In 1970 Robert Carneiro published his famous article in Science on “A Theory of the Origin of the State.” It proposed that the emergence of complex forms of social organization was due to the effect of environmental circumscription resulting from a lack of farmland. Under this situation, increasing population exceeded local “carrying capacity” and caused stress on production in these areas. The pressure on resources and their proper handling resulted in the emergence of the first complex forms of social organization. Later, Patterson was the first to apply Carneiro’s model for the Central Andean region. Following this perspective Moseley emphasized Patterson’s argument that population pressure (instead of the climatic causes proposed by Lanning) caused the depletion of the lomas resources [lomas are isolated, oasis-like pockets of vegetation sprinkled throughout the Peruvian coastal desert.Loss of lomas in turn forced people to seek more stable sources of supply ones which demanded a minimum investment of time and effort. In his view the abundance of marine resources led to the transition from lomas exploitation to an economy based on fishing specialization. Thus, the growing coastal population could find a steady source of subsistence products. The abundance of resources allowed the development of the first surplus production and thereby the emergence of political leaders, the construction of monumental architecture, and so on.