Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Cultures > Southern > Terrestrial hunters of the far south of Chile

Economy

The economy of these inland hunters was based mainly on a highly mobile way of life sustained by hunting of guanaco and, to a lesser extent, of deer, foxes, birds, and rodents. Towards the beginning of our era their diet diversified to include more wild fruit and even some shellfish, but the guanaco remained the staple food source. Early hunters relied on stone-tipped spears and bolas, with the bow and arrow entering into use around the year 500 CE.