54. Possible Relatives in the
Americas
The Marazzi site (Tierra del Fuego,
Chile)
by George Weber
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Location of the Marazzi site.
The rock shelter and associated kitchen midden and other
features were discovered in 1965 by the famous French
archaeologist Annette Laming-Emperaire (1917-1977). The
discovery was not by accident but by a deliberate search for
possible sites in the "dead-end-street" for migrating
populations that is Tierra del Fuego. The site was excavated
in 1965 and 1967-1969 by Laming-Emperaire, Lavalée
and Humbert .
We are grateful for most details published here to
Laming-Emperaire A., Lavallée D. and Humbert R.
1968."Le Site de Marazzi en Terre de Feu."
Rehué. Conception 1, pp. 133-143.
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At the centre of the Marazzi site is a rockshelter surrounded by a
number of kitchen midden in all states of preservation and deposits
of assorted artefacts. The site was accessible to humans only after
the glaciers had withdrawn towards the west and freed the Bahia
Inutil from ice. A small river near the site also formed that around
that time and provided fresh water to the human occupants of the rock
shelter and the land animals that they hunted (guanaco, biurds
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The Marazzi site (Map adapted from Laming-Emperaire et
al.):
- The Marazzi rock shelter (red)
- Traces of temporary prehistoric campsites in loess
(grey)
- Kitchen midden (dark blue)
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The rockshelter is formed by an enormous (10 x 10
m) erratic block that has been deposited there by the retreating
glacier around 20 m above presentt sea levels and 850 m from the
present shore.
The entire landscape is marked by features caused
by glaciers, including the step-like morraines that dominate an
otherwise fairly flat landscape. On its northern side, the block has
an overhang in which early hunters have used as a shelter shortly
after 10,000 years ago. Later, the shelter was abandoned, perhaps
because dominating wind directions changed. Wind then blew at least
three layers of sand into the shelter, sealing off the archaeological
layers. Unerodxed, undisturbed sites that have been sealed off from
outside influences are rare on Tierra del Fuego.
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Full view of the Marazzi rockshelter excavation in
1968.
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Schematic drawing of layers in the Marazzi rock
shelter:
Most recent archaeological layers: A, B, C, D:
8.a layer grey, coarse sand
7. a layer of black sand
6. a layer of fine-grained yellow sand
Intermediate archaeological layers: E, F, G, H,
I:
5. a layer of gravel
4. a layer of dark
Earliest archaeoleogical layers: J, K, L. M:
3. a layer of mostly clay
2.a layer of black gravel (50-70 cm thick) and interspeersed
with irregular veins of clay, contains archaeological
finds
1. the moraine on which the sheltering erratic block was
deposited by the retreating glacier
Two human burals have been found:
1. a grave with red
ochre
2. a cremation
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Far left: the rock shelter 1965 before
excavation had commence.
Left: in 1968 digging had reached medium level; the line
of dots in the background show the original ground level and
the dark area on the middle-right of the picture is the
first test trench dug in 1965. The map of the excavation
with an overview of finds made on that level is given
below.
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This map is adapted from Laming-Emperaire A.,
Lavallée D. and Humbert R. 1968."Le Site de Marazzi en Terre
de Feu." Rehué. Conception 1, pp. 133-143. It maps the
items also seen in the photograph to the right immediately above.
Unfortunately, Empereire et al have not reported the locations of the
two graves discovered on this map.
Early Period ca. 10,000 to ca.
5,600 years ago (layer 2 / archaeological layers J, K, L,
M)
The rock shelter was used soon after the glaciers
had withdrawn from the area. Only a few traces of human activity
dating to the earliest times have been found and it appears that the
few visitors did not stay long, perhaps only overnight during hunting
trip and to seek shelters during storms.
Animal remains found are limited to a few
badly-preserved bones of small land mammals. There are no remains of
fish, sea mammals or sea shells. It seems that the hunters visiting
the shelter were not oriented towards the sea but towards the land.
This also suggests the possibility that Bahia Inutil at that early
time was not yet part of the sea but an inland freshwater lake.
