EVOLUTION OF HIGH ANDEAN PUNA ECOSYSTEMS - ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE, AND CULTURE CHANGE OVER THE LAST 12,000 YEARS IN THE CENTRAL ANDES

In the High Andes, much of the traditional knowledge related to natural resource utilization and agricultural practices was lost with the arrival of the Spaniards. That which has survived has been transformed, together with the landscape. Based upon ongoing research on the paleoecology and archaeology of the central High Andes, this paper presents the first results of pollen analysis from late-Pleistocene/early Holocene Laguna Seca (latitude 18-degrees-11' South, longitude 69-degrees-14'30'' West) in the Chungara-Cotacotani lake district of Lauca National Park. The Laguna Seca record covers two crucial events in the evolution of high Andean puna ecosystems: (1) the period preceding the earliest human occupation, and (2) the period of change from a food-gathering to a food-producing economy. The results, though preliminary, indicate the contribution that these studies can make to the management and preservation of fragile mountain ecosystems.