Camelid handling in the meridional Andes during the first millennium AD: a preliminary approach using stable isotopes

Abstract

AbstractStable isotope analysis has been used in archaeology to answer a variety of questions. In general, the study of human palaeodiets has been the main subject. Studies of past animal feeding behaviour have not been considered extensively in South America. In this paper we discuss the interpretation of the δ 13C values in camelid bone specimens on the basis of published and new data from the southern Andes (northwestern Argentina). The temporal frame is mainly focused in the first millennium AD (part of the local Formative Period – 400 BC to 600 AD – as well as the Regional Integration Period at 600–1000 AD, and the Late Period at 1000–1500 AD) which for this area implies a time of great social changes. Samples from modern Camelidae family were used to compare with those from archaeological sites, interpreting two different patterns that can be associated with distinctive animal feeding strategies. We suggest that these strategies can be associated with human management rather than free‐range camelid feeding behaviour. Thus stable isotopes become an innovative strategy to segregate domestic from wild camelids, complementing those results achieved by osteometric and statistical analyses. Moreover, they allow for camelid management interpretation in three different localities of the area from the above‐mentioned different periods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.