A high elevation zooarchaeological assemblage from the northern Andes of Ecuador

The largest vertebrate zooarchaeological assemblage yet recorded in the northern Andean highlands--almost 40,000 specimens--was recovered during excavatiosn at the La Chimba site, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. This 700 BC to AC 250 assemblage is rich in specimens from animal taxa characteristic of high elevation paramo grassland environments, and is unevenly dominated by specimens of rabbit and deer. Entire skeletons of both taxa were likely brought to and eventually deposited at the site, a pattern consistent with the production and consumption of desiccate meat products which are mentioned in early documents from the area. Detailed analyses of bone structural density exhibit different modes of specimen survivorship. We consider causes for differential preservation by focusing on human modification and subsequent removal of selected skeletal element portions, examples of which were recovered in the collection.