Bird 1938 PDF

American Geographical Society
Antiquity and Migrations of the Early Inhabitants of Patagonia

Author(s): Junius Bird
Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Apr., 1938), pp. 250-275
Published by: American Geographical Society
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ANTIQUITY AND MIGRATIONS OF THE EARLY
INHABITANTS OF PATAGONIA*
Junius Bird
American Museum of Natural History
Whence have these people come? Have they remained in the same state since the
creation of the world? What could have tempted a tribe of men leaving the fine
regions of the North . . . to enter upon one of the most inhospitable countries
in the world? Such & many other reflections must occupy the mind of every one
who views one of these poor savages . . . the race of Fuegians.
-Charles Darwin's Diary of the Voyage of H.M.S. "Beagle," edited from the MS
by Nora Barlow, 1933.
IN the Geographical Review for April, 1934, the status of our knowl-
edge of Southern Patagonia was discussed with reference to the
structure, climate, natives, and economic prospects.' Since then
two and a half years of archeological field work in the region under
the direction of the American Museum of Natural History has thrown
additional light on the antiquity and migrations of the early inhabit-
ants and incidentally on certain geological and possible climatic
changes.
There are several good reasons why little effort has been made
to uncover the history of man in Patagonia distance, expense, more
urgent problems nearer home, too little promise of results yet work
in the region is not without its rewards.
It will be well to discuss briefly the environmental factors. And
first I wish to emphasize the fact that Patagonia is by no means the
bleak, forbidding country of popular conception. Its bad reputation
dates from the days of sailing vessels, when conditions offshore were
thought to be indicative of the nature of the land. And since then
too many writers have carried on the old tradition. Even the primi-
tive state of the natives has been attributed to the climate, but men
have lived successfully under worse and severer conditions without
stagnating or degenerating. And I cannot ascribe my difference of
opinion to a current improvement in the climate. An examination
of sections cut from scattered examples of the oldest living trees avail-
able on the western and southern channels2 seems to show that the
*A preliminary report of results obtained in Southern Patagonia from November, 1932, to May,
I933, and from November, I934, to April, I937. On the second expedition I was accompanied by my
wife, who participated in all phases of the work. For a narrative of the journeys see Natural History,
Vol. 4I, I938, pp. I6-28, 77, and 79.
1 W. E. Rudolph: Southern Patagonia as Portrayed in Recent Literature, Geogr. Re?,.,Vol. 24,
I934, pp. 25I-27I.
Sections of coigue and roble were cut at Puerto Eugenia, Woolyia, at Rio Douglas, on Navarino
2
Island, and at Yendagaia Bay, Tierra del Fuego. About twenty sections from Puerto Eugenia show a
fairly consistent pattern, as do a number of samples from Vendagaia. Samples of cypresa from Puerto
Rio Frio and Puerto Eden, Wellington Island, show conformity within that group. An increased
growth from i8oo to i8I6 is indicated there and is probably a local condition. Some of this material
was examined at New Haven, the remainder I have checked myself.
250

EARLY INHABITANTS OF PATAGONIA 25I
weather, as indicated by the ring growth, has been fairly constant

during the past three hundred years. In a region where precipitation
is excessive throughout the year and where soil temperatures are
constantly low, hours of sunshine are at a premium. Any marked
increase in growth must be attributed to an increase in the number of
hours of sunshine rather than to 75
1 F 200MILES
additional rainfall. As Darwin pre- Purfo
l
Nlontt
F i . | s 00 2005K M
MTERS
sents a particularly gloomy picture Chilo e . G!ofRe/a

of the climate, it is interesting to '\~* 2 Gorvado rva 0
note that while he was there the Chon Jaca Channel QS
growth was normal. Arc*

-45 - -
For the present purpose the pic- e 45
ture to be kept in mind is that the

end of South America is not only
divided between Chile and Argen- sv go d 7 S H5Q~~~~~od
0c
tina but is also divided roughly S.oftS /
along the same line into two re- Wlelliritol: du\u S oian|
gions as different from each other
as Norway and our Western plains.
e Cru
gems/a.
The basic material cultures of the T,/Inj
t Ce'azR"'
6a/I gas
primitive peoples inhabiting these

Mae/a$tr
regions reflect the profound differ- SCO
ences in physical structure, cli-
mate, floras, and faunas.
Of the utmost importance in
SEOGO. REVIEW,APR, 93 e 70
simplifying archeological work is
FIG.I-Map of Patagonia showing the author's
the fact that not until the vicinity routes. See also Figure 28, p. 27x.
of the Strait of Magellan is reached
is there a place where eastern and western groups could have normally
contacted each other. This means that we have two converging migra-
tion routes, isolated from each other, along which distinctive cultures
were carried into a restricted area from which there is no outlet. All
important changes in the material culture subsequent to the first
arrivals, except for such things as were local developments and in-
ventions, should be traceable along one or the other of these routes.
THE WEST COAST

The shore line at the western base of the mountains is well de-
scribed as one of the most irregular and broken in the world. It is
only 870 statute miles in a straight line from Puerto Montt to Cape
Froward, yet the shore measures 4500 according to existing surveys,
which are incomplete and lacking in detail. It would be useless, if
not impossible, to measure the shore line of the offshore islands; but
if we include western Tierra del Fuego, Navarino Island, and the main-

