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The monumentality of ancient agricultural terraces in the Titicaca Basin can be observed especially on the Copacabana Peninsula, where most hills facing the lake are covered by stone-faced terraces. Terrace construction has been attributed to the expansionist Tiahuanaco and Inca polities. However, this chapter proposes several lines of evidence pointing to a much earlier date for the beginnings of their construction, and expansion by later polities. The associated early material remains belong to the Yaya-Mama Religious Tradition, an endogenous tradition related to the first unification of diverse groups of people and the earliest public architecture in the region. Diagnostic lines of evidence include studies of remains derived from extensive surface surveys on terraced hills and some excavations on terraces, demonstrating abundant presence of Yaya-Mama materials. Further analyses were conducted on excavated botanical remains and human skeletons, the latter demonstrating widespread physical stresses. Experiments and ethnographic interviews of local informants show the extent of labor used in stone cutting, terrace building, and their continued use into the present. Consequently, the presence of utilitarian terraces seen today on a monumental scale is the result of accretion, and can certainly be placed among the largest monuments in the Americas.

Climate is a fundamental and independent variable of human existence. Given that 50 percent of the Earth’s surface and much of its population exist between 30^oN and 30^oS, paleoenvironmental research in the Earth’s tropical regions is vital to our understanding of the world’s current and past climate change. Most of the solar energy that drives the climate system is absorbed in these regions. Paleoclimate records reveal that tropical processes, such as variations in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), have affected the climate over much of the planet. Climatic variations, particularly in precipitation and temperature, play a critical role in the adaptations of agrarian cultures located in zones of environmental sensitivity, such as those of the coastal deserts, highlands, and altiplano of the Andean region. Paleoclimate records from the Quelccaya ice cap (5670 masl) in highland Peru that extend back ~1800 years show good correlation between precipitation and the rise and fall of pre-Hispanic civilizations in western Peru and Bolivia. Sediment cores extracted from Lake Titicaca provide independent evidence of this correspondence with particular reference to the history of the pre-Hispanic Tiwanaku state centered in the Andean altiplano. Here we explore, in particular, the impacts of climate change on the development and ultimate dissolution of this altiplano state.

The purpose of this book is six-fold: . to introduce the technical advances and historical development of selected irrigation-based, hydraulic societies of the pre-Columbian New World (Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala) and describe their contributions to the history of the hydraulic sciences; to record the final testament from sites now destroyed by modern development or natural erosion processes that contain information on technology achievements . to address open questions in the archaeological literature regarding hydraulic and hydrological issues for Old World, New World, and South- East Asian societies with new information and research results from computational Xuid dynamics (CFD) computer modelling studies; to present Wndings relevant to hydraulic sciences from sites not previously reported in the literature . to introduce new findings from analysis of selected water systems of the ancient Old World and South-East Asia (specifically Petra, Ephesos, Priene, Aspendos, Caesarea, Angkor Wat, and Bali) related to innovations in hydraulics technology . to present mathematical models and examples of the working dynamics of New World hydraulic societies that show that their underlying actions are based on logical economic and engineering principles that maximize food resources commensurate with population growth and climatic challenges . to show that ancient NewWorld societies installed and managed urban and agricultural water systems based on sound engineering principles that took into account climate variations (floods and droughts) and developed defensive hydraulic strategies to combat their negative effects . to provide insight into the thought processes of the technocrats of ancient societies responsible for agricultural development and use of land and water resources through application of engineering principles (as they understood them); to discuss facets of their administrative structure and political economy, and show that technical innovation altered the historical development of societies through increased economic advantages. One path in the development of history of technology originates from discovery processes that utilize archival historical and archaeological resources. From these sources, early scientific and engineering principles that form the technology foundation of modern societies are uncovered, analysed, and categorized and then shown to be early steps to later useful, modern inventions. An alternative, but less deterministic, path originates from the viewpoint that while some engineering developments may serve a society dealing with survival and economic development issues, they represent an empirical trial-and-error process with no real understanding of underlying scientific principles and thus hold only academic interest with minor relevance to the history of science.

The Andes represent Earth’s longest mountain system and include some of the world’s highest peaks. The rugged relief found above 1,000 m elevation produces strong environmental gradients tied to dramatic changes in temperature, moisture, and atmospheric pressure. These physical factors provide the background to understanding Andean landforms and land cover. In this chapter, we review these factors and patterns, and the complicating influences of geology and human land use, for the tropical and subtropical portions of the Andes, above 1,000 m and from 11°N to 24°S, in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and northernmost Argentina and Chile. The tropical Andes are recognized as one of the most important regions in the world from the viewpoint of biodiversity conservation (Myers et al., 2000; Brooks et al., 2002). They are home to ancient human settlements and early civilizations (Burger, 1992; Bruhns, 1994; Dillehay, 1999), and large indigenous populations (Maybury-Lewis, 2002) living in some of the highest permanent settlements in the world. As a result, a better understanding of the physical geography of this complex region is important for sustainable development initiatives and other global environmental concerns. Historically important overviews have been written for this region by von Humboldt (1807), Troll (1931), and Ellenberg (1958). Country-level studies include those for Venezuela (Monasterio, 1980), Colombia (Cuatrecasas, 1958; Rangel, 2000), Ecuador (Whymper, 1896; Acosta Solís, 1968; Jørgensen and León-Yánez, 1999), Perú (Weberbauer, 1945; Young and León, 2001), and Bolivia (Navarro and Maldonado, 2002). Luteyn (1999) has assembled information on the plants of the high elevations of the northern Andes, Luteyn and Churchill (2000) have examined the plant communities of the tropical Andes, and Kappelle and Brown (2001) have provided descriptive accounts of the montane forests. Inspiring chronicles can be found in Steele (1964) and Botting (1973). In this chapter, we first describe the relationships among the physical environments and natural landscapes of the tropical and subtropical Andes. We then discuss the natural vegetation types to be found, as typified by the forests, shrublands, grasslands, high Andean types, and wetlands. Finally, we summarize key aspects of the role of historical biogeography and human influences on and within those landscapes.