Of Hunting and Herding: Isotopic evidence in wild and domesticated camelids from the Southern Argentine Puna (2120–420 years BP)

Abstract

Using stable isotope analysis, this paper studies the interaction between Prehispanic camelid herding and hunting practices in agropastoralist societies of the Antofagasta de la Sierra Basin (Southern Argentinean Puna) between 2120 and 420 years BP. Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios were measured on 45 archaeological wild (Vicugna vicugna) and domesticated (Lama glama) camelid bone samples from the Early and Late Formative Period (3000?1000 years BP) site of Casa Chavez Montículos, and from the Regional Late Period (1000?420 years BP) sites of Corral Alto, Bajo del Coypar, Real Grande 1 and Real Grande 6. The isotopic analysis showed that domestic camelids at the sites segregated into two groups according to δ13C, reflecting two distinct animal management strategies. This could have involved differences in foddering practices or altitudinal herding ranges. In the case of wild camelids, δ13C and δ15N values indicated that the distances travelled in their hunting varied depending on the site. The observed variability in the management strategies of herding resources, and in the mobility circuits linked to the exploitation of wild camelids, presents the case for puna groups relying on an ongoing re-organisation of longstanding local economic practices to mediate the socio-political and environmental factors that arose through time.