Plentiful scarcity: plant use among Fuegian hunter-gatherers.

Abstract

When European settlers arrived, the Isla Grande of Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by the Yamana and Selknam peoples. Ethnographic descriptions of those populations are focused largely on the importance of hunting as the main source of subsistence and plant food was considered to have had a marginal role in their economy. This general idea was also supported by the lack of archaeobotanical studies. Nevertheless, recent research at historic Selknam and Yamana sites, and the analysis of linguistic and ethnographic data, has shed new light on the role of plants among Fuegian populations.Even so, the Fuegian hunter-gatherers may be somewhat different to other groupsliving in comparable latitudes. The reason is the low plant diversity, which comprises only 417 native species. Moreover, geographical and seasonal constraints related to the species growing in the region, also conditioned the exploitation of plant resources.Plants however, had their particular role within the framework of the Fuegian economy: they were a constant source of raw materials, as well as a valuable source of food, which complemented the other dietary resources including meat and seafood.This chapter focuses on the relationship of those groups with the plant resources available in their region. Ethnographic and archaeological data will be combined in order to provide a better understanding of plant consumption and its role within the broader context of the other available food resources.