image: The primary guano-producing bird species. (A) Sula variegata (Peruvian booby). (B) Pelecanus thagus (Peruvian pelican). (C) Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum (Guanay cormorant). Photos by Diego H. (A and C) and Claude Kolwelter (B), iNaturalist.org. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0. Cropped from originals.
Credit: Bongers et al., 2026, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Seabird poop could have been used to fertilize Peru's Chincha Valley by at least 1250 CE, potentially facilitating the expansion of its pre-Inca society
Article URL: https://plos.io/4renTnm
Article title: Seabirds shaped the expansion of pre-Inca society in Peru
Author countries: Australia, U.S.
Funding: Funding for archaeological fieldwork and isotopic analyses of maize samples was provided to JLB by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-1144087), the Society of Fellows at Boston University, the Ford Foundation Fellowship Program, the National Geographic Young Explorers Grant Program (9347-13), and the Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid Research Program. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Journal
PLOS One
Article Title
Seabirds shaped the expansion of pre-Inca society in Peru
Article Publication Date
11-Feb-2026
COI Statement
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.