Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Inca success in Peruvian Andes 'thanks to llama dung'
BBC ^ | May 21, 2011 | Caroline Anning

Posted on 05/22/2011 4:51:51 PM PDT by decimon

One of the world's greatest ancient civilisations may have been built on llama droppings, a new study has found.

Machu Picchu, the famous Inca city set in the Peruvian Andes, celebrates the centenary of its "'discovery" by the outside world this July.

Dignitaries will descend on site for a glitzy event in July marking 100 years since US explorer Hiram Bingham came upon the site, but the origins of Machu Picchu were far less glamorous.

According to a study published in archaeological review Antiquity, llama droppings provided the basis for the growth of Inca society.

It was the switch from hunter-gathering to agriculture 2,700 years ago that first led the Incas to settle and flourish in the Cuzco area where Machu Picchu sits, according to the study's author Alex Chepstow-Lusty.

Mr Chepstow-Lusty, of the French Institute of Andean Studies in Lima, said the development of agriculture and the growing of maize crops is key to the growth of societies.

"Cereals make civilisations," he said.

Mr Chepstow-Lusty has spent years analysing organic deposits in the mud of a small lake, "more of a pond really," called Marcaccocha on the road between the lower-lying jungle and Machu Picchu.

His team found a correlation between the first appearance of maize pollen around 700BC - which showed for the first time that the cereal could be grown at high altitudes - and a spike in the number of mites who feed on animal excrement.

They concluded that the widespread shift to agriculture was only possible with an extra ingredient: organic fertilisers on a vast scale.

In other words, lots of llama droppings.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: andes; andescandies; godsgravesglyphs; hirambingham; llama; machupicch; peru
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last
To: decimon

This whole article is garbage.

Civilization may be based on cereals, but somebody forgot to tell the Andean peoples. Their civilization was based on potatoes and fish.

Prior to the Inca empire around 1400, maize was grown as a status food, not a staple crop. Certainly a civilization starting in 700 BC wasn’t “based on maize.” This was true of all Meso-American civilizations, but not the Andean ones.


21 posted on 05/22/2011 6:55:23 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono

22 posted on 05/22/2011 6:57:29 PM PDT by Daffynition ("Don't just live your life, but witness it also.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Sherman Logan

23 posted on 05/22/2011 6:59:33 PM PDT by Daffynition ("Don't just live your life, but witness it also.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: decimon; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach ·
· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
 Antiquity Journal
 & archive
 Archaeologica
 Archaeology
 Archaeology Channel
 BAR
 Bronze Age Forum
 Discover
 Dogpile
 Eurekalert
 Google
 LiveScience
 Mirabilis.ca
 Nat Geographic
 PhysOrg
 Science Daily
 Science News
 Texas AM
 Yahoo
 Excerpt, or Link only?
 


Thanks decimon. Ima suming ac you think this is GGG material. :')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
 

· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword ·
· Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·


24 posted on 05/22/2011 7:40:04 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: decimon

Mostly for the Fleece, (Fiber), I have found that it is superior to Sheep’s wool for the texture, softness and the Hypo-allergenic properties. Wool however is superior for keeping you warm even when it is wet. But does itch like crazy...

We also breed for superior animals, The American Alpaca industry is still very small and we can use as many breeders as we can get. The goal is to get the national herd above one million. It’s a round number, but we believe that at that size the commercial processing costs will drop considerably. For now though, Fiber processing is either done at mini-mills or by home crafting enthusiasts or fiber artists.


25 posted on 05/22/2011 7:54:12 PM PDT by The Working Man
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
Ima suming ac you think this is GGG material. :')

Ande ewe can do better? Cria me a river. ;-)

26 posted on 05/22/2011 7:54:53 PM PDT by decimon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: decimon

We’ve had llamas for years. Something interesting about their behavior is that they use communal dung piles. One of them picks a place to do their business and all of them will use that spot over and over. If they stay in one area for a while, they will create an area that will stay significantly greener and more productive for years. I can see how someone might have capitalized on this.


27 posted on 05/22/2011 8:04:04 PM PDT by dangerdoc (see post #6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Working Man

Interesting. Good luck.


28 posted on 05/22/2011 8:12:35 PM PDT by decimon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: dangerdoc
One of them picks a place to do their business and all of them will use that spot over and over.

Maybe you can fake them out by moving some of the pile.

29 posted on 05/22/2011 8:15:00 PM PDT by decimon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: The Working Man

For superior non-itching, warmth inducing natural fiber, nothing beats cashmere. Gotta love those goats!

Someone once wrote, “...if you like cats, you’ll like goats. Goats see being fenced in as though living in a gated community they’re free to leave at will!”


30 posted on 05/22/2011 8:45:14 PM PDT by SatinDoll (NOT FOREIGN NATIONALS AS OUR PRESIDENT)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Um, GGGGG.

Gods, Graves, Glyphs, Grains, and Guano.


31 posted on 05/23/2011 1:32:48 AM PDT by Erasmus (I love "The Raven," but then what do I know? I'm just a poetaster.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: decimon

“Maybe you can fake them out by moving some of the pile.”

Yep, that’s how you do it. They will immediately start using that spot.


32 posted on 05/23/2011 8:47:34 AM PDT by dangerdoc (see post #6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: decimon

Didn’t she appear in “Secret of the Incas?”


33 posted on 05/23/2011 8:58:56 AM PDT by Silentgypsy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: SatinDoll

It’s getting their heads stuck in the fence that’s the rub.


34 posted on 05/23/2011 9:00:48 AM PDT by Silentgypsy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: decimon

35 posted on 05/23/2011 9:03:30 AM PDT by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Silentgypsy

LOL! A writer of one article I read in Hobby Farms insists that to raise goats, one must be a romantic.

I have no idea what the above means. I hope one day to have a couple of miniature Jersey cows and a small flock of Santa Cruz sheep. No goats. I’m supposing no genes for romance.


36 posted on 05/23/2011 11:15:49 AM PDT by SatinDoll (NOT FOREIGN NATIONALS AS OUR PRESIDENT)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: SatinDoll

Goatgranny has me convinced that goats will be our next project.


37 posted on 05/23/2011 12:34:04 PM PDT by Silentgypsy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson