Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Cultures > Center > Paleoindian hunters of Central Chile

Economy

These early hunters took full advantage of the abundance of megafauna around the region’s lakes and ravines, encircling the animals then attacking them with large rocks and stone-tipped spears to bring them down. They used stone instruments to slaughter their prey and used their bones to craft artifacts such as piercing tools. It is likely that they supplemented their diet with water plants and fruit gathered in the surrounding forests.