…dead in some way. Collective graves, probably family groups, were common in the early part of this period. Grave goods were uncommon however, except for some notable exceptions such as…
Wooden People
…Up until the early 20th Century, the Mapuche used large wooden statues called chemamull in their kurikawin or funerary rites. These enormous wooden statues were placed beside the…
Pipes of Central Chile
…Ritual pipe smoking was a common practice among early agricultural groups in the region, but the custom seems to have disappeared around 400 C.E. in Chile’s far north…
Turbans in the Americas
…the result of being subjected to cranial deformation practices beginning in early childhood. Many turbans have arrowheads, hooks, and even harpoon heads affixed to the skeins, as emblems of the…
Marine hunter-gatherers of the southern zone
…The Southern Zone was the setting for the development of a hunter-gatherer culture with a strong maritime emphasis that dates back as early as 8000 B.C.These groups not…
Settlement pattern
…In the Early Archaic period, the moist environmental conditions allowed small bands of hunter-gatherers to roam around in search of different resources, occupying caves and rock shelters along established…
The pictographs of El Médano
…people in the early 17th century off the coasts of northern Chile. Location: Taltal Coast, Region II of Antofagasta. Timeframe: Approximately 500–1500 A.D. Style: El Médano Source: G. Mostny and…
The Creation
…These first Mapuches went about naked because God wanted to see whether they could handle the cold. But some say that the snakes, which in those early days walked among…
Marine hunters, fishers and gatherers
…The invention of fish hooks and then seagoing vessels by some early marine hunter-gatherer groups was a turning point that transformed their way of life, transforming fishing into…
Horticulturalist-pastoralists
…these animals. This control over the reproduction of animals and their transformation into livestock began very early, but always in association with the first cultivation of crops. Together, these activities…
Agriculturalists
…The growing importance of crops in the economies of early human groups and the large-scale cultivation of crops such as corn that required more intensive management and irrigation,…
A tale of two brothers
…In the early hours of the morning, the men get up and dance, first removing the horns they wore on their heads. The young man picks up the horns and…
Settlement pattern
…oldest and most representative sites of the early San Pedro culture is Túlor, which contains circular mud-walled dwellings joined together in a way that suggests the spontaneous growth of the…
History
…Little information is available about the Chono people. It is not even known whether they were a single indigenous group or several. Early writers, sailors and missionaries referred to…
Semi-Arid North
…of the Kingdom of Chile. In the early years of the conquest, the transverse valleys were looked upon as a land inhabited by “aggressive, warlike” indigenous groups whose leaders banded…
Environment and Location
…behind a series of lakes and rainforests that attracted herds of large, now-extinct herbivores known as the megafauna. These large animals included mastodons, early llamas and milodons. Archeological evidence found…
History
…years ago, with the emergence of clear cultural differences between the canoe peoples and the hunters who wandered the eastern steppes further inland. Despite some similarities between early sites where…
Beliefs and funeral rites
…In general, the dead were buried in individual or collective graves covered over by a mound of earth. These burial mounds (túmulos) were described by early Spanish historians, who…
Environment and Location
…early Holocene, a time of great climatic change, when temperatures rose and the ice from the Pleistocene glaciation melted. As the period wore on, environmental conditions stabilized and have remained…
Beliefs and funerary practices
…Rapa Nui rituals would have begun at birth, with the cutting of the newborn’s umbilical cord. Rites of early childhood included the first haircut and the first wearing of…
History
…of the lonkos or chiefs. As a result of this history, since the early 20th Century the Mapuche people have gone from military action to political action, from warriors to…
Economy
…wooden paddles. Historical sources dating back to the early colonial period describe such craft being used as far south as Chile’s central coast. Engravings and more detailed accounts of these…
The encounter
…a need to secure the European advance into South-central Chile. We will witness Almagro’s and Valdivia’s early explorations of the Arid North, and how this northern Spanish colonial space would…
Beliefs and funerary practices
…later. The people laid their dead to rest in caves or rocky alcoves, in the fetal position, covered with red paint and wrapped in cypress bark. Some early travelers described…