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<< Our Photo Pages >> Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens - Ancient Village or Settlement in Chile

Submitted by C_Michael_Hogan on Friday, 04 April 2008  Page Views: 42301

Multi-periodSite Name: Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens Alternative Name: Wulaia Cove Middens
Country: Chile Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Ushuaia, Argentina
Latitude: 55.04755S  Longitude: 68.14835W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Wulaia Bay Dome Middens as viewed from the abandoned naval building on Navarino Island. The metamorphic outcrop measures approximately 10 meters in height. This view is from the western or windward side of the Dome. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Village or Settlement in Chile

The Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens is a prehistoric mesolithic seasonal habitation site of the Yaghan people situated on Isla Navarino along the Beagle Channel in the Patagonian Archipelago region of Chile. Here naked native women swam roughly 10,000 years ago in the bay waters to harvest shellfish. This village was constructed on the leeward side of a prominent dome-shaped metamorphic outcrop along a protected inner shore of Bahia Wulaia, and consists of a series of ring middens, each of which surrounds a central hut site. Contact with aboriginal Yaghans was made by Charles Darwin and Vice-Admiral FitzRoy at this site in 1831.

PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT. The Yaghan people are an indigenous nomadic tribe of Patagonia, who extended their settlement southward from the South American continental mainland using an ice bridge onto the large southern island of Tierra del Fuego likely in the early Holocene, when the Darwin Icefield of the Tierra del Fuegan archipelago had significantly melted, but prior to the ultimate retreat approximately 12,000 to 10,000 years ago (Coronatoa, 1999) of the glacier that connected the mainland to Tierra del Fuego. There is considerable evidence (Lowie, 1940) that the earliest advanced civilisations in the Americas derived from Yaghans and other South American tribes. Note, for example, that Navarino Island is thought to embody the highest density of archaological sites of any location on the earth. (Lindemann, 2008)

After colonizing much of coastal Tierra del Fuego, the canoe-adept Yaghans easily reached neighboring islands, prominently Isla Navarino, whose coastal terraces are rich with early to mid Holocene archaeological remains. The low prehistoric density of human settlement is similar to circumstances I have noted regarding population densities on the Patagonian mainland steppes, (Hogan, 2008) such that Yaghans on Isla Navarino had no competitive need for highly specialized exploitation; rather it is expected and found in the archaeological record that diets included shellfish, marine mammals and vegetable matter. It should be observed that the great number of archaeological sites on Isla Navarino is likely due to the nomadic nature of the Yaghans and the lack of historical disturbance by Europeans, rather than an indicator of prehistoric population density.

MIDDEN ARCHITECTURE. The ring middens evolved over centuries of habitation, with original construction of the family habitations being founded on small terraces on the leeward side of the metamorphic outcrop, some of whose soil still clung to the leeward side in the early Holocene. The Yaghans were known to construct a conical hut, which would have been situated on one of these terraces. Over time shells, bone and other domestic refuse were discarded from the hut and created a ring shaped landform surrounding the hut, which gained further protection from winds.

The midden material was quite evident at the top of each ring, with some of the shells in remarkable preservation, likely resulting from the slight visitation to this remote site. The midden soil was much darker in color than the native coastal terrace soil, implying some admixture of charcoal residues in the midden mix.

ENVIRONMENT. Shallow Wulaia Bay not only offered Yaghans protection from bitter winds, but invited them to a continuous seafood buffet. The presence of Coihue, Conejos, Aguila and several smaller skerries within the bay offers further buffering and complex fractal niches encouraging a diversity of shellfish. The view across Wulaia Bay illustrates the shallow bay is veritably clogged with islets. The bay itself varies today from intertidal pools scarcely a meter in depth to a maximum depth of approximately 17 meters according to marine charts. Thus a wide variety of marine habitats are found to support numerous bivalves, marine fishes and even dolphins and sea lions.

The local ecosystem consists of a coastal terrace of scrub and grassland, although the majority of the island is considered part of the Magellanic subpolar forests ecoregion. The current grasses are likely wild remnants of grain species introduced by 19th century European settlers who displaced indigenous peoples and their flora. Approximately 150 meters from the shoreline is a closed canopy Lenga (‘'Nothofagus pumilio'‘) forest that offers a different understory floral palette from the coastal terrace. ‘'Nothofagus betuloides'‘ is also found abundantly in this Magellanic rainforest, with both of these species being used for construction of the original native huts. The Nothofagus forests arose in sub-antarctic Patagonia soon after the last glacial retreat about 12,000 years before present.(Beccaceci, 1998) Edible berries are found on Navarino Island such as ‘'Berberis buxifolia'‘. An important perennial freshwater resource is found in nearby Matanzas Creek, located approximately 180 meters to the north of the dome middens.

Nearby glaciers of the Darwin Icefield north of Navarino Island are in a state of retreat, based on my observations along the Beagle Channel, O'Brien Channel and Seno Almirantazgo. I collected data by tree-line measurement, Nothofagus forest regrowth ages after glacial retreat, historic photographs, observations of glacial moraine debris and interviews with local guides. Remarkably the rate of recession is much higher than I expected from literature review prior to my 2008 visit of this region. In some cases, such as Pia Glacier, recession rates of hundreds of meters per year sustained over the last several decades can be traced. Other prominent glaciers in retreat are the Francia Glacier, Italia Glacier, Alemania Glacier and Holanda Glacier. Even the Marinelli Glacier, judged by some to be stable until recently, is showing signs of retreat based upon nunatak exposure photos from 2000 to 2008.

