Fishing Weirs, Docks, and Cholchénes in the Patagonian-Fueguine Archipelago: Confluence of Different Maritime Cultures on the Coastal Edge

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The intertidal zone, as part of the coastal landscape, is the territory of transition between the terrestrial and marine environments. In the southern fjords (between Chiloé and Cape Horn), it is a space of social construction that reveals multiple culture-marine ecosystem relationships, based on the interaction between different cultural groups with strong links to the sea, such as indigenous nomads, chilotes, and huilliches, and currently artisanal fishermen, among many other actors. Over time, the intertidal zone has accumulated material features of the activities of these populations, such as fishing weirs, pirenes weirs, docks, and cholchenes (“vivideros,” or mollusk beds), among other uses, accounting for the economic and sociocultural strategies of these groups, but also of their worlds (ontological dimension) and what can and should be done in this space and the things that populate it (cosmogonic dimension). This research presents the results of the study of several structures found in different areas of the Fuegian and northern Patagonian archipelago, from an archaeological and ethnographic perspective, respectively. The study allows us to discuss the wide knowledge and use of the geographical space of this vast region, considering the continuity of cultural practices throughout time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 41636.0