found. These are rough, simple tools, the majority with indefi- 
nite typology, made by percussion, and all of them on flakes. 
The only typical tools which characterize the site (and whose 
close counterparts are found only in the neighbouring Valley of 
Culebras and ina similar context), are some pebbles of various 
sizes, round or oval in shape, thin, and whose borders have 
been worked by unifacial percussion creating cutting edges. 
When Kelley made the first preliminary excavation in the 
year 1967, he found one maize cob, peanut shells, abundant 
samples of cotton, fragments of gourds, and residues of sea 
shell and bones. It is presumed that one sample of lima bean 
was also present, although it was never identified by a 
specialist. Later on, Kelley himself in 1958 continued search- 
ing for more botanical evidence in the surroundings of his 
preliminary excavation site, having been able to find 10 maize 
cobs and a corn tassel. This material was shown to Man- 
gelsdorf and because of its importance it was decided to go on 
with the search. 
When Bonavia excavated the site in the year 1960, he was 
able to find abundant residues of corn (consisting not only of 
cobs and ears, but also leaves and plants) besides lithic resi- 
dues (among which some disks which were mentioned before 
and one chipped stone point), textiles, mats and ropes. What 
called the attention most particularly was the finding of three 
pottery sherds during the excavations of the second stratig- 
raphic cut. Two of them were at the base of the eolic sand, that 
is on the surface of the site, at a depth of 15 cms., while the third 
appeared without any control, because of the collapse of one of 
the walls of the cut; it could be presumed that this one was 
associated with the two previous ones. 
The finding of these pottery sherds left some doubts about 
the possibility that the site could be pre-ceramic. However, in 
spite of many visits made by Bonavia to the site since 1960, he 
could never find on the surface other pottery fragments and 
during the excavations which took place in the season of 1974 
nothing in the way of ceramic residues was found. Although the 
studies of the structures present a series of questions, in gen- 
eral terms all the cultural context which is associated with this 
corn belongs to the late pre-ceramic period of the Peruvian 
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