Ethnographical and historical accounts for understanding the exploration of new lands: The case of Central Western Patagonia, Southernmost South America

Abstract

Identifying the process of initial exploration of any given area is complex in the sense that it lies in the boundary between the absence and presence of reliable anthropogenic evidence. However, how can we be certain that the data are in fact the result of exploration and not the result from a low-density archaeological record or other process that might be mimicking this process? This paper presents selected ethnographical data to shed light on regional data that are key to understanding the process of exploration. Information on the human dispersal into new lands and on the management of knowledge is presented in the frame of hunter-gatherer territorial organization, mobility, technology and the use of resources, and then discussed in the context of the archaeological record of Central Western Patagonia. It is suggested that although low in visibility, exploration is identifiable in the regional archaeological record. Hunter-gatherers of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition occupied the Andean fringe, moving out of some eastern occupational node and sacrificing the security of the motherland in exchange for extending territorial reaches. The study provides solid grounds for discussing a case of exploration with broader implications for the understanding of the archaeological correlates of exploration of new lands.