Las chozas de madera de la zona central de Tierra del Fueg

CARUSO FERME, LAURA; MANSUR, ESTELA; PIQUÉ, RAQUEL

Ushuaia

Jornada; VII Jornadas de Arqueología Patagonia; 2008

Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas

The aim of this paper is to present a series of hut structures discovered in the central forest of Tierra del Fuego. This forest was exploited from the beginnings of the XXth century, thus it is not exceptional to find remains of hut structures. Up to some years ago, however, it did not seem possible to find huts built by the Selknam population. These huts are known thanks to descriptions and photographs from ethnohistorical sources. Surveys undertaken in the area allowed to discover some huts showing characteristics that are comparable to those of the ethnohistorical record, as well as others that can be considered as ?European style?. A first analysis of both types of huts reveals important differences concerning building style, as well as size and log characteristics. In the first case, structures are analog to those of Selknam huts. They were built with uprooted logs, sometimes finishing in forks, which were fixed in order to provide structure stability. On the other hand, in ?European style? huts, logs were cut and are organized forming structures with wall/roof. These and other characteristics might be evidence of architectural differences between Selknam and European log huts.