252 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
land, we obtain a rough estimate of I2,000 miles or more of shore

on a direct line of IOOOmiles. In all this distance there is no place
where one can walk along or near the shore without the greatest diffi-
culty. The reason lies not only in the densely tangled forest that
clings wherever it can secure foothold but also in the rough nature
of the country-mountains and hills that drop precipitously beneath
the sea with little or no foreshore. Beaches are few and widely sepa-
rated. Glaciers and swift-flowing rivers offer further obstacles.
It is clear, then, that occupation of this territory must have de-
pended on the development of an adequate boat or canoe. Once men
were so equipped, the only obstacle, but that a serious one, was the
Taitao Peninsula and the Gulf of Penas. The passage around the
peninsula is so difficult and dangerous as to be almost impossible by
canoe; but it can be avoided by using the portage across the Isthmus
of Ofqui, which is so well hidden that it may have taken the Indians
some time to discover it. Beyond the Gulf of Penas there is nothing
to discourage a rather rapid occupation of the whole archipelago,
except, perhaps, the excessive rain.
For food the natives on the Pacific side necessarily depended almost
entirely on what the sea had to offer-a large variety of excellent
shellfish, seals, otters, porpoises, and, occasionally, whales. Fish,
however, seem to have formed a surprisingly small part of their diet.
Oceanic birds of several species are found in large numbers throughout
the year in certain parts. On land it is a different story. Only iso-
lated localities have anything to offer. Deer are found on Chilo6,
Wellington, and Riesco Islands and the Taitao Peninsula and back
in some of the bays and fiords. Pursuit is arduous, and only where
the topography favored the hunters were any taken. Guanacos are
available only in the south, on Navarino Island, and where the terri-
tory of the canoe people borders that of the land people. Vegetable
foods, such as berries, wild celery, and, in the north, the pangue stems,
are seasonal and are sometimes found in large quantities. The slight
use made of these may well be due to the medicinal qualities of most
of them.
In seeming recompense for the unpleasant climate nature has pro-
vided several items the importance of which has not been fully appre-
ciated. One of these is the tepuztree. Its habitat is confined to the
area with the greatest rainfall-exactly the region where its qualities
are most needed. The wood can be cut green and, even in heavy rain,
with its fine, dense twigs an excellent fire can quickly be made. Un-
like most of the fast-burning woods with which we are familiar in
this country, the teput (Tepualia stipularis) produces a good bed of
long-lived coals. Its position in the economy of the people is rivaled
only by the beech tree, which provided bark for the canoes, and the
tough vines used in their construction.

EARLY INHABITANTS OF PATAGONIA 253
The knife made from the shell of a single species of mussel, the giant
chorro, has likewise played a unique role. It is almost as effective as
a knife of iron and is certainly superior to one made from the available
stones. Only where the chorro shell was difficult to obtain, at the
margin of its habitat south of the Strait, did the canoe people even-
tually utilize stone for knives.
Hence in a region where excessive rain and wind and rough topog-
raphy combined to discourage primitive occupation the fundamental
necessities were at hand for overcoming the difficulties presented.
THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD
On the Atlantic coast conditions are almost the exact reverse of

those on the Pacific coast. Not only is material for adequate boats
lacking, but there was no motive for their use. Food was derived
mainly from the land. Guanacos and, formerly, horses and ground
sloths were available, whereas only at scattered localities could seals
and shellfish be found in abundance, and even there they were ob-
tained more easily afoot than from a boat. There was little to induce
people to travel along a coast where even drinking water is sometimes
difficult to find. Hence it seems a safe assumption that migration
down through the Argentine was by land, following the areas where
hunting was best. The only deterrent to a very rapid and complete
occupation of most of the territory would have been a lack of the
means to kill or capture the game. The Santa Cruz River, the only
possible barrier, is swift-flowing, but it has been known to freeze over.
In contrast with the west coast, where the weather is increasingly
disagreeable southward, conditions on the pampas are generally uni-
form and improve slightly as the Strait is approached.
CHILOE ISLAND TO THE GULF OF PENAS
To avoid confusion, what was found and observed will be presented

not in the order of our field work but as it appears in retrospect. The
starting point is Puerto Montt, latitude 4I0 30' S. There are numerous
large middens around the Gulf of Reloncavi and down the east side
of Chiloe Island. This area is favored in that the westerly winds are
not so constant and strong as they are farther south and much of the
moisture they bring is precipitated on the west coast of Chiloe. Pro-
tected water and abundant sea food make the situation so favorable
that the coastal culture which eventually spread south could easily
have developed here.
In most of the oldest shell heaps there was a disconcerting lack of
artifacts. About all that has survived of the things that the people
used are rough, unilaterally flaked hand axes and unretouched stone
flakes (see lower row, Fig. 22). At what may have been only a few

FIG. 2-Shell mound on Capera Guapi Island, Gulf of Reloncavi. Maximum thickness i6 feet.
Specimens of the types shown in Figure 22, with the exception of pottery, were found here.
centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards stone spear or knife

points, made with pressure flaking, were introduced. With points
of this kind were found hafted drill points and polished stone celts,
but no potsherds. Shards were found only on the surface, with glazed
European ware; hence they can be at the most only slightly pre-
Columbian (see upper row, Fig. 22).
A rare find that we were fortunate enough to be able to examine
was a section of one of the old plank boats, a dalca, which had been
washed out of a bog by the sea in I935. There are good historical
descriptions of this type of boat, which was found in 1553 in extensive
use around Chiloe',3but this is the only known surviving section, and
it is evident that some type of rotary drill was used in its manufac-
ture. It makes one wonder whether the plank boat antedated the
tools adequate for its construction. Coppinger describes4 one in which
the lashing holes must have been cut by chopping; if so, its owner
was familiar with the use of iron tools and may have used a chisel.
Our work here did not yield any scale by which we might estimate
the age of the oldest occupation. Clean beach gravel beneath the
middens some feet above the present beach level suggests rising of
the land. But this upward movement seems to have ceased, as is
evidenced by the undermining of middens located at the heads of
protected inlets, where they are not exposed to waves or currents or
subject to slipping of the surface soil. One cannot be too critical re-
garding such phenomena, especially if the shore consists of clay and
gravel with little or no outcropping of rock. The settling must be
recent, since some of the large middens are only slightly affected.
South of the Gulf of Corcovado, throughout the Chono Archi-
pelago, conditions are such that no serious attempt at land settlement
3 See S. K. Lothrop: Aboriginal Navigation off the West Coast of South America, Journ. Royal
Anthropol.Inst., Vol. 62, I932, pp. 229-256.
' R. W. Coppinger: Cruise of the "Alert," London, I883, pp. 43-44 and 51-52.

