User:Calliopejen1/WIP/Inca animal husbandry

Camelids played a very important role in the economy of the precolumbian Andes. The two camelids domesticated by Andeans, the llama and the alpaca, were raised in very large herds. Two undomesticated camelids, the vicuña and the guanaco, were also important. Guanacos were hunted in chacos (collective hunts).

In Inca animal husbandry, the following tools were used: stones, knives or tumis, axes that (according to chroniclers) were made of stone and bronze, and ropes. Many of these tools were used for shearing camelids, that were then set free; thus their continued population was ensured. On the other hand, guanacos were hunted for their meat, which was highly prized.

Camelids
Camelids were a great source of resources for the Inca people. Their meat was consumed fresh or in charqui or chalona, and their wool was used to make thread and fabric. Their bones, skin, fat, and excrement were used for musical instruments, shoes, medicine, and fertilizer, respectively, among other uses. They were also preferred animals for religious sacrifices. Communal herds of camelids were cared for by young people between 12 and 18 years old. In areas where the communal flocks were large, such as in the altiplano, where fodder was distant, it is likely that they were cared for by specialists dedicated solely to this task. The chroniclers mention two Quechua words for shepherds: llama michi--which Garcilaso associates with low social standing--and llama camayos, which designates the caretaker of llamas or employee responsible for the herds. State-designated functionaries cared for state herds.

Classification
The Jesuit José de Acosta noted that flocks of camelids in ancient Peru were divided by color: black, white, grey-brown (pardo), and dappled (moromoro). He also noted that these colors were taken into account during sacrifices. Garcilaso also noted that when a baby camelid was born of a different color than its flock, it was moved to the flock of its own color once ti matured. This division by color facilitated the Esta división por tonalidades facilitaba su cuenta en los quipus, que se confeccionaban con lana del mismo color que el de los animales que querían contabilizar.2

The lama La llama y la alpaca eran especialmente importantes en la economía andina.

Llama: los recursos proporcionados por la llama fueron utilizados al máximo. Llama wool was used to make clothing for people living in mountainous regions (coastal communities used cotton for their clothing). Llama meat was consumed fresh and dried as jerky (charqui); meat could easily be conserved and stored as jerky. Además, eran sangradas por una vena de la quijada para preparar una comida especial con la sangre. Los cueros eran utilizados para preparar cuerdas, sandalias y otros objetos, mientras que su excremento seco era un excelente combustible, particularmente en las alturas donde no había árboles para conseguir leña. Perhaps one of the most important uses for llamas was for the carrying of cargo: ya que podía acarrear hasta 40 kilos de peso y desplazarse fácilmente por las alturas más empinadas. Las caravanas de llamas estaban conformadas principalmente por machos. Para los viajes más largos, como entre el Collao y la costa, se prefería a «machos nuevos» de más o menos dos años de edad. La recua viajaba desde la madrugada hasta el mediodía, deteniéndose en lugares con agua y pastos. Upkeep of the animals was not difficult, because they did not require fodder apart from the plants growing along the route; they fed during the day and chewed cud by night. In the end, they were sacrificed as offerings and their organs were used to tell omens.

Alpacas were raised primarily for their wool for fine, luxurious weavings. Los pastizales necesarios para su crianza siguieron pautas similares a las de la tenencia de la tierra agrícola. Los ayllus disponían de pastos para sus animales, al igual que los curacas, los grandes señores de las macroetnias, las huacas y los pastos especiales del Inca. Tanto las investigaciones arqueológicas como los documentos de archivos refieren la existencia de hatos de camélidos en la costa mucho antes de la conquista inca: desde la época precerámica. Estos debieron alimentarse en la región de lomas y en los bosques de algarrobales que hoy se encuentran casi totalmente depredados. Cuando las lomas se secaban, los animales se alimentaban con las vainas de los algarrobos. Alpaca wool is inferior to vicuña wool.

Undomesticated camelids: vicuñas and guanacos
Vicuñas and guanacos, two undomesticated camelids, were also used by the Incas. Vicuñas were prized for their wool, which was used to make ropes and offerings. As noted by the chroniclers, vicuñas were never killed by Incas: they were rounded up in chacos (collective hunts), shorn, and released. Thus, their population in the wild was maintained. The most geographically widespread camelid was the guanaco, which was found from just south of the equator until the Tierra del Fuego. They were hunted for their meat. According to the chronicler Cieza de León, guanacos were hunted for making charqui, which was stored to feed the army.

[editar] Reseña del consumo

La visita de Garci Diez de San Miguel a la provincia de Chucuito es un documento que proporciona interesante información con relación a la riqueza ganadera de dicha región. De aquí sabemos que un indio del común, por ejemplo, podía poseer hasta mil cabezas de camélidos, mientras que un señor principal podía llegar a tener hasta cincuenta mil.3 La ganadería ciertamente constituyó una fuente importante de riqueza en los tiempos prehispánicos.

Los cronistas señalan que se comía la carne de todos los camélidos, pero debido a las restricciones que existían para su matanza su consumo debió haber sido todo un lujo. Probablemente la población tenía acceso a carne fresca sólo en el ejército o en ocasiones ceremoniales, cuando se hacía una amplia distribución de los animales sacrificados.

En la época de la Colonia, los pastos fueron desapareciendo o empobreciéndose debido exclusivamente a la presencia masiva de los animales introducidos por los españoles y los hábitos alimenticios que estos tenían. El ambiente andino sufrió un cambio considerable con los animales domésticos que llegaron con la Conquista.

[editar] Crianza de otros animales

Apart from camelids, the primary animals domesticated in the Inca Empire, guinea pigs (cuyes) and ducks were also raised in small numbers for their meat. Guinea pigs form a part of the traditional diet of Andean peoples even today.