Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, 2016
Se presentan los resultados de un proyecto fondart orientado a describir sistemáticamente pintura... more Se presentan los resultados de un proyecto fondart orientado a describir sistemáticamente pinturas y grabados rupestres de tres cuevas emplazadas en el litoral de la Patagonia septentrional chilena, recientemente descubiertas. Se registraron 47 pinturas rojas y nueve grabados lineales, con variaciones en la distribución de los motivos, tanto al interior de cada cueva como entre ellas. Aunque no se alcanzó la base de los depósitos, los trabajos realizados proveen el marco inicial para futuros estudios. Palabras clave: arte rupestre, ocupaciones costeras, Patagonia, sondeos arqueológicos, arqueología comunitaria. This paper presents the results of a fondart project aimed at describing the first rock art found on the coasts of the Northern Patagonian channels. The project involved exhaustive, systematic records of the wall paintings and engravings found. Forty-seven paintings were recorded (mostly lines, dots and spots, all in red) as well as nine engravings. Some distributional patterns are noted. Although the bottom of the depositional sequence could not be reached and the answer to many research questions (e .g. the cultural affiliation of the occupants) is still pending, analyses of both surface and subsurface records (rock art and mobile items) provided enough information to move beyond vague speculation and formulate basic hypotheses that can be tested in future research.
Se entrega informacion sobre nuevos trabajos arqueologicos en el rio Torcido (Tierra del Fuego, C... more Se entrega informacion sobre nuevos trabajos arqueologicos en el rio Torcido (Tierra del Fuego, Chile) y dosfechados radiocarbonicos obtenidos en dos columnas estratigrafi cas del mismo sitio.
nam son generalmente elogiosas respecto del arco y la fle cha, por el esmero en su fabricación y ... more nam son generalmente elogiosas respecto del arco y la fle cha, por el esmero en su fabricación y por el feliz resulta do de su combinación operatoria. La elección de la mate ria prima para la confección de ambas piezas era, en lo re ferido a la calidad, motivo de prolija selección. Para el ar co, por ejemplo, se empleaba indistintamente madera de las fagáceas magallánicas (Ñire: Nothofagus antárctica; lenga: Nothofagus pumilio y coigüe: Nothofagus betuloides), o la leñadura {Maylenus magellanica). Sólo se utili zaba la parte extema (albura), ya que el centro (duramen) era poco flexible. Ello significa que el tronco utilizado de bía tener un grosor que por lo menos triplicaba el diáme tro del arco de caza de un selknam adulto, que oscilaba en
Se presentan y discuten los antecedentes etnográfi cos conocidos en relación a la importancia de ... more Se presentan y discuten los antecedentes etnográfi cos conocidos en relación a la importancia de los cetáceos en el mundo selk'nam. Se refi eren también los principales antecedentes sobre cetáceos relativos a los yámana y kawéskar. Para el análisis de la información selk'nam se utilizan los relatos de interés etnográfi co proporcionados por viajeros, misioneros, colonos y etnólogos. De igual modo se considera el estudio de algunos artefactos selk'nam depositados en museos. Se concluye que los varamientos de ballenas y delfi nes representaban acontecimientos de especial interés para los selk'nam, que incidían profundamente en los ámbitos de su economía, organización social y cosmovisión.
Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ... more Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ambientes insulares y litorales es fundamental para comprender la interacción humano-ambiental en el pasado. Las prospecciones en el noreste de la isla Diego Portales, en el mar interior de Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile), han permitido documentar ocho yacimientos arqueológicos formados por uno o varios conchales. Todos ellos se hallan ubicados en áreas de la costa al resguardo del viento dominante y con fácil acceso mediante embarcación. Los trabajos arqueológicos en dos de estos yacimientos (Bahía Easter 1 y 2) indican una estrategia de subsistencia similar durante el Holoceno tardío final, basada en el aprovechamiento de la biodiversidad de este ambiente de ecotono, con más de una docena de recursos marinos y terrestres consumidos. Entre éstas destaca en abundancia el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), probablemente cazado en el litoral continental. Teniendo en cuenta las dinámicas ...
