Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile.
PLoS One. 2020 Mar 11;15(3):e0228332. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228332. eCollection 2020.
Management of camelids in the coastal valleys of the Andes has generated much debate in recent years. Zooarchaeological and isotopic studies have demonstrated that in the coastal valleys of northern and southern Peru there were locally maintained camelid herds. Because of the hyperarid conditions of the northern coast of Chile, this region has been assumed to be unsuitable for the raising of camelids. In this study we report stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of camelid bone collagen and textiles made from camelid fiber from Late Intermediate Period (LIP) and Late Horizon (LH) occupations in northern Chilean river valleys. The camelid bone collagen isotopic compositions are consistent with these animals originating in the highlands, although there is a significant difference in the camelids dating to the LIP and LH, possibly because of changes made to distribution and exchange networks by the Inca in the LH. There were no differences between the isotopic compositions of the camelid fibers sampled from textiles in the LIP and LH, suggesting that either the production of camelid fiber was unchanged by the Inca or the changes that were made do not present visible isotopic evidence. Several camelid fiber samples from both the LIP and LH present very high δ13C and δ15N values, comparable to human hair samples from one site (Huancarane) in the Camarones Valley. These data suggest that people in the northern valleys of Chile may have kept small numbers of animals specifically for fiber production. Overall, however, the vast majority of the textile samples have isotopic compositions that are consistent with an origin in the highlands. These data suggest that the hyperarid coastal river valleys of northern Chile did not support substantial camelid herds as has been interpreted for northern Peru.
近年来，安第斯山脉沿海山谷中骆驼科动物的管理引发了诸多争议。动物考古学和稳定同位素研究表明，在秘鲁北部和南部沿海山谷中，曾存在当地维持的骆驼科动物群体。由于智利北部海岸的极端干旱条件，人们一直认为该地区不适合饲养骆驼科动物。在这项研究中，我们报告了智利北部河谷中晚期中间期（LIP）和晚期（LH）人类遗址中来自骆驼科动物的骨骼胶原和纤维的稳定碳和氮同位素组成。骆驼科动物骨骼胶原的同位素组成与这些动物起源于高地的情况一致，尽管 LIP 和 LH 时期的骆驼科动物之间存在显著差异，这可能是由于印加人在 LH 时期改变了分布和交换网络。LIP 和 LH 时期的纺织品中采集的骆驼科动物纤维的同位素组成没有差异，这表明要么印加人没有改变骆驼科动物纤维的生产方式，要么所做的改变没有呈现出可见的同位素证据。来自 LIP 和 LH 的几个骆驼科动物纤维样本的 δ13C 和 δ15N 值非常高，与卡马朗内斯山谷一个地点（Huancarane）的人类头发样本相当。这些数据表明，智利北部山谷的人们可能饲养了少量的动物，专门用于纤维生产。然而，总的来说，绝大多数纺织品样本的同位素组成与高地起源一致。这些数据表明，智利北部干旱的沿海河谷并未像秘鲁北部那样支持大量的骆驼科动物群体。
