Abstract
Substantial environmental and geologic variability in the Andes of South America make this region well-suited for isotopic paleomobility studies ranging from macro-scale regional-level isoscapes to micro-scale individual-level reconstructions of mobility over one individual’s lifetime. We provide an overview of isotopic investigations of mobility and migration in the Andean past, from the regional to site-level and then to the level of the individual. We also include a case study that combines multiple scales of analysis at archaeological sites in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. We focus on both regional and individual patterns of movement at archaeological sites in the San Pedro de Atacama oases as well as the neighboring Loa River Valley. In addition to paleomobility through 87Sr/86Sr values, we use mass-dependent variation in strontium isotopes, reported as δ88/86Sr, to better understand the strontium sources in the diet. Combining radiogenic and stable strontium isotope values at these sites shows dietary variability in strontium sources consumed, and allows a more nuanced discussion of paleomobility in the Andes.