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History |
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The earliest records for human presence in territory that is now
Argentina can be dated back 12,000 years, and at least 11,800 years ago
the first nomadic groups reached as far as Tierra del Fuego. Over the
millennia that preceded the arrival of Europeans, widely varying
cultures developed. Some of these, such as those of the Pampas, the
Patagonian plateau and the Chaco floodplains, were dependent on nomadic,
terrestrial hunter-gathering. From at least 6000 years ago, distinct
nomadic cultures like that of the Yámana emerged in the channels of the
Fuegian archipelago, where canoe technology allowed the adoption of a
marine-based life. Other groups, such as the Guaraní peoples of the
subtropical northeast, evolved semi-nomadic lifestyles dependent on
hunter-gathering and shifting, slash-and-burn agriculture, whereby they
cultivated maize, manioc, beans and sweet potatoes while also producing
cotton for textiles.
The most complex cultures emerged, how ever, in the Andean northwest ,
where sedentary agricultural practices developed from about 500 BC.
Irrigation permitted the intensive cultivation of staple crops like
maize, quinoa, squash and potatoes and this, combined with the
domestication of animals like the llama, facilitated the growth of rich
material cultures, as attested to by the archeological record. The most
important early sedentary culture is the Tafí one of the Tucumán region,
whose people sculpted intriguing stone menhirs incised with geometric
designs, feline shapes and human faces. This initial period saw the
later development of Catamarca's Condorhuasi culture, renowned for its
distinctive and beautifully patterned ceramics. From about 600 AD,
metallurgical technologies developed, which saw the use of bronze for
items as elaborate as ceremonial axes and chest-plates, as best
witnessed in the Aguada civilization, whose territory also centred on
Catamarca. From about 850 AD, the increasing organization of Andean
groups is demonstrated by the appearance of fortified urban settlements,
which, though relatively humble by the standards of the great
civilizations further north, were nevertheless built in stone and had
populations of up to a few thousand. Three important Diaguita cultures
emerge: Sanagasta; Belén; and Santa María , whose overlapping zones of
influence stretched from Salta through to San Juan, and which are
notable for their elaborately painted ceramics, anthropomorphic funeral
urns, superb metalwork, and the use of agricultural terracing. Further
north, separate cultures develop in the Humahuaca region of Jujuy,
including those of Tilcara and El Alfarcito, both of which have evidence
of a marked use of hallucinogenic substances.
These Andean cultures engaged in trade with their counterparts on the
Pacific side of the Andes and north into what is now Bolivia. Trade
networks were vastly increased once the area came under the sway of pan-Andean
empires: first that of Bolivia's great city, Tiahuanaco , which probably
influenced Condorhuasi culture; and, from 1480, that of the Incas , who
incorporated the area into Kollasuyo, their southernmost administrative
region. Incredibly well-preserved finds, such as recent excavation of
three ritually sacrificed mummies at the summit of 6739-metre Cerro
Llulliallaco - the world's highest archeological discovery - are helping
to reveal the extent of this influence in terms of customs, religion and
dress.
In the early sixteenth century, before the arrival of Europeans,
Argentina's indigenous population was probably in the region of 400,000,
an estimated two-thirds of whom lived in the northwest - Andean groups
such as the Diaguitas, the Omaguacas of Jujuy's Humahuaca Valley, the
Atacameños of the far northwestern puna, and the Tonocotés of Santiago
del Estero. Other relatively densely settled areas included the central
sierras of Córdoba and San Luis, where the Comechingones and the
Sanavirones lived. The Cuyo region was home to semi-sedentary Huarpes;
while to the south and east of them lived various Tehuelche tribes,
often referred to generically by the Spanish as Pampas Indians or,
further south, Patagones. Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by Selk'nam and
Mannekenk, as well as the Yámana sea-goers. The Chaco region was home to
a bewildering variety of shifting nomadic groups, including Chiriguanos,
the Lule-Vilela, Wichí, and groups of the Guaycurú nation, like the
Abipone and Qom. The northeastern areas of El Litoral and Mesopotamia
were inhabited by the Kaingang, the Charrúa and Guaraní groups.
The first group to encounter the Spanish were probably the nomadic
Querandí of the Pampas region - the northernmost group of the wider
Tehuelche culture. They lived in temporary shelters and hunted guanaco
and rhea with bolas ( boleadores ): weighted thongs used to bring down
their prey. Though they put up determined resistance to the Spanish for
several decades, their culture was eliminated during the subsequent
colonial period - a fate that was to be shared by many others. |
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