Tierra del Fuego represents the southernmost limit of human settlement in the Americas. While peo... more Tierra del Fuego represents the southernmost limit of human settlement in the Americas. While people may have started to arrive there around 10 500 BP, when it was still connected to the mainland, the main wave of occupation occurred 5000 years later, by which time it had become an island. The co-existence in the area of maritime hunter-gatherers (in canoes) with previous terrestrial occupants pre-echoes the culturally distinctive groups encountered by the first European visitors in the sixteenth century. The study also provides a striking example of interaction across challenging natural barriers.
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2019
This paper reports the archaeological materials from a unique child burial recently discovered in... more This paper reports the archaeological materials from a unique child burial recently discovered in Tierra del Fuego. Preliminary analyses are consistent with the idea that the burial belongs to the Selk'nam culture. Although the Selk'nam archaeological record is abundant, very little is known about their mortuary practices. In this well-preserved burial, the human remains were accompanied by an unusual set of grave goods, which have not been described in the archaeological literature for this region. Radiocarbon dating places
The rich fossil record of horses has made them a classic example of evolutionary processes. Howev... more The rich fossil record of horses has made them a classic example of evolutionary processes. However, while the overall picture of equid evolution is well known, the details are surprisingly poorly understood, especially for the later Pliocene and Pleistocene, c. 3 million to 0.01 million years (Ma) ago, and nowhere more so than in the Americas. There is no consensus on the number of equid species or even the number of lineages that existed in these continents. Likewise, the origin of the endemic South American genus Hippidion is unresolved, as is the phylogenetic position of the ‘‘stilt-legged’ ’ horses of North America. Using ancient DNA sequences, we show that, in contrast to current models based on morphology and a recent genetic study, Hippidion was phylogenetically close to the caballine (true) horses, with origins considerably more recent than the currently accepted date of c. 10 Ma. Furthermore, we show that stiltlegged horses, commonly regarded as Old World migrants related ...
Two genera and multiple species of short-faced bear from the Americas went extinct during or towa... more Two genera and multiple species of short-faced bear from the Americas went extinct during or toward the end of the Pleistocene, and all belonged to the endemic New World subfamily Tremarctinae [1-7]. Two of these species were giants, growing in excess of 1,000 kg [6, 8, 9], but it remains uncertain how these extinct bears were related to the sole surviving short-faced bear: the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus). Ancient mitochondrial DNA has recently suggested phylogenetic relationships among these lineages that conflict with interpretations based on morphology [1, 10-12]. However, widespread hybridisation and incomplete lineage sorting among extant bears mean that the mitochondrial phylogeny frequently does not reflect the true species tree [13, 14]. Here we present ancient nuclear genome sequences from representatives of the two extinct short-faced bear genera, Arctotherium and Arctodus. Our new data support a third hypothesis for the relationships among short-faced bears, whic...
Fire was essential for the ancient inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost end of th... more Fire was essential for the ancient inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost end of the Americas. The Fuegians, as these human groups are traditionally known, produced fire primarily by striking a piece of iron pyrite against a flint nodule. Several European chroniclers mention this firestone technology and note its social value, a conclusion based on the fact that it was carefully safeguarded in leather pouches. Anglican missionary Thomas Bridges visited one of these pyrite sources in 1883 with two Yaghan guides and left behind a brief description of its out-of-the-way location. Almost 130 years later, we rediscovered this mine on Capitán Aracena Island in the Strait of Magellan. In this study, we present a brief report focused on the mine’s exact location, archaeological materials, and layout, and we offer the first physical-chemical description of the pyrite source. Comparison of these results to similar analyses of archaeological samples from the Santa Isabel Island s...
