New Bioarchaeological Evidence and Radiocarbon Dates from the Lambayeque/Sicán Culture Camelids from the El Brujo Complex (Northern Coast of Peru): Implications for Funerary and Herd Management Practices

ABSTRACT

Pastoralism and camelid management have been essential to all aspects of pre-Hispanic Andean societies. Here, we present zooarchaeological and isotopic data on domestic camelid remains from Huaca Cao Viejo (El Brujo archaeological complex) on the northern coast of Peru, and dated to the Lambayeque/Sicán period—to characterise their biological age, diet, life history, possible geographic origin and ritual use. Domestic camelids, representing a wide range of biological ages and a high rate of polydactyly, were found as burial offerings in direct association with human funerary bundles (fardos). Direct AMS dates indicated that camelids were buried over a short period of time (AD 1022–1176) confirming the Lambayeque presence in the Chicama Valley during the first half of the Late Intermediate Period. Stable isotopic analyses were carried out on both bone collagen and hair keratin, including incremental analysis. A considerable variability in δ¹³C values at both the intra-individual and the intra-group level and a large contribution of C₄ resources to diet are shown. This clearly supports local management and camelids originating from various herds. Zooarchaeological and isotopic evidences suggest diversity in herding practices and suggest the importance of the herds in fulfilling the transportation demands for trade in goods.

KEYWORDS:

• Coastal herding
• domestic camelids
• Northern Peru
• stable isotope analysis
• bone collagen
• hair keratin
• radiocarbon dating
• individual age

Acknowledgments

We thank Olivier Tombret (UMR 7209 and Labex BcDiv, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, France) for technical assistance in the lab, Denis Fiorillo (Service de Spectrométrie de Masse Isotopique du Muséum, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, France) for the stable isotope analysis, Caroline Gauthier and FrançoisThil (LSCE, Gif-sur-Yvette) for their help with the radiocarbon measurements We also thank Arabel Fernández (Complejo Arqueológico El Brujo, Peru) for her assistance with the camelid material at Museo of Huaca Cao and Belkys Gutiérrez Léon (BGL Arqueologia, Peru) for her administrative help. We also thank Claudio Quezada for his help with SIBER and Suzanne Needs-Howarth for improving the quality of the English writing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Francisca Santana-Sagredo is a FONDECYT Postdoctoral Researcher at the Universidad de Antofagasta, Chile. She is a bioanthropologist and bioarchaeologist interested in the application of stable isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating for studying Pre-Columbian societies in the Andes, in particular Agro-Pastoral groups from the Atacama Desert. She is a former Postdoctoral Researcher in the project “CAMELANDES – Pre-Hispanic societies facing their environment: spatial and diachronic change in Andean pastoralism (100–1470 AD)”.

Elise Dufour is an associate professor at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. Her research deals with the relationship between humans and animals during the Holocene. She uses stable isotopes measured on different archaeological archives, such as bones, teeth and otoliths. In collaboration with Nicolas Geopfert (investigator at the CNRS) is currently involved in a program entitled Pre-Hispanic societies facing their environment: spatial and diachronic change in Andean pastoralism (100–1470 AD) “CAMELANDES” that studies pastoralism on the northern coast of Peru. The CAMELANDES project aims to bring new data on the adaptation to the coast of the complex pre-Hispanic human societies of Northern Peru. Stable isotope analysis (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium) performed by Elise Dufour highlights. The complexity and diversity in pastoral practices in the Mochica, Lambayeque and Chimú cultures (Life History and Origin of the Camelids Provisioning a Mass Killing Sacrifice During the Chimú Period: Insight from Stable Isotopes, Environmental Archaeology, 2020).

Nicolas Goepfert is an investigator at the CNRS (the French national centre for scientific research). He is an archaeologist and zooarchaeologist specializing in the northern coast of Peru. His research deals with funerary and sacrificial practices linked to animals, especially South American camelids, and the adaptation of human and animals to the desert Pacific coast of Peru. He has published several articles on the topic, and he is co-editor, with S. Vásquez, C. Clément and A. Christol, of Las sociedades andinas frente a los cambios pasados y actuales: dinámicas territoriales, crisis, fronteras y movilidades (IFEA-LabEx DynamiTe-UNT, 2016).

Antoine Zazzo is a senior researcher at CNRS (the French national centre for scientific research). He is a bioarcheologist and a geochemist specialized in stable isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating of animal and human remains, in relation to modern and ancient herding practices. He works in different parts of the world, including Peru, the Arabic Peninsula and Mongolia.

Régulo Franco Jordán is an archaeologist and was director of the archaeological investigations at the Templo Viejo of Pachacámac between 1986–1990. He is currently the founder director of the Archaeological Program El Brujo Complex and Cao Museum (1990–2018). He is author of numerous research articles and books about his research on the central and northern coast of Peru, in particular about the Mochica Culture.

Segundo Vásquez Sánchez is a Professor of Archaeology in the Social Sciences Faculty of the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo (UNT). His research areas are focused in the Formative Period of Peru, the Initial Period ceramics, and the Mochica Culture. He was founder director of the Archaeological Program El Brujo Complex between 1990 and 2007, and he is currently the director of the Archaeological Project Cerro Santa Ana. He has published several articles, and he is co-editor, with N. Goepfert, C. Clément and A. Christol, of Las sociedades andinas frente a los cambios pasados y actuales: dinámicas territoriales, crisis, fronteras y movilidades (IFEALabEx DynamiTe-UNT, 2016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the ANR CAMELANDES under [grant number ANR-15-CE27-0002-01].