Settlement and population

The Middle Formative settlement system of the Taraco Peninsula differs in several important ways from that of the Early Formative. Three of these differences are particularly instructive. They are: 1) a reduction in the rate of population growth, 2) increased stability in the settlement system and 3) the emergence of a two-level site size hierarchy. I will discuss each of these in turn.

Table 6.3: Middle Formative: Metrics

	MF - Late Chiripa
Number of sites	31
Phase population index	3507
Annual population index growth rate	0.13
Occupation continuity index	64
Site founding index	55