Human-Camelid Interactions in the Wari Hinterlands: A stable isotopic analysis of camelid remains from Auquimarca (600-1000 CE), Huancayo, Peru

Human-camelid interactions and pastoral practices have helped shape social, political, and economic lifeways throughout the history of the Central Andes. However, the methods by which humans managed and utilized camelids in the central highlands during the Middle Horizon (600-1000 CE)–and how those subsistence strategies reflect negotiations between Andean vertical ecologies, local communities, and the expanding Wari Empire–remain unclear. This study employed a life history approach using sequential stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis from camelid enamel samples recovered from Auquimarca, a highlands burial site in the Lower Mantaro River Valley, Department of Junín, Peru, to understand the role camelids had in society and the subsistence strategies of people living amid Wari imperial influence in the region. Among the 32 camelids (n=235 enamel carbonate samples) studied, the observed δ13C and δ18O values indicate that the camelids were likely managed using different flexible pastoral strategies, including grazing on naturally-available C3 plants in the puna (3850-4700 masl), receiving maize fodder closer to human settlements in the Mantaro River Valley’s fertile kichwa (3100 – 3850 masl), or a seasonal rotation between these environments to utilize resources available at different points during the year. δ13C and δ18O variation within the lives of certain camelids suggest involvement in long-distance trade networks or camelid caravans, possibly related to broader trade systems in the region and Wari sphere of influence. These results are important for understanding how Wari influence impacted communities in distant and remote parts on the edge of an Andean empire.