MND
f; ,1 : --
iffi
FIG. 3-Peak of Mount Corcovado (2300 meters) showing above the clouds.
has ever been made, not even today, when the population of Chiloe
is overflowing to other parts of Chile. The islands are, on the whole,
low and there are many east-west passages, so that excessive rain falls
over the whole group. Beaches and landing places are very rare,
and we failed to find a single midden.
It may be well to remind the reader-it has been noted before5-
of one valuable clue in the locating of old camping places. Normally
the boggy soil of the zone of heavy rains is highly acid. At the camp-
ing places this acidity is neutralized by the shell refuse to such an
extent that plants and shrubs which prefer acid soil do poorly whereas
forms which tolerate limy soil thrive. The resultant growth is dis-
cernible at some distance, and the effect holds for sites abandoned
for more than a century and probably longer.
As no traces of Indian camps could be found around the few har-
bors on the outer side of the Taitao Peninsula, a search was made
about the reputed mouth of the San Tadeo River, on the south side
of the Isthmus of Ofqui. But at the site shown on the map we found
a submerged forest (Fig. 4), which may indicate subsidence of the
land. Otter hunters told us later that boats drawing less than three
feet can get through at high tide into a channel running back through
an extensive swamp. As there was no dry ground, this site was a total
loss archeologically. Perhaps the condition has resulted from local
shoreline changes; but, as indications of submergence were noted
around the Gulf of Reloncavi, it may be that the coast between Puerto
Montt and the Gulf of Penas is sinking at the present time. No
similar evidence was found farther south.
PENAS TO THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN
Between the Gulfs of Penas and Trinidad is a broad band of islands

whose principal channels run north and south. As some of the islands
5 Charles Darwin: A Naturalist's Voyage: Journal of Researches . . .during the Voyage of
H.M.S."Beagle"roundtheWorld . . . London, i886, p. 212.

'N- -
_A _ -
FIG. 4-The entrance to Jacaf Channel (Lat. 440 iS' S.), looking towards the northeast.
.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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. .. .. ..P .
FIG. s-Gajardo Narrows. An unnamed glacier descending from the icecap which covers the interior of
Mufloz Gamero Peninsula.
Br,' I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIG. 6-Submerged forest at the entrance to Rio San Tadeo, south side of the Isthmus of Ofqul.
256
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258

are high enough to have snow the year round, the rainfall along the
inner channels is probably less than it might otherwise be. We have
no records to substantiate this, however, unless we interpret the pres-
ence of the shell mounds along the inner channels as a reflection of
this more favorable condition. Here also are found the purest rem-
nants of the Alacaluf tribe, living almost as their ancestors did when
first seen by whites.
In the middens we found evidence of a simple, primitive, shell-
knife culture. There was also the same coarse percussion stonework
found near Puerto Montt, and, in addition, there were small, single-
barbed harpoons for seals and bone awls and evidence of the use of bark
canoes. We found no proof that the later stonework of the north
reached this latitude. A single example of pressure work, of late
manufacture, is of a pattern found farther south but not in the north.
Here also there was no scale for an age estimate. In areas now heavily
forested several of the largest middens had been begun on bare rock
or gravel. This need not mean any great age, since the progressive
spread of vegetation can be observed as one travels back in the fiords
toward the icecap. It is impossible to do more than generalize re-
garding the interpretation of the increasing vegetation. It is clear
that in places the ice has retreated faster than mosses and lichens
can spread over the exposed rocks, and this shows that the climate
has swung away from the conditions of temperature and precipitation
necessary to maintain the ice at static limits. We cannot say how long
this change has been in effect or how constant it has been. All that
is certain is that because of it considerable change has occurred in the
vegetation since people first occupied the region.
From Trinidad Gulf to the islands west of Tierra del Fuego there
was very little refuse and none of the middens seen were large. This
may possibly be attributed to the large extent of territory, in which
a small population could exist for a long time without leaving much
evidence of occupation on any one spot.
In the Strait of Magellan, Elizabeth Island, opposite the eastern
limit of the forest, seems to mark the eastern boundary of the canoe
people's travels. Canoe runways were seen at Fenton Station, at the
entrance to Oazy Harbor, but no midden refuse was found. Here,
at the edge of the forest, at the eastern ends of Skyring and Otway
Sounds, and perhaps in the Ultima Esperanza district, the canoe
people had opportunity to observe the hunting equipment of the
Foot Indians and to make cultural exchanges with them.
Brecknock Peninsula, at the west end of Beagle Channel, has been
mentioned as a barrier to migration between the western islands and
those south of Beagle Channel, but it is no worse than similar exposed
passages farther north that are crossed whenever occasion demands.
It is true that it probably marks the boundary between Alacaluf and

Yahgan territory; but Yahgan house sites and implements are found
on Elizabeth Island, and Alacaluf have been down to Navarino Island
in recent years.
THE BEAGLE CHANNEL COUNTRY
The western Beagle Channel country has the same aspect as the
country farther west and north. The rain-laden wind from the Pacific
nourishes the same type of vegetation; but by the time it reaches Cape
Divide it has lost most of its moisture. East of the cape the recorded
rainfall is only one-sixth of that measured at the west end of Magellan
Strait. The evergreen beech is replaced largely by the deciduous
variety. The tepii disappears and is replaced by the leiia dura, not
found in the west.
With the changes in climate and flora an equally marked change
in topography occurs. Here the mountains have sloping foreshores,
beaches replace the steep, rocky shores, and camping places can be
found anywhere. It is small wonder, then, that this was the scene
of the most intensive occupation in the whole coastal region, espe-
cially since, with Staten and Wollaston Islands which are less favor-
able, it was a terminal. As a result, every possible camping place has
been used, and on the best sites large middens have been formed.6
SITES OF THE CANOE PEOPLE
It was here that we did most of our digging in the refuse of the
canoe people, and with good results. The places selected cover the
range of seasonal activities: one large rock shelter in an area where
guanacos could be hunted in winter, when the animals were forced to
come down into the forest; a second shelter, near a lagoon where fish-
ing is good at times; a third shelter, conveniently near seal rocks;
another camp, good only in summer, because in winter it lies in shade
and is snow-covered; and still another, which was desirable the year
round and offered a safe harbor for canoes in all weathers. This selec-
tion should assure examples of all the types of artifacts that might
endure under such conditions.
The material obtained shows that this region was occupied by
two culturally distinguishable groups. The older brought in the
things found in the western channels (see Fig. 2I) and in addition two
items that originated with the Foot Indians. The stonework is still
of the rough percussion type; but small snub-nosed or hafted scrapers
and an occasional side scraper were also found, both of which were
unknown in the western channels. With them were bolas, in clear
association with the oldest material. It is noteworthy that the oldest
8See S. K. Lothrop: The Indians of Tierra del Fuego, Contribs. Museum of the Amer. Indian,
Heye Foundation, Vol. IO, 1928, pp. I78-i89.

