Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Cultures > Arid North > Hunter gatherers and coastal fishermen

Social organization

These groups lived in small family bands and moved up and down the coast. As their marine-based economy became more established they gradually became less mobile, organizing themselves into larger groups based in semi-permanent camps located mostly in resource-rich locations. At times, several different groups that maintained relations through political alliances and kinship ties would meet for a time. Social organization within each group was relatively egalitarian.