Our Father the Cayman, Our Dinner the Llama: Animal Utilization at Chavín de Huántar, Peru

Analysis of the animal bones recovered from the excavations of residential contexts at Chavín de Huántar reveals a mixed economy that included the herding and hunting of camelids (llama and vicuña) at Chavín de Huántar as early as the Urabarriu Phase (900–500 B.C.). It also suggests that a pattern of trade in dried llama meat (ch'arki) from high altitude environments (punas) to lower ones had developed by the Chakinani phase (500–400 B.C.), while the consumption of hunted animals (especially deer) sharply declined in importance. During the apogee of Chavín de Huántar (400–200 B.C.), socioeconomic stratification is reflected in differential access to tender meat from younger animals. The role of Chavín de Huántar in the spread of camelid pastoralism and the importance of highland vs. tropical rain forest animals in Chavín ideology is discussed as well.