A Tehuelche/Aonikenk Camp on the Northern Bank of the Middle Course of the Gallegos River (Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina): Implications for the Use of Space in Historical Moments

Abstract

The Mack Aike Canyon has been redundantly used by hunter-gatherer populations for at least 3300 years BP. The canyon provides protection, water, pastures, and fauna. Information corresponding to the Chorrillo Grande 1 site is presented, where lithic artifacts were found together with others made of glass (Venetian type beads and scrapers), metal—brass and iron—(ornaments, nails, and fragments), ceramic potsherds, and archaeofauna, mainly guanaco (Lama guanicoe) and horse (Equus caballus). The chronology obtained on remains of these fauna and potsherds goes back to the last 300 years BP. In addition, the distribution of the archaeological record follows a linear pattern that, together with the location in a canyon, conforms to the ethnographic information on the arrangement of toldos. The late artifactual signal has also been identified in other contexts of the canyon but at a very low frequency. The information allows us to interpret the site as aTehuelche/Aonikenk camp and compare it with other sites in the extreme south of Patagonia with similar characteristics. Along with other sites in the Mack Aike Canyon, Chorrillo Grande 1 shows the persistent use of the locality and its role as an articulator of regional mobility until historical moments.