Abstract

MIYANO, Juan Pablo  and  RATTO, Norma. Puna shelters and agro-pastoral societies: a zooarchaeological perspective of Alero 12 site (Las Grutas, Tinogasta, Catamarca). Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2021, vol.14, n.1, pp.81-96. ISSN 1852-060X.  http://dx.doi.org/http://doi.org/10.31048/1852.4826.v14.n1.29206.

Abstract This article analyses the archaeofaunal assemblage from Alero 12 of the Las Grutas rock formation (Tinogasta, Catamarca) to study/account for the human activities related to animals that developed during its occupation. We suggest/It is argued that Alero 12 was temporarily inhabited by human groups ca. 590 years BP. At the site, they hunted wild animals, mainly vicuñas, although birds and rodents cannot be ruled out. While some camelid skeletal parts were consumed in situ, others were transported for later consumption, storage and/or trading. Although Alero 12 is located near to the San Francisco site -a site used for state sponsored feasts- and also presented a radiocarbon date that coincides with Inca occupation of the region, its use was not related to imperial practices. In this sense, we propose that the inhabitants of Alero 12 were members of the regional agropastoralist societies that developed hunting activities outside of inca control.

Keywords : Camelids; Vicuña; Hunting; Northwest Argentina; Inca.

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