Sample Investigation
Using Textiles to Date Sites in the Norte Chico, Peru
Lyra Haas' investigation was awarded 6th place in the 2005 Science Talent Search Competition. It builds on her prior work entitled TEXTILE SORTING TO DETERMINE DATES OF SITE OCCUPATION (2003-2004 school year).
Her advisor for this investigation was Dr. Jonathan Haas, Field Museum of Natural History.
Abstract
To understand complex civilizations, archaeologists need to know when people inhabited the given site or region. Without using radiocarbon dates, there had been no way to date sites from the preceramic occupation of the Norte Chico region (3000-1800 BCE) in Peru. However, since looms were rare in Peru until around 1800 BC, and non-loom techniques have an easily recognizable structure, textiles could be used to date preceramic sites.
We examined the weaving techniques used at previously dated sites to create a checklist of characteristics of preceramic textiles. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of this non-radiocarbon method to date sites in Peru's Norte chico region accurately.