Where are the camelids? II: contributions from the stable isotope ecology to understand mobility and exchange patterns in the South Central Andes

Summary

There is a growing volume of literature arguing that camelids were a local resource for Prehispanic societies that inhabited the coastal and intermediate Andean valleys from Peru. Indeed, existing evidences show uninterrupted herding practices along the Peruvian lowlands (>2,000 masl) at 8°S-16.5°S during the interval 800 BC-1100 AD. Although camelids archeofaunal remains, textiles and iconographic representations are recurrent in low-elevation sites from the northernmost Chile (17°-19°S), the relationship of these records with the widespread husbandry pattern detected across the neighboring region has not yet been explored. Moreover, the traditional view that camelids in low-elevation archaeological contexts were brought about by social-economic trade networks with the adjacent highlands (>3,500 masl) still persists. Here, I tackle these issues by reconstructing the origin for camelid in-bone charki found in a caravan site (1000 AD) from the Lluta Valley (18°S, 1100 masl). Specifically, by implementing zooarcheological analyses, stable isotopes characterization of bone-collagen and Bayesian statistical analyses we attempt to delineate a quantitative case study for evaluating life-history traits of low-elevation camelids that could provide insightful means for identifying converge/divergences in mobility patterns along the south central-Andes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Re-pensando la/s Movilidad/es Andina/s: Nuevas Perspectivas en Torno al Viaje, Contacto, Interacción, Intercambio y Obtención de Recursos en los Andes Centro-Sur   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15599