Title
Eat and Die: The Last Meal of Sacrificed Chimú Camelids at Huanchaquito-Las Llamas, Peru, as Revealed by Starch Grain Analysis
Date Issued
01 September 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Cagnato C.
Goepfert N.
Elliott M.
Verano J.
Dufour E.
Universidad de Florida
Publisher(s)
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
This article reconstructs the final diet of sacrificed domestic camelids from Huanchaquito-Las Llamas to understand whether feeding was part of the ritual practice. The site is situated on the northern coast of Peru and is dated to the fifteenth century AD (Late Intermediate period; LIP). It was used by the Chimús to kill and bury a large number of camelids, mostly juveniles. We reconstructed the final meal of 11 of the sacrificed individuals by analyzing starch grains derived from the associated gut contents and feces. The starch grains were well preserved and allowed for the determination of five plant taxa. The comparison with previously published and new stable isotope analyses, which provide insights into long-term diet, indicates that the Chimús managed their herds by providing maize as fodder and allowing them to graze on natural pasture; yet they reserved special treatment for sacrificial animals, probably bringing them together a few hours or days before the sacrificial act. We show for the first time the consumption of unusual food products, which included manioc, chili peppers, and beans, as well as cooked foods. Our study provides unique information on Chimú camelid ritual and herding practices.
Start page
595
End page
611
Volume
32
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Arqueología Antropología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85107888593
Source
Latin American Antiquity
ISSN of the container
10456635
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported by the ANR CAMELANDES under Grant ANR-15-CE27-0002 and AASPE (UMR 7209 MNHN-CNRS). We thank the ArchéoScopie department at the MSH Mondes in Nanterre (France) for providing access to the imaging equipment. We are grateful to Olivier Tombret (UMR 7209) for his help in the laboratory during sample preparation and to Denis Fiorillo (UMR 7209, SSMIM) for the stable isotope analysis. We also thank the Municipalidad Distrital de Huanchaco, the Department of Anthropology at Yale University, the National Geographic Society, INNOVATE PERU, Fondecyt-Concytec Perú–Banco Mundial, and Universidad Nacional de Trujillo for providing funds for the excavations at HLL. We are grateful to Belkys Gutiérrez Léon (BGL Arqueología, Peru) for her help with administrative issues, Jean-François Cuénot (UMR 8096, CNRS, France) for processing the map on ArcGIS, and Juan Plengue from the Reserva Chaparri for his assistance during the visit to Tinajones. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive remarks.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus