…with irrigation canals. A large quantity of tools for working the land, including wood-handled stone shovels, point to the importance of farming among these groups. On the coast, the Arica…
History
The Alto Ramirez people inherited the horticultural and seafaring traditions of the Azapa and Faldas del Morro groups, respectively. The moist climate prevalent during this period, coupled with…
Environment and Geography
These groups occupied the Andean valleys of Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia, a rugged, forest-covered land that served as a natural boundary of the western sea channels, but they…
Environment and Location
These groups inhabited the segment of the northern Chilean coast that extends from Pisagua to Chañaral, a riverless zone where one of the planet’s richest seas meets one…
History
The Azapa people were the heirs of the coastal Archaic tradition and retained an economy based on marine resources, but they also introduced a new horticultural way of…
Economy
The Selk’nam people were a terrestrial hunter-gatherer people that moved around frequently to make use of resources dispersed around the island. Guanaco were of prime importance to the…
Economy
…from the sea. They also used the native trees on the island to make textiles and obtain pigments and high quality timber, and they introduced the Polynesian mouse and domestic…
Settlement patterns
The Aymara have a number of subgroups, each with its own territory or marka, centered around a political, social and religious capital. The marka consists of the ayllu,…
Language
…that is, it did not originate in the equatorial Andes, like Quechua and Aymara. In the past, many Atacameños were multilingual, also speaking Aymara, Quechua and, in later times, Spanish….
History
The Atacameños, Atacamans, or licantay, which in their language means ‘the inhabitants of the territory’, are descendents of the extinct San Pedro culture, which can be traced back…
Language
There is very little information available about the language or languages used by the Chango people. Some authors suggest that they used a blend of the Aymara and…
Environment and Location
The Chonos occupied the islands of Western Patagonia from latitude 43°–48° South. This region includes the Chiloé and “Chono” archipelagos up to the Taitao Peninsula and Penas Gulf….
Feline and Human Motifs on Atacameña Spoons
The idea that certain powerful animals could act as the alter egos of humans is a common belief in contemporary indigenous cultures and has been used often…
Economy
…meat was eaten only in an advanced stage of decay. On dry land the Kawésqar collected fungi, eggs and the small quantity of vegetables that they included in their diet….
Beliefs and funerary practices
Little is known about the Chnoos’ cosmovision. Their beliefs are thought to be similar to those of the Huilliche people of Chiloé Island. Regarding rituals, there are references…
Arte
The ancient inhabitants of Patagonia painted representations of their cosmic vision on the walls of the rock shelters they inhabited, illustrating the high degree of ideological complexity that…
Social organization
…consumption of a large quantity of food. Marriage was forbidden between brother and sister and between cousins, both maternal and paternal. Kawésqar women carried their youngest children tied to their…
From the Crucible to the Mold
In ancient times, the crucible was the recipient in which ore was melted in the smelting oven. Crucibles were usually made with refractory ceramics to ensure they…
Leather Armor
Before going into battle, Andean warriors altered their state of consciousness by using hallucinogenic substances that allowed them to imagine themselves as jaguars, pumas, mountain lions, foxes,…
Art
Textiles were a basic commodity of the Inka State, and served as status symbols, political gifts and as offerings. The Inka and their subjects wore clothing that differentiated…
‘Lost wax’ bronzes
This bronze piece was found in Illapel and is one nearly 30 bronze discs that have been attributed to the Aguada, one of the most important cultural…
Mapuche
The music of the Mapuche people has been played for thousands of years. Although it has transformed and adapted over time, the sound continues to be profoundly local,…
The devils`tale
…later. Two of the young men went home, but the youngest quietly slipped past the strangers and went into town, where he arrived at the church just in time for…