Changing to remain the same: everyday animal use at ancient Jecosh, north-central Peru

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies of faunal discard reveal the everyday use of animal resources in the past. However, taphonomic processes, fragmentation due to butchery, equifinality, and other factors hamper identification of the practices responsible for creating accumulated faunal assemblages. In this paper, we suggest a way to reconceptualize mundane faunal waste from archaeological sites. We apply an everyday life theoretical framework to examine archaeofauna from domestic contexts at Jecosh, a settlement located in the Callejón de Huaylas of north-central Peru. Zooarchaeological analysis of 1,806 bone fragments demonstrate that from the Final Formative through the Late Horizon (ca. 340 BCE - 1630 CE), local camelid husbandry supplemented by deer hunting was a crucial economic resource, enmeshed in Jecosh’s everyday routines. Simultaneously, we argue that the centuries-spanning continuity in animal use was not a static process. Continuity perseveres through changing practices, but the epistemological limits of archaeological analysis restrain their exact identification.