Diet and foodways across five millennia in the Cusco region of Peru

This study presents carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic data from human bone and tooth enamel at four Cusco-region sites: the hunter-gatherer site of Kasapata (6350- 4150 BP, N = 8); the village site of Yuthu (2350-2050 BP, N = 22); the Wari colony of Hatun Cotuyoc (1350-950 BP, N = 9) and the contemporaneous village site of Ak'awillay (N = 22). Key aims are to estimate diachronic shifts in foodways and nutrition, and those related to Wari control. Results indicate nearly-identical isotope values at Kasapata and Yuthu trending toward lower-trophic level C3 proteins and C3 energy sources, while values indicate mixed C3/C4 diets at Ak'awillay and diets dominated by terrestrial meat and C4 foods at Hatun Cotuyoc. Interestingly, oxygen isotope values suggest water source variation consistent with minimal mobility at Kasapata and regional mobility at Yuthu, but possibly with overlapping but divergent foodways at Ak'awillay and Hatun Cotuyoc resulting in differential evaporative pressures on consumed water rather than increased mobility.