Chan-Chan is an archaeological site and beach on the coast of the commune of Mehuín in southern Chile. Chan-Chan is known to have been inhabited by

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

s during two periods of the Middle Archaic, separated by a hiatus. One period spans from 6420 to 6250 BP and the other from 6130 to 5730 BP. The beach of Chan-Chan extends on the north to Huezhui tombolo and on the south to a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

. The archaeological site itself is located above the beach, on a

coastal terrace A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin, ...

, that was formed by sediments of

allochthonous River ecosystems are flowing waters that drain the landscape, and include the biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions of its many parts.Angelier, ...

(exotic) and autochthonous (local) origin. The allochthonous material consist of volcanic rocks as well as retransportated mollusc shells. The autochthonous material is chiefly made of sands,

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

and peat. Pino, Mario and Navarro, Rayen
Geoarqueología del sitio arcaico Chan-Chan 18
Revista Geológica de Chile, 2005. After examining several artifacts found on the coast of the Valdivia and Concepción areas, archaeologist Menghin claimed the findings belong to a "Chanchaense Complex" or culture extending from Quiriquina Island (37° S) in the north to Tierra del Fuego (55° S) in the south. The inhabitants of Chan-Chan had access to a substantial diversity of rocks, with schists, basalt, quartz and chert being found close to or at the archaeological site. The inhabitants of Chan-Chan had even grey

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

from Chaitén Volcano, located 400 km south of Chan-Chan. As of 2005, 3484 stone handcrafts and 12,050 carve outs have been found in Chan-Chan as well as bones from mammals, birds and fishes apart from

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s of marine invertebrate shells. The superficial layers of the Chan-Chan site were washed by the tsunami that followed the

1960 Valdivia earthquake The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami ( es, link=no, Terremoto de Valdivia) or the Great Chilean earthquake (''Gran terremoto de Chile'') on 22 May 1960 was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Various studies have placed it at 9.4– ...

, which produced waves of 12 to 15 meters. These waves possibly emplaced some disc-shaped cobbles in the terrace of Chan-Chan. The same kind of disc-shaped cobbles are found in the lower layers of human occupation in Chan-Chan, as well, leaving open the possibility that they were deposited by an ancient tsunami, according to Pino and Navarro.

References

{{coord missing, Chile Archaic period in the Americas Archaeological sites in Chile Geography of Los Ríos Region Landforms of Los Ríos Region Beaches of Chile