bolas are the best-made of all those found, as though they had been
obtained from the land people; whereas the later ones are poor imita-
tions. The presence here of these articles gave us our first evidence
that the land people had reached the Strait of Magellan first.
The second occupation of Navarino Island was marked by the
introduction of the bow and arrow, the pressure-flaked stone arrow,
FIG. io-Shell mound at Puerto Pescado, Navarino Island. Maximum thickness of the deposit
about 13 feet. Undercutting due to tidal currents.
spear and knife points, bone wedges, drinking tubes, and a new type
of house (see Fig. 20).
The house of the first people must have been similar to that still
in use among the Alacalufs-oval in outline, with two entrances.
Shells were tossed from both entrances, so that a heap accumulated
on each side of the fire hearth. The use of this house, along with the
introduced type, still survived among the Yahgans within the memory
of the oldest people now living. The introduced type was made by
digging a circular pit I12to i8 feet wide, in some cases more than three
feet deep, but with only one entrance. The two types can easily be
distinguished on the present surface by the outline and by the ac-
companying single or double heap of shells. The pit house offers a
clue to the origin of these people. The west coast is at once eliminated,
since there is no place to dig pits there. The only apparent advantage
of the pit type is that the fire is protected from the wind. This would
be a great advantage on the pampas but would mean little or nothing
at most Navarino camps. The presence of these house pits on the
pampas about the lagoons and shore of northern Tierra del Fuego
suggests that region as the possible place of origin or development.

UPLIFT AS A DETERMINANT OF AGE

From beneath the Navarino middens comes our best evidence for
estimating their age-evidence that there has been a change of about
fifteen feet in the relative level of land and sea. The middens just at
high-water mark spread out and covered the beach as it gradually
_~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _~~~~~4
FIG.II-Rock shelterwith shell mound,YendagaiaBay, Tierradel Fuego. Expeditiontent to left

of mound against cliff.
rose above the level of the tides and before humus had time to form
on it. This clean beach gravel was found beneath two middens in
protected harbors at an elevation of more than fifteen feet above the
mark of the present highest tides. This is about two feet higher than
average high water. Embedded in this waterworn, water-deposited
gravel, at various heights above high-water mark at several sites,
were found waterworn, cracked bones and stone flakes similar to
unworn bone fragments and stone flakes in the overlying middens.
These presumably were dropped on the gravel when it was open beach,
were smoothed by wave action, and subsequently were covered by
the advancing middens, the highest of them lying 13 feet 9 inches
above maximum high water and about 15 feet above the level at which
they would be subjected to wave action today. The problem is, of
course, to interpret this in terms of years. For help we turn to his-
torical records.
In I624 the explorer Le Hermite met Indians in Nassau Bay, on the
south side of Navarino Island.7 He reported that they used arrows
tipped with stone.
We know from our excavations that the first people with the shell-
7 Voyage of Jaques Le Hermite, in A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels, by
Robert Kerr, Vol. Io, Edinburgh, 1824, p. 199.

knife culture on Navarino did not use stone arrow points. In the
large middens the refuse of the shell-knife people covers the old beach
shingle to within 2 2 feet of extreme high-water mark. As the water
level dropped and new beach was exposed, the shell heap was built
gradually seaward. In this manner it expanded, by the addition of
new shells not only to the surface of the preexisting heap but also
to the beach itself
along its shore
margin. In a cross-
section at right
angles to the shore-
line, those shells in 4 V0
direct contact with
the beach become
progressively older
away from the
shore, and progres-
sively younger to-
ward the top of any
vertical section. It
is only in that por-
tion of the large FIG. I2-Vertical section of deposit on floor of rock shelter in Yen-
dagaia Bay. Thickness g feet. Whitish streaks of wood ashes show-
middens lying being where the fires have been made one above the other through the
tween maximum years. Specimens of the types shown in Figure 20 come from the upper
portion, those shown in Figure 2I from the lower.
high water and 212
feet above it that we find stone arrowpoints in contact with the un-
derlying beach; shoreward from this level they occur progressively
higher within the midden. This change of 212 feet in land-sea level
apparently occurred, then, in not less than 300 years. At this rate,
providing it has been constant, we have i8oo years as the time elapsed
since the first arrivals.
For evidence on this question it was necessary to examine not
only the middens but the beach terraces conspicuous everywhere
along the shore. If the rise had been markedly erratic, it should be
visible in the gravel underlying the middens. If the upward motion
had ceased for a time, the midden would have encroached on the beach,
and in consequence the gravel at that point should contain a larger
percentage of broken shells than the gravel covered when the rise was
keeping just ahead of the growth. Any pause should also be evident
in the other beach terraces. At the time of pause several terraces
would tend to form at the same level at places where the situation
was suitable for terrace formation. Neither of these possibilities was
observed; instead we found terraces at irregular levels up to about
twenty feet above the present beaches.
If such a movement has been constant up to the present, is it

