Contrary to the long-standing belief that the shift from foraging to farming was driven by desperation and dwindling food supplies, a new study shows that early agricultural communities in the Andean Altiplano were thriving—and innovating—during this pivotal period in human history.
Published in PLOS One, the research led by Luis Flores-Blanco of the University of California Davis and Arizona State University, along with a team of interdisciplinary scholars, sheds new light on the origins of agriculture in the Lake Titicaca Basin of southern Peru and Bolivia.
“Our research shows that the origin of agriculture in the Titicaca Basin was a resilient process,” Flores-Blanco said. “Rather than reacting to crisis, ancient Andean communities actively managed their ecosystems and gradually incorporated domesticated species into their diets.”
A Smooth Transition, Not a Crisis Response
The dominant theory has long portrayed the agricultural revolution as a last resort—an outcome of overpopulation and resource scarcity that forced humans to adopt farming. But Flores-Blanco and his colleagues present a compelling alternative.
By analyzing carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in the bones of 16 individuals buried at the archaeological sites of Kaillachuro and Jiskairumoko, the researchers reconstructed the ancient diets of people living between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago—precisely during the forager-to-farmer transition.
Their findings are striking: 84% of dietary intake came from plants, with the remainder consisting of meat from large mammals. These proportions remained consistent across time, and were nearly identical to both earlier foraging groups and later full-fledged agricultural communities.
In short, the data undermines the idea that early Andean societies turned to farming because they had no other choice.
The Andean Way: Stability, Not Scarcity
Instead of abandoning foraging, these communities blended it with early agriculture. The result was a hybrid economy—one that combined wild food harvesting with gradual domestication of staple crops like quinoa and potatoes, and the sustainable management of camelids such as llamas and alpacas.
“They didn’t just survive—they thrived,” said co-author Luisa Hinostroza. “The Altiplano transition to agriculture was not a response to crisis, but a stable, self-sufficient process that endured for millennia.”
Key to this resilience were cultural and technological advances of the time, including:
Expanding trade networks
Innovations in ceramics and archery
A deep ecological understanding of their local landscape
A Cross-Disciplinary Approach
The study’s conclusions were made possible by integrating methods from isotope chemistry, archaeobotany, and zooarchaeology—including the analysis of macrobotanical remains and statistical dietary modeling.
It adds to a growing body of evidence that challenges outdated views of early agriculture as a desperate measure, offering instead a more nuanced, human-centered view of innovation and sustainability.
“This work is more than just data,” Flores-Blanco noted. “It’s about rewriting history to better reflect the ingenuity and adaptability of ancient Andean societies.”
