Southern South America in the Ancient World
Southern South America in the Ancient World is characterized by the early human adaptation to diverse environments, transitioning from hunting large animals to a more generalized gathering and fishing strategy by around 8000 B.C.E. The region saw migrations from North America, with significant archaeological evidence of human presence, including notable sites like Monte Verde in Chile and various caves in Patagonia and Brazil. By around 6000 B.C.E., coastal populations began to thrive, leading to the development of sambaquis—shell mounds formed by the accumulation of shellfish remains.
Agricultural practices emerged later, with crops such as potatoes and manioc becoming more prevalent between 600-700 C.E. Burial practices varied among groups, often including personal adornments and grave goods, reflecting cultural beliefs in the afterlife and deities. Religious practices incorporated shamanism and the use of hallucinogens, alongside artistic expressions such as petroglyphs. The role of women in these societies was significant, particularly in gathering and textile production, although specific details on textile practices remain scarce outside the Andean region. Overall, the ancient cultures of southern South America reveal a rich tapestry of adaptation, spirituality, and social structure that evolved over millennia.
Southern South America in the Ancient World
Date: 8000 b.c.e.-700 c.e.
Locale: Southern and southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and southern Chile
Southern South America in the Ancient World
By 8000 b.c.e., or the end of the Paleo-Indian period, the orientation of subsistence in southern South America was changing from larger animals to more generalized hunting and gathering in an overall trend toward adaptation to environment and local species.
History
The first people in southern South America most likely migrated from North America through the Central American isthmus, moving down the Andes mountain chain in pursuit of large animals and settling into habitable areas. Numerous sites indicating previous human presence have been found in southern and southeastern South America. Besides Monte Verde, in southern Chile, which shows exceptional evidence of human occupation before 8000 b.c.e., other sites have been discovered as far south as southernmost Patagonia, on the Strait of Magellan. Excavations in Fell’s cave and Palli Aike cave revealed remains dating to about 8000 b.c.e. and document continuing occupation in both Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
The Alice Boer site in São Paulo state, Brazil, which flourished during what is believed to have been a much colder and damper period than today, also points to the occupation of hunters and gatherers. Ancient cultures are clearly indicated in the human remains found in the Lagoa Santa cave and in the Santana de Riacho rock shelter in southeastern Brazil.
Around 6000 b.c.e., the population on the seashore began to increase. On the coasts of Brazil and Argentina, many shellfish gatherers appeared, having apparently abandoned the interior. A climatic shift to more hot and humid weather between 7000 and 4000 b.c.e. is thought to be related to this migration, which marked the beginning of the sambaquis, huge shell mounds that formerly lined the coast of Brazil.
Developments in southeastern South America had little apparent connection with the vast regional diversification or political grouping of the more expansionistic Andean states. Consequently, the juxtaposition between hunters and shoreline gatherers continued for centuries, and the shell mounds existed mainly as a response to population growth.
Agriculture
Potatoes appeared very early as a gathered crop at Monte Verde, but largely they grew wild throughout southeastern South America. Maize kernels have been discovered in early sites in Patagonia and also at the rock shelter at Santana de Riacho, essentially a nonagricultural area, beginning at about 3000 b.c.e. Manioc, a tuberous plant, proliferated widely from Brazil northward. The cultures of southeastern Brazil began slowly to become agricultural around 600-700 c.e.
Death and burial
Among early foraging groups, mourners painted their faces black, beat on the outside of the dead person’s hut, fasted, and lamented. Much anger was directed toward the supreme deity, and fear of the dead and evil bush spirits was common. In southern Chile, the dead person and his effects were either buried or cremated. Patagonians left the corpse on a hilltop or in a cave along with some belongings. At the Santana de Riacho rock shelter, burials were commonly made inside the shelters. Bodies were wrapped in netting or in hammocks. A division of offerings was maintained as males were buried with stone tools, and females and juveniles were buried with wooden artifacts and vegetable offerings.
Burials in the sambaquis indicated a high degree of infant mortality. The deceased was often accompanied by personal adornments and a few grave goods. Burials seem to have been under houses, possibly multifamily residences.
Religion and ritual
Shellfish gatherers believed in a supreme being who was not a creator but a ruler—one who gave life to humans and who gave them animal and plant foods. They prayed to this being for success in fishing and hunting. Among some groups in Brazil, shamanism was highly developed for curing illness and working for the general welfare of the tribe. Also, much evidence in Argentina (as in most of South America) points to the widespread use of hallucinogens for curative purposes and religious rites.
Visual arts
Brazilian rock shelters are noted for their abundant petroglyphs, dating from the earliest occupation of Brazil. Rock art is difficult to date successfully because most of the shelters in which it occurs were occupied for centuries. Petroglyphs show humans in various activities, along with animals, especially deer, and geometric patterns.
Ceramics appeared much later in coastal Brazil than in Andean civilizations. The earliest sambaquis were preceramic, with the advent of pottery in Brazil about 500 c.e. or later. The major art form in South America, textiles, migrated to Rio de Janeiro about 550 c.e.
Women’s life
In the earliest tribes of southernmost Chile, it was predominantly the women who gathered shellfish at low tide and dived from bark canoes with shell blades and baskets in their teeth.
Although little is known about textile production outside the Andean region, it is traditionally reported that in Rio de Janeiro, as elsewhere, women worked outside while men were weaving.
Current views
Besides finding that the subsistence basis of the earliest cultures was more diversified than had been supposed, recent study has determined the earliest reliable evidence for human presence in southern South America to be circa 10,000 b.c.e., although most sites date from 8000-6000 b.c.e. Some claims of great age have been made for several sites in Brazil, including the Pedra Furada rock shelter, which has been dated by recent research at 5000 b.c.e. and not 30,000 b.c.e. as some believed.
Bibliography
Bird, Junius B. Travels and Archaeology in South Chile. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1988.
Bruhns, Karen Olsen. Ancient South America. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Fagan, Brian M. People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory. 9th ed. New York: Longmans, 1998.
McEwan, Colin, et al., eds. Patagonia: Natural History, Prehistory, and Ethnography at the Uttermost End of the Earth. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998.