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Llamas on the Land: Production and Consumption of Meat at Chavín de Huántar, Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Silvana A. Rosenfeld  and
Matthew P. Sayre
Silvana A. Rosenfeld
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, ([email protected])
Matthew P. Sayre
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, ([email protected])
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Abstract

Chavín de Huántar is a Formative-period site (broadly 1500–200 B.C.) in the Peruvian Andes known for its highly complex art and monumental architecture. Recent excavations in the La Banda sector uncovered domestic settlements. The zooarchaeological analysis demonstrates that meat was locally produced and many bone tools were manufactured in this sector. These results contrast with previous faunal analysis from other parts of the site in which it was argued that dry camelid meat on the bone (ch’arki) was traded in exchange for local crops. The local economy of Chavín de Huántar was complex, showing different economic strategies across the site. While there is abundant evidence for the trade of lightweight exotic goods at the site (seashells, marine bone, obsidian, and cinnabar), the subsistence economy was locally focused.

Chavín de Huántar es un sitio del periodo Formativo (aproximadamente 1500–200 a.C.) de los Andes peruanos, el cual es conocido por su arte complejo y su arquitectura monumental. Recientemente se llevaron a cabo excavaciones en el sector de La Banda, a partir de las cuales se encontraron importantes asentamientos domésticos relacionados con el área monumental. El análisis zooarqueológico ha demostrado un énfasis en la producción local de carne y en la manufactura de artefactos óseos. Estos resultados contrastan con los análisis faunísticos previos de otras partes del sitio, en los cuales se argumentaba que la carne seca sobre hueso (ch’arki) era producida en la puna e intercambiada por cultivos locales. La economía local de Chavín de Huántar fue compleja y muestra diferentes estrategias económicas a través del sitio. Si bien existen abundantes evidencias sobre el intercambio de productos exóticos (valvas y huesos de animales marinos, obsidiana y cinabrio), el presente análisis argumenta que la crianza de camélidos fue local y que se utilizaron todas sus partes esqueletarias, ya sea para consumo o manufactura de artefactos en el sitio.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 497 - 511
Copyright
Copyright © by the Society for American Archaeology 2016

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