Archaeological research documents major technological shifts among people who have lived in the s... more Archaeological research documents major technological shifts among people who have lived in the southern tip of South America (South Patagonia) during the last thirteen millennia, including the development of marine-based economies and changes in tools and raw materials. It has been proposed that movements of people spreading culture and technology propelled some of these shifts, but these hypotheses have not been tested with ancient DNA. Here we report genome-wide data from 20 ancient individuals, and co-analyze it with previously reported data. We reveal that immigration does not explain the appearance of marine adaptations in South Patagonia. We describe partial genetic continuity since ~6600 BP and two later gene flows correlated with technological changes: one between 4700–2000 BP that affected primarily marine-based groups, and a later one impacting all <2000 BP groups. From ~2200–1200 BP, mixture among neighbors resulted in a cline correlated to geographic ordering along t...
This contribution presents the results of single and multi-variable osteometric analyses performe... more This contribution presents the results of single and multi-variable osteometric analyses performed on a sample of short bones and phalanxes assigned to Vicugna sp. from Lago Sofía Cave 4 site (13500 11000 BP), Región de Magallanes, Chile. The elements analyzed show a ...
Patagonia es la porción continental más austral del mundo y una de las más tardíamente pobladas p... more Patagonia es la porción continental más austral del mundo y una de las más tardíamente pobladas por el Homo Sapiens, lo que la constituye en una región de particular interés en los estudios de evolución humana. Tras una breve descripción ambiental y geológica, ...
... Conde Cosme Adhemar Fabio Contreras Carlos Cunin Elisabeth Daillant Isabelle Dammert Manuel D... more ... Conde Cosme Adhemar Fabio Contreras Carlos Cunin Elisabeth Daillant Isabelle Dammert Manuel Darrasse Eric Daviaud Sophie de Fontainieu Anne-Rose de Suremain Charles-Edouard del Castillo Carmen Delabarde Tania Deleage Pierre Deler Jean-Paul Deluz Ariane ...
Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, 2016
Se presentan los resultados de un proyecto fondart orientado a describir sistemáticamente pintura... more Se presentan los resultados de un proyecto fondart orientado a describir sistemáticamente pinturas y grabados rupestres de tres cuevas emplazadas en el litoral de la Patagonia septentrional chilena, recientemente descubiertas. Se registraron 47 pinturas rojas y nueve grabados lineales, con variaciones en la distribución de los motivos, tanto al interior de cada cueva como entre ellas. Aunque no se alcanzó la base de los depósitos, los trabajos realizados proveen el marco inicial para futuros estudios. Palabras clave: arte rupestre, ocupaciones costeras, Patagonia, sondeos arqueológicos, arqueología comunitaria. This paper presents the results of a fondart project aimed at describing the first rock art found on the coasts of the Northern Patagonian channels. The project involved exhaustive, systematic records of the wall paintings and engravings found. Forty-seven paintings were recorded (mostly lines, dots and spots, all in red) as well as nine engravings. Some distributional patterns are noted. Although the bottom of the depositional sequence could not be reached and the answer to many research questions (e .g. the cultural affiliation of the occupants) is still pending, analyses of both surface and subsurface records (rock art and mobile items) provided enough information to move beyond vague speculation and formulate basic hypotheses that can be tested in future research.
Se entrega informacion sobre nuevos trabajos arqueologicos en el rio Torcido (Tierra del Fuego, C... more Se entrega informacion sobre nuevos trabajos arqueologicos en el rio Torcido (Tierra del Fuego, Chile) y dosfechados radiocarbonicos obtenidos en dos columnas estratigrafi cas del mismo sitio.
