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

摘要

The Central Andes of South America boasts a rich history of complex societies and sophisticated economic networks. Reconstructing patterns of diet across time is important to understanding the relationships between subsistence and food preparation and their roles in mediating consumption and hegemony through time. The region surrounding the city of Cusco in the southern Peruvian highlands is best known as the heartland of the Inca Empire (520-418 BP); however, it has a long history of social complexity and regional exchange, including colonization by the highland wan Empire (1350-950 BP) and in situ development in earlier periods. Elucidating subsistence and mobility over time in the Cusco region is therefore essential for reconstructing the evolution of complex Andean polities and their effects on local communities.