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Site Details

Puente - Puente Cave; Ac 158; Puente Shelter

Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology Collection Read more about this collection »

Site Typerock shelter DescriptionLocated in the Ayacucho Basin, near the Ayacucho site. The site was discovered in 1969 and excavated in both 1969 and 1970. This is a large preceramic site, with an enormous amount of artifacts, numbering in the hundreds. Artifacts include flakes, scrapers, points (including over 200 identifiable points from all Peruvian horizons known in the 1970s), bone tools such as needles and awls, choppers, scrapers and faunal remains. Features include burials and hearths. The site is approximately 50m by 40m on the Wichqana arroyao, with the main occupation at the top of the talus, below a 30m cliff of volcanic ash. There are five phases here: Puente Phase, which represents occupation 1, prior to 7200 B.C.; Jaywa Phase: which represents occupations 2-6, from 7100 B.C. to 5800 B.C.; Piki Phase, which represents occupations 7-21, from 5800 B.C. to 4400 B.C.; Chihua Phase, representing occupations 22-31, from 4400 B.C. to 3100 B.C.; and the Chachi Phase, which represents occupations 32-38, from 3100 B.C. to 1750 B.C.

Site Name Puente Alternate Site Name Puente Cave; Ac 158; Puente Shelter Site Type rock shelter Description
Located in the Ayacucho Basin, near the Ayacucho site. The site was discovered in 1969 and excavated in both 1969 and 1970. This is a large preceramic site, with an enormous amount of artifacts, numbering in the…
Located in the Ayacucho Basin, near the Ayacucho site. The site was discovered in 1969 and excavated in both 1969 and 1970. This is a large preceramic site, with an enormous amount of artifacts, numbering in the hundreds. Artifacts include flakes, scrapers, points (including over 200 identifiable points from all Peruvian horizons known in the 1970s), bone tools such as needles and awls, choppers, scrapers and faunal remains. Features include burials and hearths. The site is approximately 50m by 40m on the Wichqana arroyao, with the main occupation at the top of the talus, below a 30m cliff of volcanic ash. There are five phases here: Puente Phase, which represents occupation 1, prior to 7200 B.C.; Jaywa Phase: which represents occupations 2-6, from 7100 B.C. to 5800 B.C.; Piki Phase, which represents occupations 7-21, from 5800 B.C. to 4400 B.C.; Chihua Phase, representing occupations 22-31, from 4400 B.C. to 3100 B.C.; and the Chachi Phase, which represents occupations 32-38, from 3100 B.C. to 1750 B.C.

Citation

Page Citation for Puente - Puente Cave; Ac 158; Puente Shelter

Page Citation

"Site Details - Puente - Puente Cave; Ac 158; Puente Shelter, Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology Collection." University of Alberta Museums Search Site, https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/g/7-727/17-3808. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.

Publications

Author Rick, John W.
Title The character and context of highland preceramic society
Publication Date 1988
Author MacNeish, Richard S., Angel Garcia Cook, Luis G. Lumbreras, Robert K. Vierra and Antoinette Nelken-Terner
Title Prehistory of the Ayacucho Basin, Peru: Volume IV: The Preceramic Way of Life
Publication Date 1983
Author MacNeish, Richard S., Angel Garcia Cook, Luis G. Lumbreras, Robert K. Vierra and Antoinette Nelken-Terner
Title Prehistory of the Ayacucho Basin, Peru: Volume II: Excavations and Chronology
Publication Date 1981

Site Information

There are 4 specimens from this Item Group

970.52.1 - scraper

Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology Collection

Object Typescraper Place CollectedSouth America: Peru, Ayacucho Basin Date Collected1970

970.52.2 - retouched flake

Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology Collection

Object Typeretouched flake Place CollectedSouth America: Peru, Ayacucho Basin Date Collected1970

970.52.3 - flake

Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology Collection

Object Typeflake Place CollectedSouth America: Peru, Ayacucho Basin Date Collected1970

970.52.1LOT - lithic specimens

Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology Collection

Object Typevarious sub-categories Place CollectedSouth America: Peru, Ayacucho Basin Date Collected1970