Llamas, alpacas, and fish in the Ancient Landscapes of Lake Titicaca, Bolivia: Ancient herders depended on their flocks for food, trade, and security in a changing environment.
Where
The sites of Chiripa, Kala Uyuni, and Sonaji are located on the Taraco peninsula in the southern part of Lake Titicaca, in the modern villages of Chiripa, San Jose, and Santa Rosa.
When
The Formative Period of Bolivia, approximately 1500 BCE to 400 CE
Researchers
Katherine Moore, University of Pennsylvania
Christine A. Hastorf, University of California Berkeley
Sponsors
National Science Foundation
National Geographic Society
Wenner-Gren Foundation
Katherine Moore is using animal bone remains from Formative sites on the shores of Lake Titicaca to study the herding of llamas and alpacas. These animals were used for food, as wool animals, and as pack animals to transport crops and trade goods. They were also important in religious practice and prestige. Analysis of the size, age, and health of the animals shows the care that early herders took of their flocks and how critical the flocks were in helping the communities deal with social and environmental change. In another part of the study, fish bones from the site show the importance of aquatic resources.