still going on? The undercutting of shell mounds on the north side
of Beagle Channel has been advanced as evidence of a recent sub-
sidence. Record was made of the condition of I83 sites on the north
shore of Navarino with this in mind. More than go per cent were not
touched by the highest tides, and most of these would be definitely
undercut if the water rose only a few inches above its present mark.
Of the remainder, in all cases there was some specific cause for the
cutting. Rising channel bottoms sometimes alter tidal currents, with
consequent cutting away of the old shore line and redeposition of
the material elsewhere, or the shifting course of a small stream may
be responsible. In most cases it is due to the grazing of sheep and cattle
on the mound, which causes the surface material to slip below tide
level.
There are also beaches in various stages of formation along the
present shore on which the upland flora is just taking root; invasion
of salt water owing to subsidence of a few inches would kill it. We
conclude, then, that the rise has been going on until very recently
and probably is in progress at the present time.
SITES IN THE PAMPAS COUNTRY
After we left the channel country, it soon became apparent that

even the pit-house people were not closely related culturally to the
last of the Foot Indians. The most recent material in the pampas
country north of the Strait is found on the wind-eroded camping places,
many of them near the shore, where the wind has blown the soil away
and left artifacts and bones scattered about on the surface.
On these camp sites are found the things left by the historically
known Tehuelche Indians. Horses were an important item of food.
Their broken bones cover the ground, and among them are copper
ornaments, trade beads, iron, and, occasionally, coarse potsherds
and clay pipes. From the writings of various travelers these camps
can be dated as later than I700.8 If arrow points are present, it is
because the later Tehuelches were using an older camp site.
Our first excavation was made at Caniadon Leona, near the eastern
shore of Laguna Blanca (Figs. I3 and 14). This is a residual glacial
lake, about fifteen miles long and six miles wide, with no outlet.
Along the side of the low hills to the east is a clearly defined beach ter-
race at an elevation of 230 feet above the present surface of the lake.
At about this elevation at the south end of the lake basin is an old out-
let draining toward the Strait of Magellan. That the recession of the
lake was rapid is shown by the absence of beach terraces at interme-
diate levels. Back about a mile from the eastern shore of the lake, but
8 See J. M. Cooper: Culture Diffusion and Culture Areas in Southern South America, Compte-
Rendu Congres Internatl. des Amiricanistes, 2ist Session, 2nd Part, at Goteborg. I924, Goteborg Museum,
1925, pp. 406--42I.

below the level of the old beach terrace, is an outcrop of a soft tufa
through which a small canyon about 6oo feet long, ioo feet wide, and 40
feet deep has been cut by drainage from the hills to the east. As the
gravel formation out from the beach terrace fills the upper part of the
canyon up to the level of the surrounding country, the canyon must
have been cut before the lake rose to its maximum height. This means
that while the lake was at its greatest height the rock shelters now
found along the canyon walls were not available; that any occupation
of them was subsequent to the subsidence of the lake.
The best shelter is in a small arm of the main canyon not subject,
at the present time, to surface drainage from the hills. The bottom
is fairly level and has been covered with wind-blown earth carried
from the land lying between the canyon and the shore of the lake.
As the floor continued to be built up, a time naturally came when the
headroom became so scant that the shelter was no longer desirable.
Accordingly, in the upper part of the soil the number of artifacts
gradually becomes smaller. There were no traces of the historical
Tehuelches; i.e. horse bones and the associated items. Instead, we
found the stemmed arrow points and knives mentioned above as
found on wind-eroded camps. With them we found numerous bolas-
proof that bolas antedated the arrival of the Spanish horse at the
Strait by many years. From about 7500 cubic feet of earth removed
from this shelter 4400 artifacts were recovered, among which are more
than 580 broken and unfinished bolas but only 48 arrow and knife
points. It is difficult to understand why some of the wind-eroded
camps had many arrow points but no bolas when they are contem-
poraneous in this proportion here. The stemmed points were found
down through eight to nine feet of uniform wind-blown soil resting
on sand derived from the tufa. On and in this sand we found another
type of point-a stemless, triangular form. Beneath the sand we
found waterworn stones and water-laid sand, and at this level we found
evidence of the earliest campfire. At the level of the last of the mate-
rial of the first occupants were two group burials, containing eight
individuals, men and women. The graves were lined with red clay,
with which the bodies had also been daubed.
We may read the history thus: The Indians availed themselves
of the canyon shortly after the lake receded. The first occupants
used a stemless spear or arrow point and small bolas (Fig. 25). Sub-
sequently wind-blown soil accumulated in the shelter; during this
period stemmed arrow points and knives were in use, together with
various types of bolas (Fig. 24). Shortly before the beginning of the
historical period a new type of arrow point, identical with those used
by the Ona Indians of Tierra del Fuego, came into use (Fig. 23). As
this was found with the earlier stemmed form, we must conclude that
the two types are contemporaneous. We occasionally found these

- w - w~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
_ARz U 'i J .
... . S.......
_ . . . .......
_ _ _ * _ _ || S%~FG.
1 |
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FIG. I3
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-_ _
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FIG. i6
FIG. 17
.... .... .. ~ ~ ..
FIG. 18
FIG. i6-Mrs. Bird indicating the entrance to Cerro Sota Cave in the lava at the crest of the hill.
FIG. I7-Wind-eroded floor of Cafladon Condor showing exposed whitish layer containing marine
fauna. (Man in center of picture marks location of camp refuse extending beneath marine layer.)
FIG. i8-Eroded bank at west side of Cafiadon Condor. Whitish marine layer tapering to nothing
marks edge of tidal lagoon.
267

wW? _ae_W-..o *- - _ ~~~~~~~~~~~.

