A Zooarchaeological Assemblage from the North-Western Rock Shelter of the Cerro Llamocca Sacred Mountain Complex, Southern Peruvian Andes

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.

The Cerro Llamocca Sacred Mountain Complex is located in the high puna zone of the Ayacucho region in the southern Peruvian Andes. Recent excavations were conducted in the north-western rock shelter (PAP-844) of Cerro Llamocca at 4,398 m asl. The available radiocarbon data, archaeological finds, and stratigraphy provide evidence for long-term human occupation of the rock shelter from at least the Formative period

∼2340 cal BCE to the present. The large quantity of archaeological finds also include animal remains. The osteological material was analyzed by anatomical and taxonomic identification and quantified by minimum number of individuals (MNI). Camelid dung remains were analyzed for starch, pollen, phytoliths, and plant tissues. The skeletal material includes abundant remains of llama (Lama glama) and alpaca (Vicugna pacos) bones, and other faunal remains of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and cuy (Cavia sp.). Maize (Zea mays), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), and several grasses, including ichu (Stipa sp.) and champa (Distichia muscoides), were identified in the camelid dung remains. While most of the animals and plants used by the occupants of the north-western rock shelter are typical of the local puna environment, some resources—especially maize—must have been obtained from lower ecological zones, suggesting interregional mobility.

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): 50845