New insights into South American camelid management strategies at El Alto-Ancasti mountain range (Catamarca, Argentina) during the first millennium of the Common Era

Abstract

South American camelids were one of the most important animal resources exploited by the human groups that occupied the El Alto-Ancasti mountain range in Catamarca, Northwestern Argentina, during the first millennium of the Common Era. The objective of this work is to explore and discuss the South American camelid management strategies employed by the inhabitants of this area during the second half of the first millennium of the Common Era (~ 500–1000 CE). We present the results of zooarchaeological and stable isotope analyses of the bone assemblages recovered at the Oyola 7 and El Taco 19 archaeological sites, both located in the oriental slope of El Alto-Ancasti mountain range in two different local environments, the neotropical seasonally dry forest and the highland grassland respectively. Overall, our results indicate the presence of wild and domesticated camelid specimens with isotopic values that suggest mixed diets with different proportions of C3 and C4 plants. These findings point to hunting and herding as the two main camelid exploitation strategies employed in this area in the past, as well as different management strategies for the camelids found in Oyola 7 and El Taco 19.