Abstract

Discovery of a late Pleistocene (∼13,300 cal BP) reef-building coral species (Pocillopora damicornis) at the prehistoric Huaca Prieta settlement in Peru raises the question of its origin. Did it arrive in northern Peru from tropical Ecuador via larval dispersal in south-flowing El Niño currents or over land by human trading? The Holocene distribution of Pocillopora in the eastern Pacific extends as far south as southern Ecuador and possibly northern Peru. The marine climate during the late Pleistocene was cooler and likely limited the occurrence of corals at today’s latitudinal range. This suggests that overland or onshore transport was the most likely means of a southerly introduction, thus supporting interpretative models of early human movement along the Pacific coast of South America.

摘要

在秘鲁的史前 Huaca Prieta 定居点发现了一种晚更新世（~13,300 cal BP）造礁珊瑚物种（Pocillopora damicornis ），这引发了对其起源的质疑。它是从热带厄瓜多尔通过向南流动的厄尔尼诺洋流中传播的幼虫到达秘鲁北部，还是通过人类交易在陆地上传播？Pocillopora的全新世分布在东太平洋，南至厄瓜多尔南部，可能还有秘鲁北部。更新世晚期的海洋气候较凉爽，可能限制了今天纬度范围内珊瑚的出现。这表明陆路或陆上运输是最有可能向南引入的方式，因此支持了早期人类沿南美洲太平洋沿岸移动的解释模型。