Living in Quebrada de Los Corrales: Camelids, Humans, and Landscape within the First Village Settlements in El Infiernillo (Tucumán, Argentina)

Abstract

This study explores the livelihood modes of the agro-pastoral village complex known as Puesto Viejo (PV), dated between 1850 and 1560 years BP, located in the Quebrada de Los Corrales (Tucumán, Argentina). Our objective is to determine the multiple networks of spatial interaction among various entities (human-animal-environment), based on zooarchaeological analyses of faunal bone assemblages recovered from a domestic context dating to the first millennium AD. This analysis revealed that the consumption of wild species (e.g., Dicotyles tajacu, Hippocamelus antisensis, and Chaetophractus vellerosus) was maintained, while domesticated species (Lama glama and possibly Vicugna pacos) were incorporated. In the houses analyzed, a variety of activities would have taken place, including primary and secondary processing, as well as the discard of complete elements of both wild and domesticated species, thermally altered elements, fragmented bone tools, and food preparation. The stable isotope values of the camelids indicate that the herders likely implemented a grazing strategy involving the consumption of local and nearby pastures (predominantly C3 plants). This allowed us to understand that the interaction between herders, the inhabitants of the houses, productive spaces, and grazing areas materializes various mechanisms of territorialization. This process of territorialization has generated a distinctive landscape in the study area.