Is fishing intensification a direct route to hunter-gatherer complexity? A case study from the Beagle Channel region (Tierra del Fuego, southern South America)

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of fish intensification in the subsistence of hunter-gatherers and fishers who inhabited the Beagle Channel region in southern South America. The main goal is to identify and to understand the multiple factors and conditions under which fishing intensification operated in this area, regarding it as a process integrated by multiple potential strategies. Ichthyoarchaeological assemblages from eight sites are examined against the predictions of a general intensification model evaluating variations in animal-based subsistence through time. Spatial, environmental and historical dimensions of the intensification process are analysed and evidence of increased effort in fishing activities is observed. Results support the existence of a foraging reorganization on a regional scale, a mechanism by which fish productivity was raised.