Fishing with Dogs: Canine Contributions to Andean Maritime Communities

Summary

This is an abstract from the "If Animals Could Speak: Negotiating Relational Dynamics between Humans and Animals" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Dogs played many roles within prehispanic Andean societies, including companions, hunting and herding partners, guardians, sacrifices, and mortuary offerings. Their role within maritime communities however remains surprisingly understudied, particularly considering the importance of maritime adaptations to Andean political economy. Drawing on findings from recent excavations at Jahuay, a Topará village on the Peruvian south coast (200 BC–AD 150), this paper considers dogs’ socioeconomic and ritual contributions to prehispanic maritime communities. Sacrificed dog burials, as well as canine and human footprints preserved in a flooded production area, reveal diverse ways that dogs participated in village life. At Jahuay, dogs likely helped Topará fisherfolk to hunt marine birds and guarded drying fish and mollusk meat from scavengers. Their importance as companions and their economic contributions were in turn an important factor in their appropriateness as sacrificial offerings during local community rituals.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• If Animals Could Speak: Negotiating Relational Dynamics between Humans and Animals   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36371.0