Description
Book Synopsis
The Spanish conquerors who explored the southern cone of South America reported back to Europe that the region was empty of human inhabitants. In truth, however, the large area supported a thriving, albeit low-density, population of foragers. Those foragersthe Mapuche, Tehuelche, Rankuelche, and Fueguian peoplesare the subject of this volume, which presents archaeological and ethnographic studies of their past.
The southern cone of South America was one of the last regions to be colonized on earth. When the Spanish Royal Crown experienced difficulties expanding its colonial frontiers to include these lands, the area became known as a vast wildnerness at the very edge of the civilized world. As a result, the native peoples who did indeed inhabit the area were marginalized and as time passed the significance of their historical experience was ignored. This compilation of research by noted scholars of the region investigates the past of peoples largely neglected by th
Table of Contents
Foreword by Laurie L. Weinstein Living on the Edge… by Claudia Briones and José Luis Lanata Biological Anthropology in Fuego-Patagonia by Ricardo Guichón The Pampean Foragers by Gustavo Politis The Archaeology of Patagonia by Luis A. Borrero The World's Southernmost Foragers: The Native Diversity of Tierra del Fuego by José Luis Lanata Indigenous History of Northwest Patagonia: Regional Identities during the 17th and 18th Centuries by Maria Teresa BoscHÍn Social Strategies in a Situation of Interethnic Contact. The Fort del Carmen, Río Negro, Case Study by Lidia R. Nacuzzi The Tehuelche of Patagonia as Chronicled by Travellers and Explorers in the 19th Century by Alejandra Pero The Last Step in the Process of "Araucanization of the Pampa" 1810-1880: Attempts of Ethnic Ideologization and "Nationism" among the Mapuche and Araucanized Pampean Aborigines by Martha Bechis Building an Image of the Indian Peoples from Patagonia during the 18th and 19th Centuries: Science and Christening by María Andrea Nicoletti and Pedro Navarro Floria The Late 19th Century Crisis in the Survival of the Magellan-Fueguian Littoral Natives by Luis Orquera Bibliography Index