The tools found in the oldest levels were
essentially of the same type as those found in later layers - but the
various types occur in different frequencies. Especially remarkable
is the presence on this early level of two "bolas" (a prehistoric
South American invention that consists of one or more stone balls
attached to the ends of a cord and this is used in warfare and to
bring down animals in hunting). The bola had been though to be
relatively recent invention - apparently wrongly. It is unfortunate
that for reasons unknown, there is no drawing of these oldest Bolas
in Leming-Empereire et al's article - only of bolas from the medium
and youngest levels.
Another remarkable find made by by Laming-Emperair
and her co-workers at Marazzi rockshelter is a finely worked but
broken bifacial tool (see drawing below) at the border between the
early and middle periods. This find strenghtens the impression
(gained elsewhere in the Americas, too) that the earliest human
arrivals in Patagonia and Fuegia already had achieved high degree of
sophistication in stone tool making.
In the lowest levels no hearth has been found and
carbon particles that could have come from an open fire are few. This
strengthens the impression that during the earliest period, the
Marazzi rock shelter was used infrequently and only briefly by
passing hunting groups, perhaps for just one night or during a
storm.
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Scrapers found in the oldest levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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Knives found in the oldest levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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Other tools found in the oldest levels of the
Marazzi rock shelter are shown below. The incomplete tool (third from
the left) is the finely-worked tool mentioned in the text above. The
tool on the far left is also remarkably finely worked for its early
date.
Middle Period ca. 5,600 to ca.
2,000 years ago (layers 2-5 / archaeological layers E, F, G, H,
I)
During the middle period, occupation of the rock
shelter and its use by what appears entire hunting families became
much more intensive. Animals hunted included both land animals
(guanaco, huemul and perhaps horse), marine mammals (seal) and
various types of shellfish. At that time at the latesat , Bahia
Inutil must have become connected to the sea as it is today.
Nevertheless, by their equipment the occupants of Marazzi rock
shelter during that period were above all land hunters (spears and
bolas, but no harpoons). The appearance of sperm whale bones do not
imply that they hunted these enormous mammals in canoes, but more
likely that they scavenged any dead or dying whales found
beached.
In 5 (the last of the intermediate periods) the
grave of an adult was found who had been cremated on site at the
outer limits of the shelter provided by the rock shelter. The upper
parts of the remains were much more strongly burnt than the lower
parts. There is some evidence that the rockshelter was abandoned for
a considerable time after this funeral. Unfortunately, no photographs
of the evidence or further discussion is supplied.
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Scrapers found in the miedium levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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Knives found in the medium levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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Other tools found in the medium levels of the Marazzi
rock shelter
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Bolas found in the medium levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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In the topmost level of the middle period at Marazzi rock
shelter an enigmatic find was made: a broken sperm-whale
bone of ca. 12 cm in length), engraved with a simple cross
pattern (quadrillage) on its narrow site (not visible on the
picture below, arrow). The only other such engravings have
been found at he Englefield
site further to the west in Tierra del Fuego- but there
they they predate the Marazzi rockshelter find by more than
4,000 years!
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Late Period ca. 2,000 years ago
until recent (layers 6-8 / archaeological layers A, B, C,
D)
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Scrapers found in the youngest levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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Knives found in the youngest levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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Other tools found in the youngest levels of the Marazzi
rock shelter
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Bolas found in the youngest levels of the Marazzi rock
shelter
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A human burial in which red ochre has been used
was found in a late level. Unfortunately, Emperaire et al only
mention this funeral in the abstract of their article. No photographs
of the evidence or further discussion is supplied.
Although their discoverer, Laming-Emperaire,
showed little interest in the human remains found at Marazzi rock
shelter, samples from the older Marazzi burial were recently made
available for DNA analysis. They were added to samples from 60
skeletal parts of a total of 75 individuals (71 teeth and four rib
fragments) that dated mainly to the extinction period (19th to 20th
centuries), but also included two samples from skeletal finds 4030
and 5000 years of age, respectively: the former found in Cueva Lago
Sofía and the latter from the Marazzi rock shelter. Samples
were removed from skeletons held at the Museo Nacional de Historia
Natural in Santiago de Chile, the University of Magallanes in Punta
Arenas (Chile), and at the Museum of Ushuaia and the CENPAT-CONICET
(Argentina). The results of this DNA analysis were published and form
part of the overall results mapped in our chapter on Fuegian
Genetics.
Last change 31 March 2007
