Between Identification and Tradition: Toward a Folk Biology of Pre-Hispanic Andean Pastoralism

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Scaling New Heights: Recent Advances in Andean Zooarchaeology" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Faunal analysis in the Andes, while not without its own unique challenges, forms the foundation on which much of our understanding of Andean economy and ecology is based. Once thought to be a practice limited to the high Andes, it is now largely accepted that camelid pastoralism became a prominent practice at low altitudes in the Central Andean Region. Research by various scholars in the last four decades has dismantled this notion of the exclusivity and homogeneity of highland herding and has added nuance to our understanding of pre-Hispanic pastoral economies in a wide range of environments. While we now recognize the heterogeneity of past pastoral landscapes and practices, our knowledge of pre-Hispanic biological diversity and the roles these animals played in society remains limited. Much like the disparity in pre-Hispanic and contemporary camelid genetic diversity, the ways in which camelids are understood and cared for today may not actually represent those of the past. Here, I draw on traditional faunal analysis, stable isotope analysis, and folk biology to explore the socio-cultural perceptions of camelids in the pre-Hispanic Andes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Scaling New Heights: Recent Advances in Andean Zooarchaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52629