Stable isotope compositions of South American camelids in the Dry Puna of Argentina: A frame of reference for the study of prehistoric herding and hunting strategies

We measured bone collagen δ13C and δ15N values of modern llamas and vicuñas, with the aim to account for the variation in the isotopic compositions of domesticated and wild South American camelids from the Dry Puna of Argentina in order to develop an appropriate frame of reference to address archaeofaunal and paleodietary data. Both δ13C (n = 140, mean = −18.4 ‰) and δ15N (n = 109, mean = +6.3 ‰) values showed a negative and significant correlation with altitude for llamas and vicuñas, which can be explained by the variation identified in plant δ13C and δ15N values and their correlation with altitude, as discussed in previous investigations. Based on these results we elaborated linear regressions models for both δ13C and δ15N values of both species, which will allow us to predict expected δ13C and δ15N values for archaeofaunal materials recovered at archaeological sites using altitude as the explanatory variable.