Camelid use in Meridional Andes during first millennium A.D. A preliminary approach using stable isotopes.

IZETA, ANDRES DARIO; LAGUENS, ANDRES; MARCONETTO, BERNARDA; SCATTOLIN, MARIA CRISTINA

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

WILEY & SONS

Lugar: Chichester; Año: 2009 vol. 19 p. 204 - 214

1047-482X

Stable isotope analysis has been used in archaeology to answer a variety of questions. In general, the study of human paleodiets has been the main subject. Studies of past animals feeding behavior have not been considered extensively in South America. In this paper we discuss the interpretation of the δ13C values in camelid bone specimens on the basis of published and new data from the southern Andes (northwestern Argentina). The temporal frame is focused in the local Formative Period as well as in the end of the first millennium 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 behavior. 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 at different occupational periods.