Stable isotopic evidence for camelid mobility and its consequences for early hunter-gatherer settlement patterns in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, Chile

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We examine the stable isotopic signature of camelid and rodent remains from PaleoIndigenous sites of the Pampa del Tamarugal (PdT), Atacama Desert (12,800 – 11,200 cal yrs BP; 800 – 1,200 masl). 𝛿13C and 𝛿15N values suggest two groups of animals: 1) with higher 𝛿15N signal and increased C4 diet and, 2) with lower 𝛿15N values and a C3-predominant diet. Through isotopic and taxonomic analyses, we hypothesize that the group with higher 𝛿15N was not local but source to the Puna (3,200 - 4,000 masl), and could correspond to vicuñas. The second group, possibly guanacos and rodents, could correspond to animals from the PdT or from the Andean Steppe (4,000 – 4,500 masl). However, most remains come from residential areas and represent young camelids, indicating that they were hunted locally. This demonstrates that the PdT supported life and that it was not a passageway from the Andes to the coast. Since there are two groups of animals, some of them represented by fleece, we propose that there could have been movement of humans and camelid remains from the Puna to the PdT. This movement could respond to seasonal migration or congregation of hunter-gatherer bands in the Atacama’s lowlands.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38285.0