Zooarchaeology at Pirincay, a Formative Period Site in Highland Ecuador

Abstract

Although prehistoric animal utilization in the Peruvian Andes is becoming increasingly well-documented, the zooarchaeology of highland Ecuador remains poorly understood. This article presents the faunal analysis for Pirincay, a pre-Inca site located in the southern highlands of Ecuador. The pattern of animal exploitation at Pirincay indicates that its occupants, in contrast to their camelid-herding neighbors to the south in Perú, remained dependent on wild game, principally deer, until just before the beginning of the Christian era. Camelids appeared for the first time at Pirincay ca. A.C. 100 and dominated the site's fauna until it was abandoned. It is suggested that these camelids represent a previously undocumented form of llama, intermediate in size between the contemporary llama and the alpaca. This undersized llama is hypothesized to have been the most prevalent form north of approximately 100° S from the late Early Horizon through the Middle Horizon.