The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 19, 1978, Image 3
THE BATTALION Page 3 WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1978 . __ __ WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1978 E \f£rM anthropologists study ancient life in Peru SCOTT PENDLETON Battalion Staff ' ress usually results from new tc ogy. i n Peru, with the help ropologists from Texas A6cM rce Bast-sity, ancient and modern otallouj 0 gy are both contributing to r wr, v4 s . Iwlogjjtss of Peru known as lomas im todi ipported substantial prehis- 1 ‘center )mftnmities. These areas are I I dj investigated to determine dress je people were able to live lisruptisjnd how they might be able to *re again. ?re’s a modern economic t, not just an archeological aid Dr. Clendon Weir, assis- ofessor of anthropology at V&M. The Peruvian govern- s studying the ancient com es to see which of their Is and resources will be use- modern inhabitants, r and graduate assistant onj^.s Stearns returned July 6 ia ^ceru, where they are involved stettin; o-year project to take a close the very earliest evidence of ture along the central coast of 3n a previous trip to Peru, 1 oticed a correlation between t food production and re-bcaring areas known as statu tor summer Weir verified that 1 T L r eas were the centers for an- '"^■bod production as much as ‘ng« spans tance nick dot ears ago. Today these areas lI ~':ually uninhabited. • Peruvian government wants ge this. It has started a reset- t program, moving people le Lima and Andean areas to intryside in an attempt to find r them and widen the coun- ut , . „ onomic base. “About eight years ago the Peru vian government began recruiting Andean peasants to come to Lima,” Weir said. The government sought international financing to establish some light industries around Lima. A larger available work force was a requirement for the loan, he said. “Instead of thousands, they at tracted two to three million,” Weir said. The loans were never made. Now the government must resettle the peasants back on the land to re lieve the pressure on the urban areas of the central coast. As part of this effort, the lomas will be repopulated. But before this can be done, the anthropologists must discover how earlier inhabi tants could live there. What happened to the original inhabitants of the lomas areas? “They destroyed their environ ment,’ Weir said. He said that overhunting of animals and overuse of trees and grazing land made the land uninhabitable. Making the lomas habitable once again will be a long-term project. Weir said that the government will start pilot communities in a few years and increase the population gradually as resources permit. He estimates that there will be a sub stantial number of inhabitants in 20 years. Some of the areas will have to undergo reforestation. “Lomas are actually very fragile environments,” Weir said. They are moist areas surrounded by a very arid region, somewhat like oases in a desert. The problem is that all of the moisture comes from fogs called garuas. These fogs occur only during the winter when the cold water of the Humboldt current meets warmer surface air and water. Weir estimates that the lomas receive several centimeters of water per square meter from the fog each night. In the spring there is some runoff, but this dries up in the early summer. During the summer, what moisture remains is contained in the soil at the root level. Weir said there hasn’t been any substantial rainfall on the central coast since 1936. “The ancient residents were sea sonal,” Weir said. They only lived in the lomas during the winter. In the summer they returned to the Andes or to the coast, he said. In order to permanently settle these areas, new residents will have to practice “sophisticated conserva tion,” Weir said. Some methods for gathering water will be the same as the ancient inhabitants used. Modern technology will also do its part, he said. The Peruvian gov ernment will have to drill deep wells and promote other methods to provide water for the summer months. The government wants the new inhabitants to raise crops such as corn, beans, squash, and possibly cotton during the winter, and poul try, which require little water, dur ing the summer. This would add significantly to the economic base of Peru, which relies heavily on fishing and mining. Weir is interested in the lomas because they are the sites of some of the first agriculture in the New World. That early farming was done on such a small scale that Weir pre fers to call it “horticulture,” Yet it does represent a departure from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The lomas’ most ancient resi dents, the ones that concern Weir, lived in the pre-ceramic period about 6,000 years ago. During Ip's last six-week stay in Peru, Weir studied several dozen lomas and gathered data about crops, popula tion size, and technology. Though a lot of the evidence they searched for was organic, and there fore subject to decay, much had been preserved by the dry climate. “Fantastic amounts of early plants were preserved at the sites,” Weir said. The scientists studied ancient pol len contained in the soil and the plant remains to determine what the inhabitants were using and growing. Corn, primitive potatoes, wild to matoes, beans, squash, and later, cotton were grown by the ancient inhabitants. The artifacts Weir and Stearns found include basketry of all kinds, nets, shellfish, and