isotopic analysis of archaeological human tissues and modern environmental waters. Int J Osteoarchaeology 23(6):698–715

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Lecce, Italy

    Marco Delle Rose

Authors
  1. Marco Delle Rose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Delle Rose .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Archaeological and Monumental Heritage (IBAM), Potenza, Italy

    Rosa Lasaponara

  2. National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA), Potenza, Italy

    Nicola Masini

  3. Centro Italiano Studi e Ricerche Archeologiche Precolombiane (CISRAP), Brescia, Italy

    Giuseppe Orefici

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Delle Rose, M. (2016). The Geology of Cahuachi. In: Lasaponara, R., Masini, N., Orefici, G. (eds) The Ancient Nasca World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47052-8_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47052-8_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47050-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47052-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation