Underwater and Above-Water: Archaeology and Ethnography of Underwater Gathering and Diving Practices along the Coast of Southernmost South America

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 coasts of the Fuego-Andean-Patagonian archipelago, south of Chiloé Island, have a length of over 80,000 km and roughly comprise three distinct areas: the Chonos archipelago, the western channels, and the Fuegian channels. The underwater world of this archipelago as a whole must have been a rich and coveted treasure. The ethnographic record provides some specific descriptions and portraits of Indigenous diving practices in historical times. Ethnographers mention that Kawésqar divers were able to reach even 8 m deep when gathering underwater resources. However, from these descriptions, the economic (and social?) importance of diving seems to change depending on the societies, apparently following a North-South gradient. In archaeology, there is little clear evidence of diving practices, but it is worth paying attention to it as its appearance opens up a whole new, submerged reality, perhaps experienced by only a few members of the group. Gathering activities, above and underwater, would have involved very different techniques with their own tools, maritime species, and subsequent human pathologies. Through a multidisciplinary approach encompassing archaeology, ethnohistory, bioanthropology, and marine biology, our work is a review of the subject involving Indigenous diving practices and underwater resources.

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): 41504.0