FISH TRAPS. Prehistoric fish traps are extant today in the form of linear rock fences in the shallow intertidal area. Typically these rock fences are constructed to block a narrow inlet, such that fish entering the inlet at high tide are blocked from return to the sea at low tide. While this type of construction is not uncommon in the ancient world, the degree of preservation of these fish traps is remarkable, but can be explained by (i) low modern visitation to this remote locale, (ii) likely use of these traps by Yaghans until the mid 19th century and (iii) a bay well protected from wave surge.

CULTURE. In the Yaghan culture at Wulaia Bay, women were assessed to be superior for the tasks of diving for shellfish and other aquatic activities, presumably because of their greater buoyancy and swimming capability. The women were hence the chief boat-rowers in a culture that relied greatly upon nautical navigation. Both women and men applied blubber and oils from marine mammal kills to their bodies as insulation from the wind and cold. Most remarkably, both sexes did not avail themselves of any clothing in this harsh climate. The Yaghans are the southernmost aboriginal people in the history of the world. The last purebred representative of the Yaghan people is alive today, a woman of approximately ninety years of age.

LOGISTICS. This is not an easy site to access. One will need to book a private boat from the nearest port, Ushuaia, Argentina and travel several hours. The property is under private ownership and thus arrangements will need to be made with the property owner. Finally, the bay is so shallow that a secondary landing craft, such as a zodiak boat will need to be used for final access. This site as well as most of Navarino Island and some of the neighboring islands have been designated as the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Cabo del Hornos. Upon arrival one will be amazed to be welcomed into a nearby structure, unattended, but can be unlocked by a representative of the property owner; this is the small Wulaia Bay Archaeological Museum, which ranks as the southernmost museum of any kind in the world.

REFERENCES
* Robert H. Lowie, ‘'American Culture History'‘, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 42, No. 3, Part 1 (Jul. - Sep., 1940), pp. 409-428
* A. Coronatoa, M. Salemmea and J. Rabassa, ‘'Palaeo-environmental conditions during the early peopling of Southernmost South America (Late Glacial-Early Holocene, 14-8 ka B.P.)'‘, Quaternary International, vol 53-54, Mar. 3, 1999
* Monica A. Lindemann (2008) ‘'The Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve: A Cultural History of the Cape Horn Archipelago'‘, University of North Texas
* C.Michael Hogan, ‘'Pali Aike'‘, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham, March 25, 2008
* Marcelo D.Beccaceci (1998) ‘'Natural Patagonia'‘Pangaea Press ISBN 0-9630180-3-5

The above is original work of C.Michael Hogan prepared for the Megalithic Portal. The author is grateful to his Patagonian expedition guide, Francisco Cardenas Marusic, who supplied many valuable insights to this subject.
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Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Close-up of Yaghan prehistoric stone fishtrap at Wulaia Bay. Tide is not yet at lowest stage so that only part of the stonework is exposed above the waterline. Note that part of the low stone wall extends to image left above the present water surface onto the shoreline rock shelf. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile View of one of the ring middens from a point near the top of the Dome. Only the downslope part of the ring midden is discernible due to the height of the scrub and grass, and also due to the inherent geometry, which induces downslope portions of the ring to appear more prominently. The downslope part of the ring midden is located slightly to the right of the human figure. In the... (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Eastern inlet of Wulaia Bay viewed from a point very near the eastern edge of the Dome Middens. A second stone fish trap is constructed across this inlet, but is only faintly visible at this tidal stage, and is also further from this vantage point than the fish trap within the inlet slightly to the south and west. Note the classic shingle beach which is overlain with some larger i... (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Close-up of exposed shell midden material in its natural state. The state of preservation of this midden is remarkable, having originated approximately 10,000 years ago with habitation continuing well into the 19th century AD. Note the light coloration of shell material contrasted with the unnaturally dark soil which has been infused with charcoal from prehistoric hearth fires. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Entrance to Bahia Wulaia viewed from the approach from the Murray Channel, southern Chile. The horizon at the right features the snow capped and glaciated peaks of the Darwin Range and Darwin Icefield.

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Stone fish trap across an inlet of Wulaia Bay viewed from a point immediately southeast of the Dome Middens. The tide condition is neither extreme high or low, so that only part of the stone fish trap barrier is visible. This tidal inlet is quite shallow. (1 comment)

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Yaghan hut reproduction at Wulaia Bay near the Dome Middens. The hut is made from local Nothofagus trees; prehistorically kelp and animal hides were also used for weatherproofing. At the Wulaia Bay Dome Middens, this type of hut was used in the center of each ring midden as a habitation by the Yaghans.

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Prehistoric bolas used by Yaghans. The specimen shown is on display at the Punta Arenas Archaeological Museum. The stones are original pieces, but the cord is a modern reconstruction. (1 comment)

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile Wulaia Bay Dome Middens. This view is taken looking upstream from a position literally within a second Yaghan habitation site, which can be called the Matanzas Creek site. I measured the water quality of this stream to be rather good. Its pH of 8.02 reflects the likely peaty soils upstream. The low turbidity measured 28 cm using the Secchi Disk method. The electrical conductivity... (1 comment)

Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens
Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Site in Chile View across the downslope circumference of one of the ring middens. The view is to the east with some snow capped mountains of the Darwin Range in the background. The photographer eye level is at the top of the midden ring. The particular ring midden viewed is one of the easternmost middens on the Dome. (1 comment)

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"Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens by Anonymous on Friday, 15 May 2009
IN line 11 under PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT, A BETTER SPELLING IS "ARCHAEOLOGY"
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