Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Anthropology Volume 2013, Article ID 258190, 13 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/258190 Research Article New Data on Food Consumption in Pre-Hispanic Populations from Northwest Argentina (ca. 1000–1550 A.D.): The Contribution of Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Composition of Human Bones María Soledad Gheggi and Verónica Isabel Williams CONICET-Instituto de Arqueolog´ ıa, Facultad de Filosof´ ıa y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 25 de Mayo 217, 3rd foor, C1002ABD Buenos Aires, Argentina Correspondence should be addressed to Mar´ ıa Soledad Gheggi; solelingheggi@yahoo.com.ar Received 29 April 2013; Revised 18 July 2013; Accepted 22 August 2013 Academic Editor: Maryna Steyn Copyright © 2013 M. S. Gheggi and V. I. Williams. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. We present data on carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of human bones from Tolomb´ on (Calchaqui Valley, Salta) and Esquina de Huajra (Quebrada de Humahuaca, Jujuy) sites located in Northwest Argentina (NWA). Both are complex archaeological residential settlements ascribed to the Regional Development Period (ca. 900–1430 A.D.), the Inca Period (ca. 1430–1536 A.D.), and the Early Colonial Period (ca. 1536–1600A.D.). Twelve samples of human bones were collected and analyzed, including remains from individuals of both sexes and diferent ages at death. We also present the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of modern plants from nearby areas in order to start building an isotopic ecology of the area and compile available information on food consumption from diferent lines of evidence. Te isotopic results obtained reveal the consumption of C 4 plants, which for the area are maize and amaranth, combined with animal proteins. Te integration of these results with the broader database was useful to discuss the political and economical implications of the fndings, especially in the context of this area under the Inca domination. 1. Introduction Te analyses of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were introduced to archaeology in the middle 1970s and have been used worldwide to assess human and animal diets of archaeological populations [1–5]. Teir main potential is that they allow direct access to the average diet of an individual’s life time before death which for bone samples is expected to refect the last 7 to 10 years; while for hair samples, the value is expected to refect a shorter time span [6, pages 137-138], complementing or broadening the interpretations made from traditional archaeological data, such as plant macro- and microremains, faunal remains, artifacts for food processing, or the osteological analysis of nutritional pathologies [7]. In the Andean area, the analyses of carbon and nitrogen isotopes have been used to assess the political implications of food consumption and distribution [8–10], the mobility and subsistence models of pre-Hispanic societies [11–13] or, the study of gendered food consumption in domestic contexts [14]. Following this line, we intend to approach the food consumption profles of individuals from the archaeological sites of Tolomb´ on (Calchaqui Valley, Salta) and Esquina de Huajra (Quebrada de Humahuaca, Jujuy) located in NWA (Figure 1). Te occupation of these sites encompasses a time span characterized by rapid social changes including a period of hostile confict between communities and the annexation of the area to the Inca Empire, which probably afected these communities lifestyles—including which food was con- sumed. Te Inca Empire (or Tawantinsuyu in Quechua) was acknowledged by considering maize as a staple, not only for daily consumption but also for chicha making, a traditional alcoholic beverage made from fermented maize which was consumed in feasts and celebrations [15–17]. Nevertheless, as recent isotopic studies demonstrate, maize was a staple in the Andes well before the Inca domination [18–21] but