Archaeology of Fueguian Islands: environmental changes along the Holocene, Human Settlement and Cultural Interaction (Patagonia, Chile)

MORELLO, FLAVIA; MASSONE, MAURICIO; MARTIN, FABIANA; MCCULLOCH, ROBERT; BORRERO, L.A.; ARROYO-KALIN, MANUEL; REYES,OMAR; ALFONSO-DURRUTY, MARTA; CHRISTENSEN, MARIANNE; MISARTI, NICOLE; STERN, CH.; BORRAZZO, KAREN; SAN ROMÁN, MANUEL

Nagoya

Congreso; XIX INQUA Congress; 2015

International Union for Quaternary Research

The Fuegian archipelago, dominated by three mayor islands, namely Tierra del Fuego, Dawson and Navarino, is located in the southernmost end of South America and was peopled by hunter-gatherer societies since c. 10.500 BP and until the XX century. The interior sea environment formations date to Early Holocene but a human occupation gap exists for this moment. Sea coastline areas have evidence of specialized marine adaptation since c. 6.500 BP, including navigation technology that transforms the notion of biogeographic barriers into paths for islands. Other researchers have questionably characterized these marine hunter-gatherer occupations during the Middle and Late Holocene as culturally homogenous, stable and continuous.Ethnohistoric and ethnographic records account for an overlapping network area of three groups: selk´nam land hunters and alacalufe or kawésqar from central-western Patagonia and yamana or yaghan, south of Beagle channel, the latter two groups being specialized as maritime nomads.This subsistence dichotomy -terrestrial/marine and pedestrian/canoe- has restrained research and comprehension of the archaeological record. Therefore a broad assessment considering changes in environment, human settlement and cultural interaction throughout the Holocene has been undertaken.