The Archaeology of Contact in Southern Patagonia: Some Issues to be reslved in the Southwestern Forest

Abstract

The use of new raw materials, particularly glass, stoneware and metal, for manufacturing traditional indigenous weapons has been so far one of the main lines of evidence of the archaeology of contact in mainland southern Patagonia (southernmost South America). Here, a new finding for the southwestern forest in Argentina is presented. This information is useful to discuss chronology, different strategies of European material procurement (direct or indirect) among local indigenous populations, and the role of the southwestern forest in native land use patterns during the contact period.