Osteometría de falanges proximales de camélidos sudamericanos modernos. Variabilidad, estándares métricos y su importancia como conjunto comparativo para la interpretación de restos hallados en contextos arqueológicos

The measurements obtained from South American camelids appendicular skeleton bones have been used in recent years as a benchmark for interpreting different aspects of archaeological studies. The shape and size of bones have been linked to various factors which may be related to environmental restrictions and human management. This is of great importance for interpreting the history of human-camelid relationships through time, since the many remains obtained from archaeological deposits permit reconstructing situations that occurred in the past, which can be interpreted as the result of paleoeconomic activity or environmental changes. Therefore, this paper aims to present metric data obtained from contemporary individuals of South American camelids, which have been considered relevant for use as comparative material. An evaluation of this data is given a critical look in order to rethink the use of local and nonlocal standards for “taxonomic” assignment of archaeological samples. In order to assess the variability in shape and size of the first phalanx, the application of Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis (UPGMA) is presented. This takes into account differences in size, shape and geographical origin in order to observe the contribution of each variable in the formation of this sample. As a result, it is concluded that the use of both techniques, as well as data from the geographical provenience of the modern samples, allows a finer-grained species determinatio