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Archaic period settlement patterns in the Andean region have long been understood as adaptations to the different vertical ecological zones of the region (cf Lynch 1971; 1980; Nuñez 1983; Rick 1980, 1983). Each of the vertical zones was used in distinctive ways by the prehistoric inhabitants of Andean South America, but it is not clear whether the settlement systems of the different zones were separate or linked to one another.

Until recently, models of Archaic period subsistence and settlement posited large scale transhumance across seasonally complementary vertical ecological zones (cf Lynch 1971; Ravines 1972; True 1975). Current models suggest less seasonal variation in local environments and more constricted settlement systems. They model settlement systems ranging from sedentism within vertical ecological zones (Rick 1980, 1983), to limited transhumance within a single broad ecological zone (MacNeish et al. 1975), to transhumance across two adjacent zones (Lynch 1983; Nuñez 1983; Santoro 1982). The coastal zone is generally viewed as a relatively rich and productive area capable of supporting groups of maritime hunter-gatherers for much or all of the year, but each model proposes slightly different patterns of use and settlement.