Ancient peruvians responded to climate crises with adaptation rather than violence

Archaeologists from New York University and George Mason University studied skeletal remains in the Lambayeque Valley of northern Peru to determine how ancient societies responded to environmental crises.

The team analyzed a collection of remains from the Lambayeque Valley Biohistory Project, which spans 3,000 years of history across 30 archaeological sites.

They examined over 1,600 individuals for signs of intentional cranial trauma to see if periods of severe flooding, such as those caused by El Niño, led to widespread interpersonal violence or mass human sacrifice. Previous theories suggested that the Moche and Sicán societies might have used mass human sacrifices as a way to restore balance to nature during destructive flooding events.

These floods destroyed food stocks and disrupted agriculture, leading some researchers to wonder if such violence was a common part of daily life during these crises. The researchers sought to see if extreme weather forced these communities into a cycle of social unraveling and violence. The study found that widespread violence was not a common response to climate change in this region.

Only 25 remains out of the 1,600 samples showed signs of intentional violence, representing 1.6 percent of the total. Additionally, 77 remains showed signs of accidental trauma. None of the remains showing signs of violence were directly linked to known periods of ecological crises. The researchers concluded that these ancient societies primarily used creative adaptations to survive environmental changes over thousands of years.