Migration and maize in the Virú Valley: Understanding life histories through multi-tissue carbon, nitrogen, sulfur,...

Stable isotope analysis can provide crucial insight into the function and development of early state-level societies on the north coast of Peru.

Multi-tissue (bone collagen, tooth enamel, hair, nail, skin, and tendon) stable isotope analyses (carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and strontium) were conducted for 13 individuals from the lower Virú Valley.

Non-seasonal changes in a predominantly C₄ -based terrestrial diet, with minimal inputs of marine foods were identified. One individual (Burial 5), however, had a stable isotope signature unlike any previously found on the north coast of Peru, indicating both a large contribution of C₃ -terrestrial resources to their diet and an ⁸⁷ Sr/⁸⁶ Sr value suggestive of highland residence during childhood.

This research provides the first strong stable isotope evidence of a highland individual within a coastal burial in northern Peru, new insight into the ritual killing event at Huaca Santa Clara during the late middle horizon and supporting evidence of the importance of C₄ terrestrial resources to the developing Virú polity during the early intermediate period.