Fishing specialization and the inland trade of the Chilean jack mackerel or jurel, Trachurus murphyi, in far southern Peru

Abstract

Beginning by at least the Andean Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000), sites located more than 60 km inland from the Pacific coast in far southern Peru contain the remains of jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi). The coastal region near the modern Peruvian city of Ilo was the habitat where people procured fish and transported them to sites in the Moquegua Valley. Abundant neurocranial fragments indicate that coastal occupants shipped whole fish, not processed body portions, to inland destinations. I previously interpreted the remains of jack mackerel as imported fishes indicating high status deposits, particularly at imperial administrative outposts associated with the Wari Empire. The recent identification of jack mackerel at highly provisional, agricultural sites inhabited by non-elite residents suggests that these fishes were everyday, rather than elite, fare. The analysis indicates that the pre-Hispanic inhabitants discontinued trade in marine fishes after the collapse of the politically integrated empires in the region, but people reestablished fish trade in subsequent time periods. I examine the probable capture methods and possible culinary reasons as to why the Chilean jack mackerel is common at some inland sites in far southern Peru.