In this article, Dr. Christian Mader, researcher and leader of the Research Group "The Archaeology of Dependency (ArchDepth): Resources, Power and Status Differentiation", together with Markus Reindel, Johny Isla, Martin Behl, Julia Meister and Stefan Hölzl, presents a first overview of recent archaeological and paleoecological research at Cerro Llamocca and the larger study area. The authors present new data from field surveys—including chronological insights from surface ceramics and architecture—and strontium isotope analyses (87Sr/86Sr) of archaeological human tooth enamel and modern plants. These human remains were found in a Middle Horizon (CE 600–1000) and Late Intermediate (CE 1000–1450) funerary rock shelter (PAP-942) at nearby Cerro Mollepunco, also a sacred mountain and considered the dual counterpart of Cerro Llamocca, while the modern plants were collected in the wider Cerro Mollepunco area to serve as references. The 87Sr/86Sr data suggests that the people buried in this funerary rock shelter were originally from these wider adjacent highlands. Although its high-altitude environment presents harsh living conditions, the survey data shows that Cerro Llamocca and its immediate environs form an extensive complex of archaeological sites, composed of different sectors with architectural structures, public places, rock shelters, and caves. Moreover, this complex includes the oldest archaeological site (PAP-969) thus far documented in the region (for a comparison of the earliest sites on the coast, see Beresford-Jones et al., 2015)
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