The political economic and culinary roles of marine fish in southern Peru from the Middle Horizon (A.D. 600) through Spanish colonial periods

In the Central Andes fish and other marine products were often used to support the political economy of complex social groups, particularly those dating to the later prehispanic time periods. Dried fish could be preserved for shipment to other geographic regions to serve as a form of staple finance. Fish were also an important symbol of status, particularly at sites further from the ocean and at high elevations where the ability to acquire marine fish indicated control over exchange networks. In order to determine if marine fishing and the preservation of fish as a commodity was a component of the political economy of ancient Central Andean cultures of far southern Peru, I examine the zooarcheological record of marine fishes at nine prehispanic and four Spanish colonial sites from the Osmore River drainage. As shown in this analysis, there are no coastal sites in far southern Peru with unequivocal evidence of fish processing to dry fish for long-term storage or inland transport as an everyday commodity to support the political economy of local cultures. Evidence for small-scale drying on the coast for presumed local consumption is evident during later prehispanic periods. During the Spanish colonial period, small quantities of fish were shipped to inland settings; however, the taxa differ slightly from the fish used during the prehispanic periods. Although there is no evidence for a coordinated use of fish to support the political economic undertakings of the populations in the Osmore Basin, the enduring trade and exchange in marine fishes through time and over large interior distances indicates the significant social roles that marine foods played, primarily for culinary and status purposes.