REPLACEMENT OR EXTENSION? CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY OF THE SELK?NAM HUNTER-GATHERER GROUPS OF CENTRAL ISLA GRANDE DE TIERRA DEL FUEGO

PARMIGIANI, VANESA; DE ANGELIS, HERNAN; MANSUR, M. ESTELA

Arctic & Antarctic

Fundación de Altos Estudios Antárticos y Ambientes Extremos

Año: 2014

1851-4685

Before the arrival of Europeans, the subsistence of the hunter-gatherer Selk?nam society was based on the exploitation of animal resources, including guanacos, rodents, birds, mollusks, as well as on collection of different varieties of plants and fungi. The technology used for the exploitation of these resources included diverse artifacts made with raw materials such as rocks, shells, bones, etc. All the resources used and consumed were of local origin. The coasts of Tierra del Fuego island were explored since the discovery or the Strait by Magellan?s expedition in 1520. Anyway, due to its insular character and its geographic situation in the circumpolar area, Tierra del Fuego remained without European colonization until practically the late XIX century. Nevertheless, since the first shipwrecks and still before the European settlers? established in the Island, the Selk?nam groups had access to nonlocal (European) raw materials and began to take advantage of them. Then, with the establishment of Europeans, other resources were incorporated; they produced important changes in the economy, in some cases extending the spectrum of local resources, or replacing them in others. This situation remained almost unchanged until the collapse of the native societies (Martinic 2002). Evidence of these changes can be found not only in written documents but also in the archaeological record. We will mention as example the case study of the Ewan site, in which, based on the archaeological materials, it is possible to discuss the changes that occurred, particularly in two scopes: lithic technology and exploitation of ovine cattle.