Assessing Prehispanic Herding Strategies through Stable Isotope Analysis: A Case Study from the Dry Puna of Argentina

ABSTRACT

The main goal of this work is to study the camelid herding and management strategies employed by the human groups that occupied the Dry Puna of Argentina during the late Holocene. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope compositions were measured on bone collagen from domesticated South American camelids (llamas: Lama glama) recovered at two archaeological sites (Huirunpure and Chayal Cave). These results were interpreted using an already published data set of δ ¹³C and δ ¹⁵N values measured on bone collagen from modern herds of llamas managed in a traditional way. Our results showed that even though the archaeological sites of Huirunpure and Chayal Cave are located within different settings – at 4020 and 3700?masl respectively – and present different chronologies – 0–650 and 1300–1500 CE respectively – the llamas from both sites exhibit similar δ ¹³C and δ ¹⁵N values. This pattern was explained considering the characteristics of the vegetation communities that grow in the vicinity of both sites as well as the paleoenvironmental records of the Andean highlands. In sum, this work presents and discusses some preliminary results on the study of prehispanic herding practices in the Dry Puna of Argentina during the first 1500 years of the Common Era through stable isotope analysis.     

Isotopic Evidence for Camelid Husbandry During the Formative Period at the Pacopampa Site,Peru

ABSTRACT

Camelids were domesticated in the Andean highlands, such as in the puna habitat, and dispersed into lowland areas and the northern Central Andes. As camelids domesticated in a particular region would have had a greater economic benefit than visiting- or hunted wild camelids, it is important to reconstruct the dispersal of camelid husbandry from its initial site throughout the ancient Andean civilisation. We carried out multi-isotope analyses of animal remains recovered from the Pacopampa site to investigate the nature of camelid pastoralism and utilisation. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios from tooth enamel suggested that camelids in the early Late Formative Period (800–500 BC) were born near the site and remained in the same habitat for up to three years. Although corresponding data for the Middle Formative Period (1200–800 BC) were not available, carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were statistically different from those of the Late Formative Period, supporting the possibility that the camelids inhabited the highland plateau like puna. It is inferred that in the northern highlands camelids were initially rare and regarded as either tribute or ritual animals, or they were used as pack animals. Camelid husbandry using maize as fodder began during the Late Formative Period at Pacopampa.     

基于氮气吸附法的古代丝织品纳米孔隙研究方法初探

孔隙不仅是纤维骨架的一部分，也是外界物质进出的重要通道。目前，关于古代丝织品纳米孔隙结构的相关研究极少，仅有孔径一项评价指标，较为单一。实验采用红外光谱法和电子顺磁共振波谱法研究古代丝织品的降解特征，在此基础上采用低温氮气吸附法表征蚕丝纤维内部固有的孔隙结构，首次从孔形、孔径分布、比表面积、孔体积、平均孔径、分形维数等多个角度对古代丝织品的微观孔隙结构进行综合研究。研究结果表明：与现代丝织品相比，清代黄山样品、北宋南陵样品及战国郴州样品的劣化程度依次加深。孔结构分析显示，所有样品中同时含有狭缝形孔和圆筒形孔，孔隙具有连续性，表明蚕丝内部存在复杂的多级结构。其中，劣化程度较高的北宋和战国样品内部存在更多的大孔或开放性孔隙。Barrett-Joyner-Halenda(BJH)法和非定域密度泛函(NLDFT)法的研究结果显示，样品孔隙以介孔为主，孔径主要分布在20 nm以下，最可几孔径基本稳定在2.8 nm左右，为蚕丝内部的有序孔。比表面积和孔体积的研究结果表明，劣化程度较轻的黄山样品具有较高的比表面积，其孔体积的增加主要来源于小孔，南陵样品和郴州样品孔体积的增加主要来源于大孔。分形维数的...