ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that conflict was characteristic of Patagonian hunter-gatherers during the late Holocene. Southern South America is an important area to examine the nature of hunter-gatherer violence and warfare. The paucity of systematic studies on interpersonal violence in Patagonia helps to promote the idea of a peaceful past in the region, making isolated recorded cases anecdotal. The peopling of Patagonia was characterized by periods of population expansion and contraction associated with climatic fluctuations and subsequent changes in the distribution and availability of resources. The western European expansion that began in the fifteenth century affected pre-existing violence patterns in small-scale societies in southern South America. The scarcity of systematic tests and comparative studies of violence for the Late Holocene, in contrast to the extensive focus on conflict in postcolonial societies, gives the impression of a virtually pacific past among the late prehistoric populations of Patagonia. Together, these findings suggest violent relations among Holocene hunter-gatherer groups in Patagonia.