..
FIG. ig-Valley of the Rio Chico. Fell's Cave in center of the section on the right. Cerro Sota
visible to right above the cave.
small Ona-type points by themselves, on the wind-eroded sites. Hence,

instead of being a cultural introduction or development, they seem
to belong to a distinct group.
We had hoped to find bones of European horses somewhere in this
formation. They would have furnished a clue to the rate of accumula-
tion; but there were none. We did, however, find sheep and cow bones
in the upper three inches of the sod. As the animals seek protection
in the canyon, this three inches contains a fair percentage of manure.
Sheep have been on this camp for only forty-six years. During this
time wind erosion on the surrounding country has increased, according
to the older sheepmen; hence, if we take three inches as representing
forty years' accumulation, we have a conservative figure for estimating
age. As the character of the soil is uniform, we can assume a fairly
constant rate of growth. This gives us between 960 and I080 years
back to the end of the stemless-point period. Beyond that, with
sand instead of soil, our gauge will not apply.
Our next site of importance was a cave in one of the older volcanic
craters 6o miles to the east. This, Palli Aike, site is I68 feet above
the surrounding plain, facing away from prevailing winds. The floor
is nearly level, 46 feet long and about 20 feet wide, the ceiling 6 feet
high at the rear and 1351 feet at the entrance. Except for the lack
of water, this was an ideal place. In the winter or during an unusually
wet season water could be obtained at the bottom of a crater about
20 minutes' walk away, but the nearest permanent water supply is a
small lagoon several miles to the west. The accumulation on the floor
consisted of extremely fine, dry dust, with less than IO per cent of
stones and broken and burnt bones. At a depth of five feet there was
a layer of volcanic ash, with a maximum thickness of two feet. The
floor beneath had been disturbed by large blocks of lava, thrown into
the cave at the same time as the ash. Eight and a half feet below the
surface was the original rock floor of the cave.
In the upper I8 inches we found the same types of things as in
the upper 8 feet of soil at Caiiadon Leona. There were no horse bones

MIl|II.
|_N
e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
FIG. 19 (cont.)-A shelter similar to Fell's Cave is seen in the left-hand section of this part of the
panorama. It was not excavated.
or other evidence that the present-day Tehuelches had used this place.
The finely made Ona-type points were in the upper six inches. From
i8 to 36 inches, 319 stemless points were found. From 36 to 6o inches,
although various types of scrapers were found, there were no stone
points but a few points of bone instead (Fig. 26). In the lowest six
inches, over the surface of the underlying volcanic ash, were scattered
broken and burnt bones of the native American horse and the ground
sloth and good occupational refuse, yielding stone and bone tools.
In all, 3800 artifacts were recovered. On the surface of the volcanic
ash, at the base of the wall near the rear of the cave, were three cre-
mation burials, the first human remains accompanied by artifacts in
clear association with extinct fauna found in the New World. Em-
bedded in the top part of the volcanic ash was the stem of a type of
point not seen previously. A few sloth bones were found mixed with
the ash and completely burned. Beneath the ash were parts of at
least seven sloth skeletons, with indications that the animals had
sheltered and died in the cave. There was nothing to show that the
Indians had killed them; but a few stone flakes and some charcoal
beneath the volcanic ash down to the original stone floor showed that
the Indians had been here. The reason that the cave was not occupied
at this early date may be that before the eruption the floor was sloping.
Fell's Cave, about 20 miles to the west, told a similar story (Fig. h9).
This cave, or, more correctly, shelter, is in the valley of the Rio Chico
where the river at one time undercut the canyon wall. The cliff on
the southeast side of the canyon shows an outcrop of lava resting on
a conglomerate that, in turn, is underlain by a coarse stratified sand-
stone. At some time in the past the water wore away this sandstone,
forming a cave about 28 feet deep and 36 feet wide with a ceiling now
about i i feet above the original floor. This height must have been
less at one time, however, since the water did not wear away all the
sandstone but left more than a foot of it adhering to the under side
of the conglomerate. The recession of the water left a clean, smooth
floor of hard clay capping water-deposited sand.

On this floor the first occupational refuse was found, a layer 3 to

9 inches thick containing many bone fragments, four fire hearths,
stone flakes, and artifacts. After this had accumulated, the sandstone
adhering to the under side of the conglomerate fell, covering the entire
floor with slabs as much as several hundred pounds in weight and
effectively sealing the bottom layer. Not until enough of the dis-
integrating conglomerate had fallen to level the floor somewhat was
the cave again occupied. This sterile layer ranges from 15 to 28 inches
in thickness and represents an uncertain interval of time.
That single, isolated refuse layer is the most significant feature
of the site. The fireplaces in it contained broken and burned native-
horse, sloth, and guanaco bones, with associated artifacts that dis-
tinguish the people who hunted these animals as an entirely different
group from the later occupants. In all, about 76'2 cubic feet of this
debris was uncovered and examined, or about half of the visible total,
and from it were recovered 63 stone and 5 bone artifacts, more than
300 chips and flakes, and enough fragmentary bones to fill a 20-gallon
container.
Outstanding among the artifacts are 14 stemmed lance (?) points,
of rather rough workmanship. With these there was one poorly made
point vaguely suggestive of the Folsom points in outline. There were
two cylindrical rubbingstones of coarse, porous lava, 8.2 centimeters
in diameter and about 4.5 centimeters thick. Of the 42 scrapers
found in this layer, 26 are the common, rough, flake, single-edged
variety, and the rest are of various shapes and forms, including double-
edged and end (Fig. 27).
When reoccupation of the cave-represented by the refuse directly
above the sterile layer-began, there had been a marked change in
the fauna. The sloth and the native horse were absent. For food
the people depended on birds and foxes and an occasional guanaco.
Culturally there had been an equally marked change. The stemmed
points were no longer in use. In about II5 cubic feet of refuse, forming
a layer about ten inches thick, we found no stone points, very few
flakes and chips, 36 scrapers, and a large quantity of fragmentary and
burned fox and bird bones. One roughly made bone point was re-
covered, a bit of positive evidence that seems to put the reoccupation
of the cave as occurring during the bone-point period of Palli Aike.
Above this layer, with no change of structure or line of division,
was refuse in which we found evidence of an increase in the proportion
of guanaces, and a decrease in the proportion of foxes and birds, used
for food. The cultural changes were those already noted-bone points
replaced by the stemless stone blades, then by the stemmed arrow
points.
Within ten minutes' walk of Fell's Cave, on the east side of Cerro
Sota Hill, there is another cave, a narrow, irregular hole in the lava,

