Visits, “Fuegians”, and Information Networks

L. BORRERO; F. MARTIN; R. BARBERENA

The Role of Information in Hunter-Gatherer Band-Level Societies

University of California Press

Lugar: Berkeley; Año: 2011; p. 249 - 265

The first European explorers that visited the coasts of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego made many valuable observations of the local inhabitants of those regions. These observations resulted in descriptions of two human groups with, apparently, completely different adaptations. The wide steppes of eastern Patagonia were the country of the Aonikenk (also known as Tehuelche or Patagones), which were to become archetypical terrestrial hunter-gatherers. They basically hunted guanaco (Lama guanicoe) and choique (Pterocnemia pennata) using bow and arrow and bolas. The Aonikenk were highly mobile, and probably lived in small groups. In historical times following European contact the Aonikenk acquired the horse, and changed their settlement patterns to semi-sedentary aggregations of up to 100 individuals inhabiting large residences known as “toldos”, constructed of as many as 50 joined guanaco hides.