The history of alpacas begins in the mists of South American prehistory. There is evidence that alpacas were domesticated as much as 6000 years ago. The fact that the we do not have a record of any written language developed by the South American civilizations complicates the effort to document the early history of the alpaca.
Alpacas are associated with the goddess "Pachmana", the Earth Mother, iin Andean mythology. It was believed that alpacas were loaned to humans, to be left on earth for only as long as they were properly cared for and respected. According to this legend, alpacas were given as a gift at the mountain Ausangate in Peru.
When the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in Peru, they found a civilization that was based on textiles. The Inca people lived in a society that was literally ‘woven together” by the fibers supplied by alpacas, llamas and cotton. Inca weavers made everything from bridges to roofs from fibers, and they recorded their wealth in patterns of knots.
Among the Andean people cloth was currency, and the fleece of the alpaca was one of the most prized. The loyalty of nobles was rewarded with cloth made of alpaca. They gave away stacks of alpaca textiles to assuage the guilt of defeated lords. Their armies were paid with alpaca textiles.
In this society, cloth making was a major enterprise of the State. In fact, the warehouses filled with alpaca textiles were considered so precious that Inca armies deliberately burned them when retreating from battle.
However, the Spaniards did not recognize the true treasure of these peoples, being blinded by the abundant gold, silver and precious stones.
In the effort to conquer and subjugate the native people, there ensued a wholesale slaughter of alpacas and llamas. By some accounts as much as 90% of the alpacas in South America were slaughtered and left to rot in the fields. The carefully tended alpaca herds, divided by color and quality, were killed or dispersed. Only a small remnant of these wonderful animals were saved by the native population when they were secreted off to the barren and remote altiplano.
Alpacas faded into the background of history after the Spanish invasion of South America.
One site in the Peruvian Andes provides evidence of alpaca domestication. The site, called Telarmachay, shows, through animal remains, that there was a gradual shift from the generalized hunting of vicuña, guanaco, and deer, to the specialized hunting of vicuña and guanaco. The Telarmachay site helps date alpaca domestication and provides the first clues that alpacas were domesticated from the vicuña. For example, the deciduous incisor teeth of the alpaca and the permanent incisors have the same dental morphology as deciduous vicuña teeth. The retention of juvenile vicuña dental traits in the alpaca suggests an ancestral relationship. Llamas have a dental morphology that differs from the vicuña and alpaca, but is identical to the guanaco. Mitochondrial DNA analysis, which is only maternally inherited, is often used to determine the evolutionary history of species. Mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis of Camelids in South America show two distinct genetic groups representing two divergent evolutionary lineages from the vicuña and the guanaco. Research by Dr. Jane Wheeler at El Yaral, an archaeological site in Southern Peru with 900-1000-year-old mummified llamas and alpacas, provides the first view of preconquest camelids. Not only were alpacas important sources of fiber and food for their Indian domesticators, but the animals were involved in many aspects of religious culture. One religious ritual was to sacrifice by a blow between the ears of the alpaca, and then to bury their remains beneath their house floors. Because of the extremely arid conditions in this area, these animals were mummified. According to Dr. Jane Wheeler, these alpacas have a uniformity of fiber fineness and could represent pure, unhybridized domestic breeds. DNA analysis of the El Yaral mummies is shedding light on the genetic diversity of native Andean breeds prior to European conquest. Dr. Wheeler's research has lead her to conclude that the early Andean people selectively bred their herds to supply the exact needs of an ancient textile industry. The Incas that followed were, according to Dr. Wheeler, just as skilled as the early herders of ancient El Yaral. The Incans were known to raise pure white, black, and brown alpacas.
How did these wonderful animals end up here in our pastures? Many look at 1983 as the year that alpacas were imported in any number in to the United States. Many do not know that an earlier attempt to introduce alpacas into the United States in 1821 was a failure. In 1857 a group of llamas and alpacas were shipped to Baltimore, Maryland, but again attempts to acclimatize the animals were unsuccessful. According to Chamber's Encyclopedia, there were about 200-300 alpacas in Britain in 1872. Credit for the successful importation of alpacas to Britain is attributed to a Mr. Titus Salt of Bradford, Yorkshire, England. When we consider the history of the alpaca, we have to conclude that the North American Alpaca is very young indeed. However, alpacas in the United states continue to increase in numbers and the quality of the stock is improving as American breeders employ careful selective breeding.
