Knowing the past to empower the present in herding communities of North-western Argentina

GRANT, JENNIFER

Reading

Workshop; Adaptive Capacity of Farming Communities to Climate Change in the Peruvian Andes ? Past, Present and Future; 2019

University of Reading, Department of Geography and Environmental Science

archaeological and especially zooarchaeological research undertaken in Antofagasta de la Sierra, have highlighted the importance that camelids have held across the long cultural history of the Andean populations of this area, starting from the earliest human occupation (c. 10,000 BP) in the region, when wild camelids?vicuña and guanaco- represented key species for local hunter-gatherers to the adoption of an agropastoralist way of life based on llama herding.Pastoralism continues nowadays as the main economic activity of Antofagasta de la Sierra but the fundamental role played by the llama has declined due to a variety of factors; including work migration to cities and the adoption of exotic animals into local herds (sheep, goats and also cattle). Between the main negative effects of this situation is the risk of Andean biodiversity loss, which goes hand-in-hand with the loss of ancestral knowledge in respect to camelid management. Another risk is that the increase of the number of sheeps in the flocks has a negative effect on the local environment given that it can accelerate the process of desertification, and the retraction of pasture areas in the region. It is interesting to note that when locals are asked about why the number of llamas in their herds are declining, they say that it is due to the lack of rains and consequent drought of the last few years. Yet our studies of the past show that there are other variables at play.