155 ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA • 2007 • 42 (2) © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Camelid domestication on the western slope of the Puna de Atacama, northern Chile Isabel CARTAJENA Departamento de Antropología Universidad de Chile Ignacio Carrera Pinto 1045, CL-Santiago Chile (Chili) icartaje@uchile.cl Lautaro NÚÑEZ Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Museo R.P. Gustavo Le Paige Universidad Católica del Norte Le Paige s/n, CL-San Pedro de Atacama Chile (Chili) lautanunez@netline.cl Martin GROSJEAN Nacional Center of Excellence in Research on Climate (NCCR) and Institute of Geography University of Bern Erlachstrasse 9a, CH-Bern 3012 (Switzerland) grosjean@giub.unibe.ch Cartajena I., Núñez L. & Grosjean M. 2007. – Camelid domestication on the western slope of the Puna de Atacama, northern Chile. Anthropozoologica 42 (2): 155-173. ABSTRACT Archaeofaunal records from the Early Archaic to the Early Formative sites (11000-2400 BP) on the western slope of the Puna de Atacama region (22ºS- 24ºS) were analysed in order to understand the process of camelid domestication. The remains were recovered from rock shelters and open sites reflecting an extended occupational sequence, starting with the first human occupations in the Early Archaic (11000-8000). During the Late Archaic (5000-3800 BP), the mobile hunting/gathering tradition had changed into a cultural system characterised by large campsites, hunting activities being present along with the first evidence of camelid domestication in favourable mid-Holocene sites (Quebrada Tulán and Puripica), which evolved during the Early Formative to complex camelid husbandry-based societies about 3100 BP. Although osteometrical evidence is mainly used, we incorporate pathologies, palaeoenvironmental information, the material culture and the archaeological context. Our intent is to identify the environmental scenario and the importance of environmental variables in desert areas, as well as to understand the emergence of camelid domestication in relation to