Osteometric and isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) evidence of Pre-Hispanic camelid-herd breeding in Moche site of “Huaca de la Luna” (North coast of Peru)

Vásquez V.F.; Redondo R.; Rosales T.E.; Dorado G.; Peiró V. · Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2020) · DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102083

Resumen

The Moche Urban Zone (ZUM; from Spanish, “Zona Urbana Moche”) in Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna archaeological complexes in Trujillo (Peru) are emblematic sites of Mochica culture (100–700 CE). There is remarkable about significant technological developments of such society, including camelid breeding. Abundant bone collections from such sites have allowed to analyze 60 first phalanges of ancient camelids. They were studied by osteometry, identifying llama (Lama glama) and alpaca (Vicugna pacos) species. Then, collagen was isolated from bones and isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) content was quantified. A total of 15 first phalanges (25%) showed acceptable isotopic values for further analyses. Isotopic compositions of camelid remains showed δ13C values between −15.6‰ and −10.9‰ (average of −13.6‰). δ15N content ranged from +10.2‰ to +4.7‰ (average of +7.6‰), with six individuals showing values between +8.0‰ and +10.2‰. Yet, such figures are incompatible with the ones corresponding to animals raised at high-altitude environments (like Peruvian Andes), which are the natural ones for the studied species. That was further confirmed analyzing a modern alpaca raised in such habitat, and fed with standard diet. Therefore, studied ancient-specimens should have had different diets. Our results support local herd-breeding of ancient camelid at Huaca de la Luna, within a coastal ecosystem of low altitude, where camelids are not currently bred.