Paloma is an archaeological site in Peru, located 65 km south of Lima in Chilca District, Cañete Province.
[1]: 10 Paloma lies on the edge of the lomas - areas where moisture from fog allows plants to grow in an otherwise arid region.
[1]: 10 Second, a spring located about five minutes' walk east of the village may have provided water (it is possibly intermittent and was recorded by archaeologists in June 1976 but was not afterward).
[1]: 10 Crushed white shells cover the ground in an area of 15 hectares, making the site easily detectable.
[1]: 10 The densest midden deposits are found on the edge of a small canyon near the western end of the site - this area appears to have served as a garbage dump for at least part of Paloma's existence.
[1]: 11 They are arbitrary and are not measured from any fixed point, and they are not always all present - for example, in some areas on the east side of Unit 1, Level 500 deposits are found directly below the surface.
[2]: 285 Nearby coastal regions may have been home to earlier settlements that were inundated by the rising sea levels at this time.
[2]: 289 The health and life expectancy of Paloma's residents also seems to have improved over time - skeletal remains from later burials show fewer signs of stress and include a lower proportion of young people.
[2]: 289 At the same time, gradual overexploitation of the fog-watered lomas led to a decline in plant resources and water production.
[2]: 289 Based on an analysis of human physical remains at Paloma, there was a distinct new group that came to occupy the site during Levels 200 and 300.
[1]: 20 Several ears of maize found buried along with some sort of canine in 1979 were estimated by radiocarbon dating to have an age of 1,830 years - i.e. around 150 CE.
[1]: 14 The basic support for the huts was provided by a frame of willow and cane (Gynerium sagittatum) poles, which were sometimes bound together by reed twine into groups of two or four for extra strength.
[1]: 17 At first, archaeologists assumed that the huts were dome-shaped like the ones at the nearby Chilca I site, but the well-preserved House 101 had a collapsed section of latticework lying on the floor, which led Engel to propose that it was originally a flat, square roof on top of a hut with a round base.
[1]: 18 Inside the huts, ashes and carbonized twigs were found on the floor and may have been burned to provide warmth during cold foggy winters.
[1]: 19 These have not been fully studied so their exact purpose is unknown, but they may have been sunken garden plots taking advantage of the relatively high water table.
[2]: 292 His estimates give a peak population of about 450 people during Level 300, which likely had the moistest climate based on the abundance of grasses preserved.
[3] John Greer also suggested that the village started at the middle of Unit 1 and then grew outward over time.
[1]: 21 Because all eight were male, this may indicate that fishing was mostly done by men at Paloma; however, the small sample size makes it impossible to generalize.
[2]: 301 Dental wear decreased over time, indicating a shift in diet towards less abrasive foods and possibly less tuberous plants.
[1]: 25 Climate disruption from the occasional El Niño does not appear to have had a significant negative impact on residents' health - growth arrest line patterns indicate relatively short, recurring periods of stress rather than one major famine.
[2]: 304 Food storage, using salt from nearby Las Salinas as a preservative, helped offset any effects of an El Niño.
[2]: 304 The Paloman diet was based on seafood, mainly fish and shellfish along with the occasional sea lion, and plants from the lomas.
[1]: 23–4 This diet was rich in protein, and assuming the marine meats were supplemented with seaweed (which was likely the case), it was probably highly nutritious.
[1]: 21 However, this probably under-represents the overall importance of shellfish to the Paloman diet because most of them were likely eaten at the water's edge rather than people carrying heavy loads of them all the way to the village.
[1]: 22 Large fish found at Paloma include the cabrilla (Paralabrax), Haemulon, Paralonchurus, and Sciaena deliciosa.
[2]: 311 Fish paste, a common South American food, is highly nutritious and would have kept well in storage pits, but archaeologists have had trouble conclusively identifying it at Paloma.
[1]: 22 Shellfish found at Paloma include several species of mussels (Perumytilus purpuratus, Semimytilus algosus, Choromytilus chorus) and clams (Protothaca thaca, Mesodesma donacium).
[1]: 23 Trees were much more abundant then, which helped retain moisture from winter fogs and in turn promoted growth of other plants.
[1]: 23 Cutting down trees for use as firewood reduced the lomas overstory and caused ground moisture to evaporate more quickly, which ultimately led to a decline of plant life in terms of both density and species diversity.
[1]: 23 Later strata at Paloma show fewer woody plant remains that were burned, and preserved firewood is generally smaller in diameter than in earlier levels.