At the Feet of the Fortress: Analysis of Inka Period (ca. AD 1430-1536) Archaeofaunal Assemblages from Residential Unit 1 (RU1), Pucara de Tilcara (Jujuy, Argentina).

Carlos Raúl Belotti López De Medina,Clarisa Otero,Lautaro López Geronazzo,Christopher Bae

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163766

Carlos Raúl Belotti López De Medina, Clarisa Otero + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163766

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Abstract

This paper reports the results of a zooarchaeological analysis conducted on the occupation layer of a compound structure (Residential Unit 1) of the Pucara de Tilcara archaeological site (Jujuy Province, northwestern Argentina). Its occupation span extends between the 13th and 15th centuries AD, but evidence diagnostic of the Inka Period (AD 1430–1536) is predominant. Residential Unit 1 was a house-workshop that hosted specialized crafts like metallurgy and lapidary during the Inka Period. It was proposed in previous works that artisans living at Pucara de Tilcara were provisioned with agropastoral products by the Inka administration. This paper aims to test that hypothesis against the zooarchaeological evidence of Residential Unit 1. Three variables were used as proxies for state-sponsored distribution: taxonomic diversity (family and species ranks), and skeletal and age profiles of the predominant zoological family (Camelidae) in the assemblage. The results show a high degree of continuity with the regional record, characterized by a herding-hunting strategy focused on domestic and wild species of Camelidae and a mixed mortality pattern. The skeletal profile shows a strong and negative correlation with the desiccation potential of elements, which could be indicative of local production of chalona. Overall, faunal evidence does not show any sign of centralized distribution.

Highlights

The onset of the second millennium AD marks a widespread development of middle range polities across the Circumpuna sub-area (South-Central Andes), including the Quebrada de Humahuaca in northwestern Argentina
This paper presents a case study on the procurement of faunal resources by craft specialists during the Inka Period, based on the analysis of faunal remains from a late pre-Hispanic house-workshop: Residential Unit 1 of the Pucara de Tilcara archaeological site, in the Quebrada de Humahuaca region of Jujuy Province
number of identified specimens (NISP) = 73) and the majority of unidentified fragments belongs to size-classes 3–4 (NSP = 401)

Summary

Introduction

The onset of the second millennium AD marks a widespread development of middle range polities across the Circumpuna sub-area (South-Central Andes), including the Quebrada de Humahuaca in northwestern Argentina. These organizations have been compared to chiefdoms and federations [1], heterarchies [2], communal organizations [3] and ranked corporate. The pre-Columbian occupation of northwestern Argentina follows an evolutionary course common to the South Central-Andes (Table 1): initial settlement by hunter-gatherers minimally by 10,600–8400 BP, judging by the earliest dates from sites like Inca Cueva 4 and Huachichocana III [17]; subsistence intensification leading to domestication AD 900–1200), characterized by the earliest evidence of social ranking [16,22]

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