Posts Tagged: ‘norte chico’

Did climate change create a mysterious civilization 5,000 years ago? That’s the question we tried to answer in one of this week’s podcasts, and the answer is yes.

The Norte Chico region of Peru is often described as “lunar” — a deserted-looking desert landscape. So when archaeologists found seashells and fish bones, you can imagine why they might be confused. They also found 80-foot stone and dirt structures older than the Egyptian pyramids. Where did they come from?

In 3,000 B.C., El Nino became more frequent, raising the ocean’s temperature and pushing out the cold-water fish Peruvian fisherman lived off of. What’s a hunter-gatherer to do? Move inland.

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