Here's How Peru's Ancient People Survived in the Treacherous Andes

[Judi Lynn]

By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | November 9, 2018 02:55pm ET

- click for image -

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Two graduate students and a local villager excavate a burial at Jiskairumoko, in Peru.
Credit: Mark Aldenderfer

By about 7,000 years ago, ancient people who lived high in the Andes Mountains had developed bigger hearts and slightly higher blood pressure, among other adaptations, to better survive life at those treacherous heights, a new genetic analysis shows.

And those changes may have occurred soon after people began living permanently in the highlands.

"Despite harsh environmental factors, the Andes were populated relatively early after entry into the [South American] continent," the researchers wrote in the study, published online yesterday (Nov. 8) in the journal Science Advances. "The adaptive traits necessary for permanent occupation may have been selected for in a relatively short amount of time, on the order of a few thousand years." [1,200 Year-Old Site with Many Mummies Found in Peru (Gallery)]

High in the mountains
Archaeological findings indicate that hunter-gatherers began living in the Andean highlands at least 12,000 years ago, and permanent occupation began around 9,000 years ago. To learn more about the ancient people who lived around Lake Titicaca, the researchers analyzed the DNA from ancient and modern people in the region.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/64052-ancient-dna-andes-survival.html

[Victor_c3]

1. Interesting

I read an article recently that this is different from how people in the Himalayas adapted to high altitude living.

[Judi Lynn]

2. It would be well worth the time examining the differences, no doubt about it. n/t