Domestication of the Llama and Alpaca

The llama and the alpaca were domesticated in the Andean highlands of Peru from two distinct wild camelid ancestors, the guanaco and the vicuna respectively, in a process most researchers place between about 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. Llamas were bred primarily as pack and meat animals able to work at extreme altitude, while alpacas were bred chiefly for their fine wool; both became central to Andean civilizations from the pre-Inca cultures through the Inca Empire, which relied on llama caravans for transport across mountainous terrain where wheeled vehicles and draft animals such as the horse were absent, since neither had yet reached the Americas.