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Research using Polylepis tarapacana tree rings shows that a severe drought from 1316 to 1371 in the Bolivian Altiplano coincided with a shift from vulnerable valley villages to fortified hilltop settlements (Pukaras), suggesting water scarcity triggered social conflict. The document warns that current warming, glacier shrinkage, and rising water demands from mining and agriculture increase the risk of similar conflicts today.

This fact sheet describes research using Polylepis tarapacana tree rings to reconstruct precipitation on the Bolivian Altiplano, linking a severe drought starting in 1316 to a shift from vulnerable valley villages to fortified hilltop settlements (Pukaras) due to social conflict over water.

This IAI fact sheet describes how tree-ring analysis of Polylepis tarapacana in the Bolivian Altiplano provides evidence that a severe, prolonged drought between 1316 and 1371 coincided with a transition from vulnerable settlements to fortified sites (Pukaras), suggesting that water scarcity triggered social conflicts.