In this book leading experts uncover and discuss archaeological topics and themes surrounding the long-term trajectory of camelid (llama and alpaca) pastoralism in the Andean highlands of South America. The chapters open up these studies to a wider world by exploring the themes of intensification of herding over time, animal-human relationships, and social transformations, as well as navigating four areas of recent research: the origins of domesticated camelids, variation in the development of pastoralist traditions, ritual and animal sacrifice, and social interaction through caravans. Andeanists and pastoral scholars alike will find this comprehensive work an invaluable contribution to their library and studies.

The domestication of South American camelids (llamas and alpacas) transformed the use of the Andean landscape. In the central altiplano of Bolivia, during the Formative Period (1500 BC AD 500) a cultural complex known as Wankarani developed. This book discusses the development of early camelid pastoralism by testing a set of hypotheses related to Wankarani economic organization. In contrast with previous ideas which stressed the emergence of sedentary agricultural villages in this region, settlement patterns, site layouts and faunal remains analyses demonstrate the continuing importance of mobile pastoralism, coupled with other subsistence strategies such as hunting, fishing and cultivation."