45 feet deep but too narrow to have been of much use, with a floor
rising rearward (Fig. i6). There was a five-foot layer of fine, dry dirt
at the inner end. In the lower three feet were many fragments of
native horse and a few pieces of sloth bones but no artifacts or traces
of fire, except for one cremation group burial of three adults, two chil-
dren, and two babies. They had been packed in grass in a small hol-
low at the rear of the cave and had been burned while still fresh.
Above the grave were more fragmentary horse bones, which place
these human remains possibly in the first period, though there were
no associated artifacts.
Later, in the third and fourth periods, the place was inhabited
occasionally, but the record recovered is very incomplete.
CORRELATION OF SITES
To simplify and sum up the information obtained from these sites,

the accompanying diagram (Fig. 29) has been prepared. The hori-
zontal divisions represent the proportional amount of debris that
accumulated in each period as closely as can be determined. The
uppermost, or historical, period-the last two hundred years is in-
cluded simply to round out the picture; its thickness is arbitrary and
should not be taken as a time index. The amount assigned to the
first period is also arbitrary, since we do not know for certain when it
began. From the end of the first period through the fifth the propor-
tions are fairly accurate and may be taken to represent the relative
age of each period.
The vertical lines show the distribution of the various types of
artifacts, burials, and fauna and the chronological age of the sites.
Broken lines show incomplete sequences; dotted lines, rare occurrence.
Correlated geological changes are indicated at the right.
If the photographs of the specimens (Figs. 20-27) are compared, the
typological differences will be apparent. By checking the artifacts
of the first Beagle Channel inhabitants (Fig. 21) with those of the fourth
group to occupy the land north of the Strait (Fig. 24) several items,
namely bolas, hafted scrapers, beads, and ornaments, are seen to be
common to both groups. As the ancestors of the Beagle Channel
people did not have bolas and hafted scrapers, and as beads and orna-
ments were unknown on the mainland earlier, we can fix the time of
contact of the two cultures as not earlier than the beginning of the
fourth period. It is noteworthy that the canoe people did not at this
time accept the use of the bow and arrow or the pressure technique of
working stone. Neither of these was of much use to them in their
habitat.
The pit-house people, the second group to occupy Beagle Channel
(Fig. 20), have not been included on the chart, since none of their most

