par Erauw, Céline ;Pigière, Fabienne ;Eeckhout, Peter
Référence Archaeofauna, 28, page (61-72)
Publication Publié, 2019-10-01
Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : Pachacamac was an important site of the Peruvian central coast between the 5th and 16th centuries. This paper reports on the results of the analysis of the faunal remains found in Unit 124 of the B15 building in Pachacamac during the 2014 and 2016 excavation campaigns carried out in the framework of the Ychsma Project (Universite Libre de Bruxelles). Unit 124 is composed of seven enclosures within which different contexts of offerings of various materials (metal, ceramic, lithic, and others) associated with different moments of occupation of the building were found, which would indicate the ritual and sacred function of this building. Within these offering contexts, a large amount of animal bone remains was recorded. The main objective of this work was to (1) identify the main groups of animals offered as well as the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the remains of animals chosen to offer, (2) corroborate if there is a pattern in the types of offerings and groups of animals found between the different precincts and (3) verify or not if there was a relationship between the type of offerings and the function of the enclosures as well as the possible reasons that led to make the offerings. The results of the archaeozoological analysis show a larger presence of some animal like Guinea pigs and camelids. In addition, the presence of taxa that to date have been very little reported in other sectors of the Pachacamac site (amphibians, sea lions) was also observed. The analysis showed great variability in the quantity and distribution of animal offerings within the building, and that they are mostly complete and without cutting marks. These types of animal offerings are not well documented for the central coast of Peru and have only been, so far, the subject of a limited number of studies.

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