This study uses isotope and microbotanical data from the analysis of teeth and dental calculus to investigate camelid diet and foddering practices at Quilcapampa (AD 835–900). By providing taxonomically specific evidence of foods consumed, botanical data from dental calculus complement the more general impressions of photosynthetic pathways obtained through isotopic analysis. Results suggest that the camelid diet incorporated maize (Zea mays), algarrobo (Prosopis sp.), potato chuño (Solanum sp.), and other resources. The life-history profile of one camelid (Individual 3) reveals dietary change from mainly C3 plants to more C4 plant contributions as the animal aged. This pattern is supported by carbonate isotope results indicating that this individual spent its youth in the mid-valley ecozone before becoming more mobile later in life. As this life-history example shows, isotopic and microbotanical analyses are complementary approaches, clarifying a pattern of seasonal transhumance that linked the lives of humans and animals along the Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000) caravan networks that crisscrossed the central Andes.

Este estudio emplea datos isotópicos y microbotánicos obtenidos del análisis en dientes y cálculo dental para investigar la dieta y prácticas de alimentación de los camélidos en Quilcapampa La Antigua (835-900 dC). Los datos taxonómicas específicos de los alimentos consumidos, sumado a los datis botánicos del cálculo dental complementan las impresiones más generales de las vías fotosintéticas obtenidas mediante el análisis isotópico. Los resultados sugieren que la dieta de los camélidos incorporó maíz (Zea mays), algarrobo (Prosopis sp.), papa chuño (Solanum sp.) y otros recursos. El perfil de la historia de vida de un camélido (Individuo 3) revela cambios en la dieta, principalmente desde plantas C3 a mayor consumo de plantas C4 a medida que el animal envejecía. Este patrón está respaldado por los resultados de isótopos de carbono que indican que este individuo pasó su juventud en la ecozona del valle medio, antes que su vida se tornara más móvil. Este ejemplo de historia de vida muestra que los análisis isotópicos y microbotánicos son enfoques complementarios y revelan un patrón de trashumancia estacional que unió la vida de humanos y animales a través de las redes de caravanas que atravesaban los Andes centrales durante el Horizonte Medio (600-1000 dC).

Melton, Mallory A., Aleksa K. Alaica, Matthew E. Biwer, Luis Manuel González La Rosa, Gwyneth Gordon, Kelly J. Knudson, Amber M. VanDerwarker, and Justin Jennings. Reconstructing Middle Horizon Camelid Diets and Foddering Practices: Microbotanical and Isotope Analyses of Dental Remains from Quilcapampa, Peru. Latin American Antiquity (Article published online January 23, 2023). https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-antiquity/article/reconstructing-middle-horizon-camelid-diets-and-foddering-practices-microbotanical-and-isotope-analyses-of-dental-remains-from-quilcapampa-peru/B031B689C1BF79FA3CC074FCCA2CAD6A#article

© The Author(s), 2023.
Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology. This is an Open Access
article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits
unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Matthew Biwer is a professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at Dickinson College.

This published version is made available on Dickinson Scholar with the permission of the publisher. For more information on the published version, visit Cambridge University Press's Website. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-antiquity/article/reconstructing-middle-horizon-camelid-diets-and-foddering-practices-microbotanical-and-isotope-analyses-of-dental-remains-from-quilcapampa-peru/B031B689C1BF79FA3CC074FCCA2CAD6A#article

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