21~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2
0
-1
.0- 6_ 2-
_~ _33 26~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2
272,2y+ ti 0 0 0.2 33
I 3 :0};iy
13 13
3 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3
20 ~ ~~~~~3
a ~~~~~
27~~~~~~~~~~~~~2
^ 36
FIG2 -~~~~~~Mio
ts.gl22-arnly and ulae Phitlo cultures.IG.Fis.gl
agan ;
Lcsgsna Blanca(' taSado Lesna Maela Stai 23-Pne rio V.l nfeclue
_32 _ _ 12 ~
^ ~~~~~~29 ~ _27 _ -1
^ _ K ~~ ~ 27
~~~~~~31
FIG. 20-Beagle Channel. Hous C.t~1

(Yghn cutue ~ Channel Shlnfeclue
eaGle Channeale
FIG. 22-Early and late Chiloe cultures. FIG. 23-Period V.
34:~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~5
~6 13-. ~ ~ ~ ~F52' j}Cavea.- P ra l ~
rs8 i 616 5ts
'0 20406080i'i 00, KIOEES5C~~IetnI
Cr
I I F@t
t~~~~~~~~Vnc
o Yneoa ;Uhaa Pet e c d
[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~aua Caiiadonnl.on
0 20 40 60 80 100 MILES1 1 | ?~~ ~~
Mot \
1~ ~~~~~~~~~u
20ow 60e
40z
o ooris||| 0
ioWlastn1
l~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~n
76 74 72
At on 6 GO V ,AP 3
47 ~~ ~ ~ 7

w 17
FIG. 24-Period IV. FIG. 26-Period II.
qA . A 4'
FIG. 25-Period III. FIG. 27-Period I.

KEY TO ARTIFACTS, FIGS. 20 tO 27: I, Ona arrow points; 2, Patagonian arrow points and hafted knives; 3, stemless points; 4, bone points;
5. early type stemmed; 6, straight stemmed; 7, bolas, various types; 8, end scrapers; 9, hafted scrapers; IO, side scrapers; ii, chipping tools;
12, early type chipping tools (?); 13, beads and ornaments; I4, incised bone; i5, combs; i6, bone awls; I7, bird awls; I8, whalebone wedges; Ig,
bark remover (?) early; 20, bark remover, late; 2I, drinking tube; 22, round shank harpoons; 23, flat shank harpoons; 24, fish spear; 25, pointed
shell tools; 26, shell knives; 27, whetstones; 28, rubbing stones; 29, chopping stones; 30, polished celts; 31, flake tool (?); 32, flaked sinkers;
33, fish line sinkers; 34, hafted drill; 35, projectile points; 36, projectile and knife points; 37, bone scraper; 38, potsherds. All specimens about
one-sixth natural size.
ARTIFACTS BURIALS SITES FAUNA
PRWJECTILE POINTS
--KNI~FE 1
p 4,~GEOLOGICAL
PERIODS CHANGES
HISTORIC-
X . FT
I -- l l TRI I I I isI A rNI
VozA c
m- H ||| ll | A
| X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FUSE
m ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~I4?X FTLAND RISE
----r -~~~~~~~~~~~1
D6IX FTCOWaI
U- I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INL-O
I- . -
-r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VOLCANIC
ERUPTION
FIG. 29
characteristic projectile points were found north of the Strait, either

by us or by private collectors as far north as Comodoro Rivadavia.
This suggests a possible local development, probably in northern
Tierra del Fuego, of some of the patterns used.
IMPORTANT CHANGES IN FAUNA: WERE THEY CAUSED

BY PREHISTORIC DROUGHT?
The distribution of faunal remains (Fig. 29) shows striking differ-

ences, but the list is incomplete, since the material has not yet been
sorted and classified. It is important because, for the first time, we are
able to reconstruct something of the effect that the extinction of the
large herbivorous animals, usually thought of as belonging to the late
Pleistocene, had on the economy of the early American natives. From
the association of native horse and sloth bones in the earliest fireplaces
of the second period it seems fairly certain that those animals became
extinct simultaneously at that time. Guanacos, which had been
plentiful up to the same time, then became rare. For food the natives
depended largely on foxes and birds, and it was not until the latter
part of the third period that guanacos returned in sufficient numbers
to become the staple food.
This naturally raises the old question of -what caused the extinc-
tion of certain species and permitted the survival of others. It may
be premature to mention it at this time, but the simplest explanation
in this case seems to be that of a brief, but sufficiently severe, climatic
variation.
In Patagonia the balance is delicate between conditions that per-
mit the survival of grazing animals and those that would lead to their
total extermination. At the present time a dry summer followed by
a severe winter results in large losses on the sheep farms. Even with
artificial feeding it would take only a few such combinations of seasons
to destroy the domesticated stock almost completely. That this is
applicable to the native animals is shown by the observations of the
sheepmen, who agree that the guanacos in the plains country die off
before the sheep. The earlier survival of guanacos may have been
due to their ability to exist on the mountain sides along and even
above tree line in country that horses normally avoid.
The weakness of this suggestion lies in its lack of application to
the territory farther north, where similar fauna existed and perished;
but it will be admitted that at present we have little knowledge of
those critical years when the great faunal changes occurred. Certain
it is that if there is ever a recurrence of the same factors humanity
will have something to think of that will make the troubles of the last
few years insignificant by comparison!

ESTIMATES OF AGE
After an examination of two reconstructed skulls from the earliest

burials Dr. H. L. Shapiro, in a personal communication, says:
These disclose a type which is not especially primitive. A meagerness of cubic ca-
pacity imparts a rather angular outline to these crania, but in other respects the
modelling is rather refined. The brows are smoothish and tend to be straight. Prog-
nathism is only slightly developed. Both skulls are definitely dolichocephalic, the
Cerro Sota specimen having an index of about 72 and the Palli Aike skull about 74.
In general they conform to Indian characteristics and resemble, in some traits, the
skulls9 from the Lagoa Santa Cave in Brazil.
Before discussing the possible age of these people it will be well

to mention further evidence of change in the land-sea level, found in
Cafiadon Condor, east of the First Narrows in the Strait of Magellan.
There we find a large basin formerly separated from the sea by a low
ridge of clay and gravel. As there was no outlet, a swampy condition
prevailed and peat was formed. Alternate layers of sand and peat
suggest different degrees of moisture; and in some of the sand layers
there is camp refuse of broken bones, stone flakes, and scrapers. Even-
tually the sea cut through the ridge and the basin was flooded with
sea water. A whitish layer containing small marine shells and fish
bones of forms found in present tidal lagoons covered the basin floor
(Figs. i8 and I9). Today that layer is 42 '2 feet above the mark of the
highest tides; and as things of human origin lie beneath it, we know
that the land-sea level has changed at least as much as that since
man first reached the Strait. Unfortunately, we did not obtain any
artifacts of the types that would tie it into our sequence. If we apply
the same rate of land rise here that we have for Beagle Channel, we
get 5IOO years, allowing six inches as error in measurement. This
again depends on a uniform change and is open to question.
There remains one other approach in estimating age. Its value
depends on whether or not the dust in Palli Aike Cave has been de-
posited at a fairly uniform rate. If we accept i800 years as the time
elapsed since the canoe people arrived in the south, we can use the
same figure for the combined ages of the fourth and fifth periods as
an alternative to the IOOO-yearestimate based on the Laguna Blanca
site. As the fourth and fifth periods together furnished a scant third
of the total debris since the close of the first period, we have two in-
dependent figures to cover that span, one 5400 years, the other 3000
years.
These estimates of age are given for what they are worth-a few
degrees better than an outright guess. In working them out we have
tried to be as conservative as possible and to use only data that will
stand critical analysis.
9 On these skulls see AIes Hrdlicka, in collaboration with W. H. Holmes and others: Early Man
in South America, Bur. of Amer. EthnologyBull. 32, Smithsonian Instn., Washington, I912, pp. I53-184.


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American Geographical Society

Antiquity and Migrations of the Early Inhabitants of Patagonia

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weather, as indicated by the ring growth, has been fairly constant

sents a particularly gloomy picture Chilo e . G!ofRe/a

growth was normal. Arc*

ture to be kept in mind is that the

primitive peoples inhabiting these

THE WEST COAST

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land, we obtain a rough estimate of I2,000 miles or more of shore

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THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD

On the Atlantic coast conditions are almost the exact reverse of

CHILOE ISLAND TO THE GULF OF PENAS

To avoid confusion, what was found and observed will be presented

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centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards stone spear or knife

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PENAS TO THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN

Between the Gulfs of Penas and Trinidad is a broad band of islands

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.. ...... . ... .. .... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~ OW

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SITES OF THE CANOE PEOPLE

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UPLIFT AS A DETERMINANT OF AGE

FIG.II-Rock shelterwith shell mound,YendagaiaBay, Tierradel Fuego. Expeditiontent to left

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SITES IN THE PAMPAS COUNTRY

After we left the channel country, it soon became apparent that

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wW? _ae_W-..o *- - _ ~~~~~~~~~~~.

small Ona-type points by themselves, on the wind-eroded sites. Hence,

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On this floor the first occupational refuse was found, a layer 3 to

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To simplify and sum up the information obtained from these sites,

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FIG. 20-Beagle Channel. Hous C.t~1

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FIG. 24-Period IV. FIG. 26-Period II.

FIG. 25-Period III. FIG. 27-Period I.

ARTIFACTS BURIALS SITES FAUNA

m ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~I4?X FTLAND RISE

characteristic projectile points were found north of the Strait, either

IMPORTANT CHANGES IN FAUNA: WERE THEY CAUSED

The distribution of faunal remains (Fig. 29) shows striking differ-

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After an examination of two reconstructed skulls from the earliest

Before discussing the possible age of these people it will be well

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