nam son generalmente elogiosas respecto del arco y la fle cha, por el esmero en su fabricación y ... more nam son generalmente elogiosas respecto del arco y la fle cha, por el esmero en su fabricación y por el feliz resulta do de su combinación operatoria. La elección de la mate ria prima para la confección de ambas piezas era, en lo re ferido a la calidad, motivo de prolija selección. Para el ar co, por ejemplo, se empleaba indistintamente madera de las fagáceas magallánicas (Ñire: Nothofagus antárctica; lenga: Nothofagus pumilio y coigüe: Nothofagus betuloides), o la leñadura {Maylenus magellanica). Sólo se utili zaba la parte extema (albura), ya que el centro (duramen) era poco flexible. Ello significa que el tronco utilizado de bía tener un grosor que por lo menos triplicaba el diáme tro del arco de caza de un selknam adulto, que oscilaba en
Se presentan y discuten los antecedentes etnográfi cos conocidos en relación a la importancia de ... more Se presentan y discuten los antecedentes etnográfi cos conocidos en relación a la importancia de los cetáceos en el mundo selk'nam. Se refi eren también los principales antecedentes sobre cetáceos relativos a los yámana y kawéskar. Para el análisis de la información selk'nam se utilizan los relatos de interés etnográfi co proporcionados por viajeros, misioneros, colonos y etnólogos. De igual modo se considera el estudio de algunos artefactos selk'nam depositados en museos. Se concluye que los varamientos de ballenas y delfi nes representaban acontecimientos de especial interés para los selk'nam, que incidían profundamente en los ámbitos de su economía, organización social y cosmovisión.
Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ... more Caracterizar las estrategias de movilidad de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras-pescadoras en ambientes insulares y litorales es fundamental para comprender la interacción humano-ambiental en el pasado. Las prospecciones en el noreste de la isla Diego Portales, en el mar interior de Última Esperanza (Magallanes, Chile), han permitido documentar ocho yacimientos arqueológicos formados por uno o varios conchales. Todos ellos se hallan ubicados en áreas de la costa al resguardo del viento dominante y con fácil acceso mediante embarcación. Los trabajos arqueológicos en dos de estos yacimientos (Bahía Easter 1 y 2) indican una estrategia de subsistencia similar durante el Holoceno tardío final, basada en el aprovechamiento de la biodiversidad de este ambiente de ecotono, con más de una docena de recursos marinos y terrestres consumidos. Entre éstas destaca en abundancia el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), probablemente cazado en el litoral continental. Teniendo en cuenta las dinámicas ...
Tierra del Fuego represents the southernmost limit of human settlement in the Americas. While peo... more Tierra del Fuego represents the southernmost limit of human settlement in the Americas. While people may have started to arrive there around 10 500 BP, when it was still connected to the mainland, the main wave of occupation occurred 5000 years later, by which time it had become an island. The co-existence in the area of maritime hunter-gatherers (in canoes) with previous terrestrial occupants pre-echoes the culturally distinctive groups encountered by the first European visitors in the sixteenth century. The study also provides a striking example of interaction across challenging natural barriers.
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2019
This paper reports the archaeological materials from a unique child burial recently discovered in... more This paper reports the archaeological materials from a unique child burial recently discovered in Tierra del Fuego. Preliminary analyses are consistent with the idea that the burial belongs to the Selk'nam culture. Although the Selk'nam archaeological record is abundant, very little is known about their mortuary practices. In this well-preserved burial, the human remains were accompanied by an unusual set of grave goods, which have not been described in the archaeological literature for this region. Radiocarbon dating places
The rich fossil record of horses has made them a classic example of evolutionary processes. Howev... more The rich fossil record of horses has made them a classic example of evolutionary processes. However, while the overall picture of equid evolution is well known, the details are surprisingly poorly understood, especially for the later Pliocene and Pleistocene, c. 3 million to 0.01 million years (Ma) ago, and nowhere more so than in the Americas. There is no consensus on the number of equid species or even the number of lineages that existed in these continents. Likewise, the origin of the endemic South American genus Hippidion is unresolved, as is the phylogenetic position of the ‘‘stilt-legged’ ’ horses of North America. Using ancient DNA sequences, we show that, in contrast to current models based on morphology and a recent genetic study, Hippidion was phylogenetically close to the caballine (true) horses, with origins considerably more recent than the currently accepted date of c. 10 Ma. Furthermore, we show that stiltlegged horses, commonly regarded as Old World migrants related ...
