Paloma (archaeological site)

Paloma is an archaeological site in Peru, located 65 km south of Lima in Chilca District, Cañete Province.: 10  Based on radiocarbon dating, it was a village from roughly 5700 to 2800 BCE.: 10  This corresponds to the late Preceramic IV and Preceramic V periods.: 11  It is one of the earliest villages in the Americas that archaeologists have been able to date stratigraphically.: 288  It is on the north edge of the Chilca River valley, in hills separating the main valley from a dry canyon called Quebrada de los Perdidos.: 10  The inhabitants would have been "within easy walking distance" from both the Chilca River itself (7-8 km south) and the Pacific coast, 3-4 km west.: 10  The site is bounded by coastal hills on the north and south.: 10  Paloma lies on the edge of the lomas - areas where moisture from fog allows plants to grow in an otherwise arid region.: 10  However, how the ancient settlement got access to fresh water is not clear.: 10  There are several possibilities: first, the inhabitants could have dug wells down to the water table.: 10  Second, a spring located about five minutes' walk east of the village may have provided water (it is possibly intermittent and was recorded by archaeologists in June 1976 but was not afterward).: 10  Finally, sand-lined pits may have been used to trap moisture from fog.: 10 

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