TELARMACHAY: MAIN CHARACTERISTICS AND HISTORY - HISTORY - 2024

Telarmachay is an archaeological site that is located in the Andes of Peru. Evidence of human life has been found in it between the years 7,000 BC and approximately 1,700 BC, and it can be determined that it had its great peak in the Late Lithic and Early Archaic Period.

Human civilization developed throughout this period and Telarmachay man is believed to have developed during the Holocene Glacial Period, which begins with the retreat of the last Pleistocene glaciers.

The man from Telarmachay is considered the first shepherd of the auquénidos (also known as camelids). It is presumed that work with camelid fiber began in this region.

Grazing spread as a custom through the high Andean highlands of Pasco, Huánuco and Áncash. Likewise, the excavation left countless stoves in its wake, where it is assumed that men cooked or heated their food, and also hunted animals.

Main characteristics of Telarmachay

The excavation and archaeological studies of the site were carried out in 1974 by the French archaeologist Danièlle Lavallèe and her research team.

These excavations reveal an impressive civilization from its fossils, in addition to other main features of Telarmachay.

Camelid breeding

French researchers who have carried out various archaeological tests have found that Telarmachay was a much more sedentary settlement than those of the predecessor cultures.

The Telarmachay man did not go elsewhere in search of food, as he had no great difficulty in getting his food.

According to the evidence found through fossil remains, it is believed that camelids were part of the town of Telarmachay and animals such as the alpaca or the llama were grazed in the heights of the area. Tarucas, guanacos and other camelids were also raised and hunted.

The camelids were not bred for domestication like a dog, they were cared for until they were large and then they were killed to obtain fur coats for the cold, meat for food, wool for weaving and bones to make tools and weapons.

However, in its last period, the Telarmachay people also domesticated other types of animals in addition to camelids.

Stoves

In Telarmachay the first evidence of stoves is found around the year 4,500 BC They were small and useful tools that were used to cook or heat food and have been fully disseminated throughout the Peruvian region and in much of the continental region of America, even after of the Spanish colonization.

If, for example, a man hunted an alpaca and skinned it, but left it lying around to attend to other needs, with the stoves he could heat the meat despite being inedible due to the cold.

The stoves could also be used as fireplaces to warm the body at night.

Beneficial geography

Due to the time in history in which Telarmachay was populated, it is known that it was a safe place that could serve as a refuge for people who were not combatants, but rather hunters and shepherds.

These highlands are more than 4,000 meters above sea level, more than 7.5 kilometers from San Pedro de Cajas.

What is now known as the Parpacocha lagoon, was at that time a reason for settlement by poachers who migrated from the north to the south through the great glaciers that melted at the end of the Holocene Period.

The place, geographically speaking, was perfect for survival. It had a nearby water source where the villagers could quench their thirst, wash their clothes and take the camelids to drink water. In addition, it had a varied fauna that gave it high possibilities of feeding.

In turn, by having valleys and plateaus, the geography of the place allowed man to build houses with stronger materials and live in them, giving way to an era where man stopped being nomadic and practiced sedentary lifestyle.

There are archaeological resources that dictate that Telarmachay man lived without moving from the settlement for at least 2,000 years.

Instrument manufacturing

Because the men who inhabited Telarmachay were sedentary, they had to create tools, utensils and instruments for their survival.

There is historical evidence indicating that men used unifacial scrapers to collect the meat of the animals they killed.

Likewise, it has been found that the inhabitants of this area often made weapons and tools with bones. From large bowls and knives to the tips of spears made from the bones of the camelids they raised. All in order to survive in those lands.

There is also archaeological information that reveals that the men of Telarmachay created brushes, but these were not for personal use, that is, they were not used to comb the hair of men, women or children.

The brushes were used to extract and work the wool previously extracted from the camelids.

Other sources indicate that one of the most interesting and extraordinary instruments created for the time were weaving tools.

The importance of these tools was vital, since if the men of Telarmachay had not been able to wear coats, then they would have died of cold.

Cemetery within the settlement

An interesting perspective on animal husbandry has been widely discussed by archaeologists who claim that for a time there were great deaths in the Telarmachay area.

The reason for the deaths is attributed to the breeding of llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos. How could animals cause hundreds of deaths?

Archaeologists have studied the terrain and claim that in the camelid breeding season, long-term inclusion of the animals in small pens caused the animals to excrete there again and again.

The more animals they put into the pens, the more animals died and some bacterial strains grew stronger.

Some records indicate that many Telarmachay men died from these bacterial diseases due to heavy exposure to camelid excrement.

People who died were buried right there in Telarmachay, and fossil records reveal that elderly women, men, and even children died.

References

1. Cardich, Augusto: Origin of man and Andean culture. Volume I of the History of Peru. Lima, Editorial Juan Mejía Baca, 1982. Fourth edition. ISBN 84-499-1606-2.
2. Kauffmann Doig, Federico: History and art of ancient Peru. Volume 1, p. 117. Lima, Ediciones PEISA, 2002. ISBN 9972-40-213-4.
3. Jane Wheeler. (2003). Evolution and Origin of the Domestic Camelids. August 21, 2017, from CONOPA Website: Conopa.org.
4. Benjamin Alberti, Gustavo G. Politis. (2005). Archeology in Latin America. Google Books: Routledge.
5. Carlos Tejada, Chantal Connaughton, Rachel Christina Lewis, José Pulido Mata, Nuria Sanz, Anjelica Young. (2015). Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in the Americas. UNESCO, II, 1-140. ISBN 978-92-3-100141-3.
6. Barbara R. Bocek, John W. Rick. (1984). The pre-ceramic period in the Junín puna. Chungará Magazine, Vol. 13, 109-127.
7. Tania Delabarde, Danièle Lavallée, Aldo Bolaños, Michèle Julien. (2009). Discovery of an early Archaic burial in southern Peru. Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines, Vol. III, 939-946.