Stable Isotope Analysis of the Inca Mummy from Nevado de Chuscha (Salta, Argentina)

Abstract

This paper presents the carbon (13C/12C), nitrogen (15N/14N), oxygen (18O/16O), hydrogen (2H/1H) and sulfur (34S/32S) stable isotope values measured in the hair of a female individual from north-western Argentina. The analysis of segments of this tissue allows for the recording of the diet and migratory changes with a short time resolution. The sample is from a mummified young female individual discovered in Chuscha mount, Salta province. It was found at more than 5000 masl, in a mountain sanctuary of the Inca expansion (capacochas). The paper discusses the paleodiet and mobility patterns of this individual in the period before her death, focusing on the isotopic variations in a limited time scale. The results indicate that the individual moved from a different region to the place where she was sacrificed. Furthermore, in the last year the individual was alive, a shift in the isotopic composition of the food consumed is detected: a variation in the importance of C4 over C3 resources is evident. The results are compared with the isotopic estimations for other children and young people recovered in archaeological contexts associated with capacochas to infer variability in the geographical trajectories covered during their last months of life.