Body painting in action. The creation of social divisions through ceremonial image making and display in Tierra del Fuego (Southern end of South America)

FIORE, D.

Congreso; V World Archaeological Congress; 2003

This paper presents the analysis of ceremonial body painting production and display by two aboriginal societies of Tierra del Fuego, the Selk?nam and the Yámana, with the main goal of discussing how such creations were actively involved in the construction of social roles and relationships in these societies. This ephemeral material culture product has a low visibility in the archaeological record; therefore it has been mainly studied using historic-ethnographic records, both visual (around 200 photographs and drawings) and written (more than 70 books and articles written by first-hand observers). These sources, which have been assessed in terms of their scopes and biases, range from the XVI to the early XX century, that is, from the first contacts with European populations to the time when the Fuegian aborigines became almost extinct. The paper aims to show how body painting was manipulated by its producers and its wearers as a means which gave them certain power to do things and/or power over people (e.g. some viewers of the painted persons). This happened particularly in the initiation ceremonies, during which, for example, Selk?nam men initiated male youngsters to a ?secret? that involved painting and masking themselves as mythical spirits inside the ceremonial hut, to then go out and perform a number of acts, including scaring the women, who were strictly excluded from the ceremonial hut. Such kinds of manipulation are shown to have been a source of social divisions, mainly based on the age and gender of producers, wearers and viewers of ceremonial body painting. Therefore, it is argued that although technical knowledge was essential to the creation of body painting images, the differential access to the ?secret knowledge? about the many uses of body painting images was a key factor in the construction of female, male, adult and youngster social roles, and of relationships between the persons playing them. This is specifically relevant in relation to the issue about the existence of internal social differences in hunter gatherer societies, where no surplus was produced and/or accumulated, but where differences emerged from the production and/or handling of knowledge. Finally, the simultaneous existence of economic, political, ideological and cognitive aspects within the production and display of Yámana and Selk?nam ceremonial body paintings is highlighted. This contributes to shedding light on the variety of internal processes involved in the creation and use of these visual products, through which some Yámana and Selk?nam social roles were constructed. This paper presents the analysis of ceremonial body painting production and display by two aboriginal societies of Tierra del Fuego, the Selk?nam and the Yámana, with the main goal of discussing how such creations were actively involved in the construction of social roles and relationships in these societies. This ephemeral material culture product has a low visibility in the archaeological record; therefore it has been mainly studied using historic-ethnographic records, both visual (around 200 photographs and drawings) and written (more than 70 books and articles written by first-hand observers). These sources, which have been assessed in terms of their scopes and biases, range from the XVI to the early XX century, that is, from the first contacts with European populations to the time when the Fuegian aborigines became almost extinct. The paper aims to show how body painting was manipulated by its producers and its wearers as a means which gave them certain power to do things and/or power over people (e.g. some viewers of the painted persons). This happened particularly in the initiation ceremonies, during which, for example, Selk?nam men initiated male youngsters to a ?secret? that involved painting and masking themselves as mythical spirits inside the ceremonial hut, to then go out and perform a number of acts, including scaring the women, who were strictly excluded from the ceremonial hut. Such kinds of manipulation are shown to have been a source of social divisions, mainly based on the age and gender of producers, wearers and viewers of ceremonial body painting. Therefore, it is argued that although technical knowledge was essential to the creation of body painting images, the differential access to the ?secret knowledge? about the many uses of body painting images was a key factor in the construction of female, male, adult and youngster social roles, and of relationships between the persons playing them. This is specifically relevant in relation to the issue about the existence of internal social differences in hunter gatherer societies, where no surplus was produced and/or accumulated, but where differences emerged from the production and/or handling of knowledge. Finally, the simultaneous existence of economic, political, ideological and cognitive aspects within the production and display of Yámana and Selk?nam ceremonial body paintings is highlighted. This contributes to shedding light on the variety of internal processes involved in the creation and use of these visual products, through which some Yámana and Selk?nam social roles were constructed.