4000 YEARS OF HUMAN IMPACT AND VEGETATION CHANGE IN THE CENTRAL PERUVIAN ANDES - WITH EVENTS PARALLELLING THE MAYA RECORD

A lake-sediment sequence from Marcacocha in the central Peruvian Andes provides a well-dated and continuous vegetation record from an area r ich in Inca and pre-Inca remains over the last 4000 years. Climatic ch anges in this record at AD 1-100 and AD 900-1050 seem to be broadly co ntemporaneous with major arid events from Lake Chichancanab, Mexico, a ffecting the Maya civilization and corroborated by the Quelccaya and H uascaran ice cores in Peru.