This study is an investigation of late prehistoric irrigation agriculture in North Coastal Peru. There has been much debate over the significance of irrigated agriculture to the development of indigenous civilization on the North Coast of Peru. Yet, in spite of the many references to prehistoric North Coast irrigation, only recently is information regarding the technology and functioning of the prehistoric systems becoming available. Little, however, is yet known about the extent of the prehistoric irrigation systems preserved on the North Coast. It is the intent of this study to present a summary of our present knowledge regarding these aspects of North Coast irrigation agriculture, to suggest methods and avenues for continued research, and to propose several specific hypotheses with regard to late prehistoric agricultural technology and environmental exploitation. / text

Circulation and Transformation of Raw Materials: The Case of the Paijanense in the Chicama Valley (11.000-7000 BP)The paper presents a study of the more relevant raw materials that were used during the Paijanense in order to manufacture their bifacial and unifacial implements in the Chicama valley. The location of the principal sources of raw materials in relationship to the settlements is discussed, as well as their extraction, circulation and transformation according to the quality of the various types of rock. / El presente trabajo es un estudio de las principales materias primas utilizadas durante el Paijanense para la elaboración de los implementos bifaciales y unifaciales en el valle de Chicama. Se discute la localización de las principales fuentes de materias primas en relación al asentamiento, así como la extracción, circulación y transformación de las mismas en función a la calidad de los diversos tipos de minerales.

New Evidence and Problems Concerning the Paijanense in the Chicama Valley: Contributions to an Evaluation of Early Occupation in Northern PerúRecent information on the Paijanense in the Chicama valley is presented complementing the available data in the archaeological literature. In a review on spacial occupation, the information about the resources and the bioindicators, as well as the mobility through natural corridors, the problem of the settlement paterns and the probabilities for the early sedentarism is discussed. The function of projectile points for hunting as well as the necessity for more intensive investigations on this culture of the Early Archaic Period is also proposed. / Se presenta información reciente sobre el Paijanense en el valle de Chicama que complementa la existente en la literatura arqueológica. En base a una revisión acerca de la ocupación del espacio, la información sobre los recursos y los bioindicadores, y la movilidad a través de corredores naturales, se discute el problema de los asentamientos y las probabilidades de un sedentarismo temprano. Se evalúa la función de las puntas de proyectil paijanenses para la caza y la necesidad de mayores investigaciones sobre esta cultura del Arcaico Temprano.

The purpose of this study was to analize the combined effects of the two agrarian reforms 1969 and 1980 on a peasant group in the Chicama valley - Peru. Until now Magdalena de Cao, a peasant group in Chicama valley had not been examined in light of the recent agrarian reforms and their effects on this peasant group. The data were collected mainly through informal interviews with minimum participant observation. Comparative information on lifestyles among the people representing all types of agrarian constituents were obtained as part of the data. Some questions, if not hypotheses, have been generated and raised. A census of 177 families or 870 individuals was obtained by this researcher alone. Magdalena de Cao, as a peasant group, provides an empirical case of independent peasants and their adaptive strategies to confront the challenge of social development. Their strife is not only relevant to Chicama valley, but also in the broader national picture. / Department of Anthropology

We present newly-registered Paiján sites in the interior and upper parts of the Chicama, Moche and Virú valleys, with strong tiesto the highland region. The research indicates that Paiján hunter-gatherers were not only a coastal group whose subsistence was basedon marine resources. They also occupied diverse ecological environments preferring springs with high mobility across the Andes and exploiting diverse resources, such as white-tail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and raw materials for producing lithic tools. / En este artículo se presenta el registro de nuevos sitios paijanenses al interior y parte alta de los valles de Chicama, Moche y Virú, más vinculados con la región de la sierra, lo que evidencia, de manera consistente, que estos grupos de cazadores-recolectores no se establecieron solo en la costa y basaron su subsistencia en los recursos marinos, sino que ocuparon diversos ambientes ecológicos siempre relacionados con fuentes de agua y tuvieron un amplio grado de movilidad de manera longitudinal y transversal a lo largo de los cursos de ríos y quebradas, con lo que pudieron aprovechar una mayor diversidad de recursos, entre ellos el venado gris de cola blanca (Odocoileus virginianus) y materias primas para la elaboración de herramientas líticas.

Fishtail Points at Quebrada Santa María and the Antiquity of the Man in South AmericaIn light of new discoveries and theoretical proposals, the discovery of the first sites containing evidence of fish tail points at Quebrada Santa María, Chicama valley, northern Perú, contributes with new information that answers more than one of the questions concerning the first inhabitants of South America. / El descubrimiento de los primeros sitios con evidencias de la tradición de puntas de proyectil en cola de pescado en Quebrada Santa María, valle de Chicama, norte del Perú, por las caracteristicas de hallazgos, y a la luz de los nuevos descubrimientos y propuestas teóricas, plantea la posibilidad de contribuir con nuevos datos para dar respuesta a más de una de las interrogantes que tenemos sobre los primeros habitantes en Sudamérica.