Chenques in central-southern Patagonia: analysis of the spatial and chronological distributional patterns

Abstract

The chenques correspond to a form of human burial, common in Patagonia during the end of the late Holocene. These are characterized by a surface demarcated with a cover of rock and located generally on elevations. The descriptions of the chenques that have been made by travelers and researchers note the similarities or regularities in their morphology and their geomorphological location, despite its broad geographical and chronological distribution. We propose the hypothesis that these regularities have been the result of knowledge and beliefs shared by people, from mobility and exchange circuits which connected the groups in the past. In this paper analyzes the record of chenques in central-southern Patagonia that have radiocarbon dates, in order to recognize spatiotemporal trends the of chenques.