Selective Faunal Provisioning in the Southern Highlands of Formative Ecuador

Resumen

Abstract Analysis of a large animal bone assemblage from the Formative archaeological site of Challuabamba in Ecuador’s southern highlands provides additional evidence for the existence of local and extra-local trade connections during the second millennium B.C. Previous archaeological research has established that Formative occupants of this highland region accessed various maritime and terrestrial routes for the long-distance exchange of exotic goods with different highland and lowland areas throughout the Andes. The Formative zooarchaeological record at Challuabamba clearly implicates the provisioning of select high yield body portions of deer and the importation of exotic taxa, or parts thereof most likely from lowland sources directly to the west. Taphonomic analyses and zooarchaeological identification of the Challuabamba assemblage offer additional corroborating evidence for the early operation of prehispanic trade systems in the Northern Andes.