Title: Data supporting the PhD Thesis 'Socio-economic responses to Late Holocene climate variability and environmental change in the Peruvian Andes'. Creator(s): Josephine Handley https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6471-2742 Organisation(s): University of Reading Rights-holder(s): Josephine N Handley Publication Year:2022 Description: Primary data included within the Handley 2022 PhD Thesis 'Socio-economic responses to Late Holocene climate variability and environmental change in the Peruvian Andes'. Data consists of pollen, phytolith, micro-XRF, and organic matter content records for three infilled basins in the Peruvian Andes (Huarca, Callejón de Huaylas, Ancash Region; Antaycocha, Chillón Valley, Lima Region; Ayapampa, Chicha-Soras Valley, Apurímac Region). The three sites provide a transect across the Andes to better understand regional differences in social responses to, and variations in, environmental change over the past 2500 years. The three basins span from full-Holocene (Huarca ~11,500 yrs) sequences to Late Holocene timescales (Antaycocha ~3000 yrs; Ayapampa ~4000 yrs). However the focus for most of the analysis for this thesis has focused on the last 2500 years as this is the period of greatest cultural and agricultural development in the Peruvian Andes. Pollen data was obtained by standard procedures following Faegri and Irersen (1989) and Moore, Web and Collinson (1991) and involving the sieving, heavy liquid density separation and acetolysis of pollen samples. Phytolith analysis was carried out using the dry-ashing method outlined in Parr et al., 2001, with the addition of a sonication step (Lombardo et al., 2016). Both phytolith and pollen analysis was carried out using a high-powered stereo microscope and the raw counts obtained from these analyses is included within this dataset. Micro-XRF data was obtained using a ITRAX core scanner housed at the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (BOSCORF). XRF exposure time was 15 seconds per sampling point, using a Mo tube and run at a voltage of 30KV and a current of 30mA. Data presented in this dataset are in counts per second as obtained via the ITRAX scanner. Organic Matter Content (OMC) was obtained via Loss on Ignition, with material being heated to 550oC (following Bengtsson and Enell, 1986). Cite as: Handley, Josephine (2022): Data supporting the PhD Thesis 'Socio-economic responses to Late Holocene climate variability and environmental change in the Peruvian Andes'. University of Reading. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.17864/1947.000438 Related Publication: Handley, J. (2022) Socio-economic responses to Late Holocene climate variability and environmental change in the Peruvian Andes. PhD Thesis, University of Reading. https://doi.org/10.48683/1926.00112049 Contact: josiehandley31@hotmail.co.uk Acknowledgements: Thanks is given to my supervisors, Professor Nick Branch (University of Reading) and Professor José Iriarte (University of Exeter) for their guidance in the analysis procedures, to Dr Alex Herrera for help in identifying Huarca as a suitable sampling site and for the provision of samples from the BOF and TER contexts for phytolith analysis. Thanks to Dr Carlos Farfan for aiding in the identification of Antaycocha as a second site suitable for sampling. The micro-XRF results were obtained from the ITRAX scanner at British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (BOSCORF) and thanks is given to Dr Suzanne MacLachlan, Dr Millie Watts and Dr Miros Charidemou for their assistance with collecting and processing the data. Further thanks is given to Kevin WIlliams, Dr Dan Young, Dr Heather Plumpton (all former technicians at the University of Reading) for their training in the key methodological procedures used to obtain this dataset. 2. TERMS OF USE ------------ Copyright 2022 Josephine N Handley. This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. 3. PROJECT AND FUNDING INFORMATION ------------ Data created as part of PhD project titled: Socio-economic responses to Late Holocene climate variability and environmental change in the Peruvian Andes Dates: September 2017 - March 2022 Funding organisation: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) South, West and Wales (SWW) DTP Grant no.: AH/L503939/1 4. CONTENTS ------------ File listing: Antaycocha_Pollen_Data.xlsx: Raw pollen counts obtained from pollen analysis of Antaycocha core, file also includes counts for non-pollen palynomorphs, microcharcoal and a lycopodium counts (exotic marker) to allow for the calculation of pollen influx and concentration. This spreadsheet has been set up in a way that is compatible with Tilia (Grimm, 2019), the programme used to create the pollen diagrams within the thesis. Huarca_Pollen_Data.xlsx: Raw pollen counts obtained from pollen analysis of Huarca core, file also includes counts for non-pollen palynomorphs, microcharcoal and a lycopodium counts (exotic marker) to allow for the calculation of pollen influx and concentration. This spreadsheet has been set up in a way that is compatible with Tilia (Grimm, 2019), the programme used to create the pollen diagrams within the thesis. Phytolith_Data_All_Sites.xlsx: Raw phytolith counts for all sites with Phytolith Analysis. This includes Ayapampa and bofedales and a terrace sample from Awiskmarka (Chapter 3, Section 3.4 of thesis), proximal to the Huarca sampling site. Spreadsheets have been set up in a way that is compatible with Tilia (Grimm, 2019), the programme used to create the phytolith diagrams within the thesis. File contains both phytolith types included in the total phytolith assemblage count and those that are recorded but not included within this count (Non-Counted morphotypes). Antaycocha_MicroXRF.xlsx: MicroXRF data obtained via ITRAX core scanning for Antaycocha. File contains the elemental counts in counts per second (cps) as well as the details on the voltage and amperage of the Xray beam for each core section. Huarca_MicroXRF.xlsx: MicroXRF data obtained via ITRAX core scanning for Huarca. File contains the elemental counts in counts per second (cps) as well as the details on the voltage and amperage of the Xray beam for each core section. Antaycocha_OMC.xlsx: Organic Matter Content data for Antaycocha, including the weight of the samples before and after ashing the sample at 550oC. The file also includes the crucible weights to show how the final organic matter content was calculated. Huarca_OMC.xlsx: Organic Matter Content data for Huarca, including the weight of the samples before and after ashing the sample at 550oC. The file also includes the crucible weights to show how the final organic matter content was calculated. Handley_2022_Data_Dictionary.xlsx: Information on the variables included within each of the above datasheets. 5. METHODS ----------- The main methods for the collection of this dataset are outlined in Chapter 2 of the thesis Handley (2022) Socio-economic responses to Late Holocene climate variability and environmental change in the Peruvian Andes, however a summary of each methodology is provided below: Pollen data was obtained by standard procedures following Faegri and Irersen (1989) and Moore, Web and Collinson (1991) and involving the sieving, heavy liquid density separation and acetolysis of pollen samples. Phytolith analysis was carried out using the dry-ashing method outlined in Parr et al., 2001, with the addition of a sonication step (Lombardo et al., 2016). Both phytolith and pollen analysis was carried out using a high-powered stereo microscope and the raw counts obtained from these analyses is included within this dataset. Micro-XRF data was obtained using a ITRAX core scanner housed at the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (BOSCORF). XRF exposure time was 15 seconds per sampling point, using a Mo tube and run at a voltage of 30KV and a current of 30mA. For the cores in this study a scanning resolution of between 500µm and 1mm was used to pick up very fine changes in geochemistry within the sediment sequence. Data presented in this dataset are in counts per second as obtained via the ITRAX scanner. The data produced from the core scanning was split into 50cm sections, which was then cleaned and spliced together to make one complete sequence for the core. The elemental data was recorded against a scanning position which was converted into actual depth before the core sections were spliced together. Organic Matter Content (OMC) was obtained via Loss on Ignition, with material being heated to 550oC (following Bengtsson and Enell, 1986).