Los diluvios de 1578 AD: How spatial approaches to the documentary record can contribute to the archaeology of El Niño

Resumen

With its long-term perspective, archaeology can tell us much about cultural responses, material adaptations, and the development of intergenerational knowledge about El Niño. However, we are limited by what we cannot see: actions that are ephemeral or non-material and leave no recognizable trace—or no trace yet recognized. We review spatial approaches to historical documents that can complement archaeological study to yield insights into socio-cultural responses to El Niño. We tested spatial-historical and spatial modeling techniques on witness testimonies of an El Niño that devastated Peru’s North Coast in 1578 AD. We extracted details from a subset of testimonies into a relational database paired with a geographic information system, allowing us to explore the geography of the disaster and community responses. Some of our results echo archaeological observations of responses to El Niño. Such cases have the potential to enhance our understanding of how these responses were developed, sustained, and deployed. Although based on a small number of testimonies, our results demonstrate how historical data can be integrated with archaeological research to provide a more complete understanding of past community responses to El Niño that may improve how present-day populations prepare for future events.