Guanaco hunting and Llama herding in the South-Central Andes (3000-900 BP): An osteomorphometrical approach

HERNÁNDEZ, A.; L'HEUREUX, G.L. Y N.V. FRANCO; LEONI, J.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Año: 2021 vol. 37

This paper aims to contribute to the study of the subsistence of human populations from the northern part of theQuebrada de Humahuaca (Northwestern Argentina ?NWA-) between 3000 and 900 years BP, through themorphological and morphometric analysis of bone remains from large-sized camelids. The contribution of twocomplementary strategies -guanaco (Lama guanicoe) hunting and llama (Lama glama) herding- to the diet of thosepopulations throughout the late Holocene is assessed. In order to achieve this, the first and second anterior andposterior phalanges are analyzed through both traditional morphometric (TM) and two-dimensional geometricmorphometric (2D GMM) techniques. The sample is composed of 398 elements from 49 modern llamas andguanacos, and 36 elements from archaeological camelids recovered from the Antumpa, C´ondor II and CasasGrandes sites. We discuss the problem of the taxonomic identification of South American large-sized camelidswith a novel methodology and we contribute relevant zooarchaeological information for a poorly studiedgeographical setting. Results indicate that llama herding prevailed throughout the late Holocene (4000-300 AP),although TM techniques showed a slight increase in guanaco hunting during the final late Holocene (1100-300BP) and GMM showed a constant frequency of representation. The trends and variations thus identified wouldrespond to both anthropic and local ecological factors.