Fuegian Tradition

A primitive people inhabiting the South American archipelago of Tierra del Fuego from c 2000 BC. The culture, a coastal tradition of the Alacaluf tribes, was often called the Shell Knife culture. It was based on the exploitation of marine resources and operative on the southern coast and offshore islands of southern Chile. The beginning of the tradition was marked by a change from land-oriented hunting and gathering; bone and stone tool technology persisted well into historic times. The primitive cultures of the Ona and Yámana (Yahgan) of Tierra del Fuego are so similar that anthropologists traditionally group them with the neighboring Chono and Alakaluf of Chile into this one Fuegian culture area. The Ona inhabit the interior forests and depend heavily on hunting guanaco (a small New World camel). The Yámana are canoe-using fishermen and shellfish gatherers. They are all nomadic and are sparsely scattered over the landscape and poor in material culture.

A tradition based on the exploitation of marine resources and operative on the southern coast and offshore islands of southern Chile. Although a shell-midden site at Englefield Island has provided radiocarbon dates in the range 7200-6500 be (± 1500 years) they are generally thought to be too early. The inception of the tradition, marked by a change from land-oriented hunting and gathering, is more likely to be c4000 be. Bone and stone tool technology persisted well into historic times, and ethnographic studies of the Chono, Alacaluf and Yaghan tribes are the most valuable sources for the tradition.