Two genera and multiple species of short-faced bear from the Americas went extinct during or towa... more Two genera and multiple species of short-faced bear from the Americas went extinct during or toward the end of the Pleistocene, and all belonged to the endemic New World subfamily Tremarctinae [1-7]. Two of these species were giants, growing in excess of 1,000 kg [6, 8, 9], but it remains uncertain how these extinct bears were related to the sole surviving short-faced bear: the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus). Ancient mitochondrial DNA has recently suggested phylogenetic relationships among these lineages that conflict with interpretations based on morphology [1, 10-12]. However, widespread hybridisation and incomplete lineage sorting among extant bears mean that the mitochondrial phylogeny frequently does not reflect the true species tree [13, 14]. Here we present ancient nuclear genome sequences from representatives of the two extinct short-faced bear genera, Arctotherium and Arctodus. Our new data support a third hypothesis for the relationships among short-faced bears, whic...
Fire was essential for the ancient inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost end of th... more Fire was essential for the ancient inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost end of the Americas. The Fuegians, as these human groups are traditionally known, produced fire primarily by striking a piece of iron pyrite against a flint nodule. Several European chroniclers mention this firestone technology and note its social value, a conclusion based on the fact that it was carefully safeguarded in leather pouches. Anglican missionary Thomas Bridges visited one of these pyrite sources in 1883 with two Yaghan guides and left behind a brief description of its out-of-the-way location. Almost 130 years later, we rediscovered this mine on Capitán Aracena Island in the Strait of Magellan. In this study, we present a brief report focused on the mine’s exact location, archaeological materials, and layout, and we offer the first physical-chemical description of the pyrite source. Comparison of these results to similar analyses of archaeological samples from the Santa Isabel Island s...
Archaeological research documents major technological shifts among people who have lived in the s... more Archaeological research documents major technological shifts among people who have lived in the southern tip of South America (South Patagonia) during the last thirteen millennia, including the development of marine-based economies and changes in tools and raw materials. It has been proposed that movements of people spreading culture and technology propelled some of these shifts, but these hypotheses have not been tested with ancient DNA. Here we report genome-wide data from 20 ancient individuals, and co-analyze it with previously reported data. We reveal that immigration does not explain the appearance of marine adaptations in South Patagonia. We describe partial genetic continuity since ~6600 BP and two later gene flows correlated with technological changes: one between 4700–2000 BP that affected primarily marine-based groups, and a later one impacting all <2000 BP groups. From ~2200–1200 BP, mixture among neighbors resulted in a cline correlated to geographic ordering along t...
This contribution presents the results of single and multi-variable osteometric analyses performe... more This contribution presents the results of single and multi-variable osteometric analyses performed on a sample of short bones and phalanxes assigned to Vicugna sp. from Lago Sofía Cave 4 site (13500 11000 BP), Región de Magallanes, Chile. The elements analyzed show a ...
Patagonia es la porción continental más austral del mundo y una de las más tardíamente pobladas p... more Patagonia es la porción continental más austral del mundo y una de las más tardíamente pobladas por el Homo Sapiens, lo que la constituye en una región de particular interés en los estudios de evolución humana. Tras una breve descripción ambiental y geológica, ...
... Conde Cosme Adhemar Fabio Contreras Carlos Cunin Elisabeth Daillant Isabelle Dammert Manuel D... more ... Conde Cosme Adhemar Fabio Contreras Carlos Cunin Elisabeth Daillant Isabelle Dammert Manuel Darrasse Eric Daviaud Sophie de Fontainieu Anne-Rose de Suremain Charles-Edouard del Castillo Carmen Delabarde Tania Deleage Pierre Deler Jean-Paul Deluz Ariane ...
Estrecho de Magallanes, tres descubrimientos , 2020
Rey Don Felipe fue la ciudad más austral de todo el orbe en el siglo XVI, proyectada por la Coron... more Rey Don Felipe fue la ciudad más austral de todo el orbe en el siglo XVI, proyectada por la Corona española a fines de 1580 con el objetivo de controlar el estrecho de Magallanes. Felipe II, rey de España en aquel entonces, libraba una guerra con los Países Bajos e Inglaterra, dos potencias navales que acechaban continuamente sus colonias. El estrecho estaba en la mira de ambas.
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