fire hearths, and grinding stones called batans. They have even found the remains of wooden houses, although there are no trees in the lomas to day. Weir speculates that trees were once abundant, but were used until none remained. Not all of the information gathered has been analyzed, but several conclusions have already emerged: — early settlements without ex ception were associated with the lomas. — different lomas were centers for different early plant crops. — perhaps the most important result, Weir speculates, is pinpoint ing the lomas as the site of the ear liest food production on the coast. “This is the interesting thing that '»t G tiichi 'VI)Hq lishet By FLAYYA KRONE Battalion Campus Editor it 300 Texas A&M students, ; , and (staff are expected to do- ood in the Aggie Blood Drive nd Thursday, Audrey Boone, s in rat "siicW 'st*b*i ly July, : government secretary, said, ga Phi Alpha and Alpha Phi An ( service organizations are time( fing,the blood drive in con- n with student government as A&M. It will be held in 224 and 212 in the MSC from to 5 p. m. ;e times each year Wadley ular Medicine of Dallas, veteris a contract with student gov- 'nouajnt, collects blood from Texas ‘incnbitudents, faculty and staff, is Acl;s] e much of the blood col- 10 Mcb by Wadley is used for re- ill ispis, University students. alumni, personnel and their families all benefit from the blood drive, Boone said. If a student, alumni, faculty or staff member or their families need blood, they can obtain it free from Wadley, Boone said. “Texas A&M is one of Wadley’s largest donors,” Boone said. “We have had professors here who have undergone open heart surgery and received their blood free from the Wadley blood bank.” Persons receiving blood from Wadley do not have to live in Texas. “Wadley can transfer blood credits anywhere in the United States,” Boone said. Participation in the blood drive is not required to be eligible for free blood, Boone said. “However, we are urging everyone, especially faculty and staff members, to donate blood,” Boone added. Donating blood takes about 15 minutes. Boone said. Volunteers are screened before they can donate blood. Most donors give a pint of blood, Boone said. “After drawing blood, the volun teers are given orange juice and graham crackers and then they’re on their way,” Boone said. V een As* hnoi,»l uesdayi iw and 1 •d wid ss the t enbyfc d out® >ster nister* ne Mi"* ■t >ple is ounces 1 *ny tW od it is es it dead 1 . QuoK >’Leal) 400 dif e Star’ or rep® very iS 1 n exp* day n« trillion, fl 1 ’ l lion, T# entitled ^ dispatch • r matted ► liege St^ ER . ociafion . tn Con^ _ .. LeeP ->b G. M Or. CW Eire. D#' Listen big ...spend small The big name in stereo receivers today is Yamaha. Superior tonality, convenient features, and broad flexibility make them the most wanted brand around. Now Yamaha is more affordable than it has ever been before. The new CR-220 receiver benefits from the technical wiz ardry that makes Yamaha unique, yet its price is surprisingly modest. One look at the specifications of this magnificent new component tells you it is all Yamaha; Superb signal to noise ratio means more music and less noise even in the softest listening passages. A continuously variable loudness con trol assures you of full range fidelity from the most resounding volumes to the softest whispers. Total harmonic and intermodulation dis tortion measures a mere 0.05% — Yamaha settles for nothing less. Another outstanding value is Yamaha’s YP-211 turntable, which offers the semi automatic convenience and performance of much more expensive units. Yamaha’s NS-5 accoustic suspension speaker systems provide full range fidelity and have been compared with speakers costing much, much more. These components combine to make a system with the performance and modest cost that will amaze you. Finding the best value in quality stereo components from the hundreds currently available is no easy task. All of our tech nical and listening expertise is brought to bear in selecting our merchandise. Yamaha is only one example of the fine products we have built our reputation on. Come in and discover the competent assistance and exceptional after sales service that will bring you back again and again. ©YAMAHA AUDIO 707 Texas Ave. in College Station 846-5719 we weren’t sure of up to this point,” Weir said. “Everyone thought food production first occurred in the highlands. In fact, it appeared about the same time as in the highlands.” The study of the lomas is a two- year project in which the Peruvian government, the National Agrarian University of Lima, the Center for Investigation of Arid Zones, Texas A&M University and the University of Missouri at Colombia are partners. The project is being funded by a $90,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Weir is planning to return to Peru next summer for three months, and several graduate assistants will stay s;gie students, faculty, staff asked > participate in Wadley Blood Drive for a year. They will start a massive campaign of collecting modern plants and pollen and the remains of fish, shellfish, and animals. They want to compare the distribution, amount, and kind of food resources — plant and animal — that were available in ancient times to what is there today. N We're, your full-service florist. Fresh Flowers - Silk Flowers Hallmark Cards & Gifts - Candles Green Plants We wire flowers anywhere Aggieland Flower Shop 846-5825