Trade patterns in the Central Highlands of Peru in the first millennium B.C.

Consideration of economic networks of the Jauja‐Huancayo basin of the Central Highlands of Peru clarifies two larger issues: first, the development of the pristine (Chavin) state in Peru in the first millennium B.C.; second, the importance of alpaca and llama pastoralism previously unremarked upon in the Andes. It is suggested that llama trade caravans formed the basis of trade networks in the Central Highlands area, giving the highlands a certain economic independence, so that Chavin influence penetrated the central highlands 500 to 800 years later than it did in the coastal areas.