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. 2022 Aug 24;17(8):e0272833.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272833. eCollection 2022.

A pre-Hispanic canoe or Wampo burial in Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina

Alberto E Pérez  1 , Rodrigo Moulian Tesmer  2 , Juan Francisco Reyes Sánchez  3 , José L Lanata  4 , Andrea Medina  5 , Miguel Chapanoff Cerda  6
Affiliations

A pre-Hispanic canoe or Wampo burial in Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina

Alberto E Pérez et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The burial of Individual 3 at the Newen Antug site, a young adult woman, with a pottery grave offering characteristic of the Late Pottery period and dated to 880 years BP, is an indirect burial in a wooden structure. The form and design comprise a wooden wampo or small canoe, or a symbolic representation of one, a metaphor in current and historical Mapuche society for the voyage to the final abode of the dead, located beyond a water body which must be crossed in a boat. This is the first find of a burial in a canoe structure in Argentinian Patagonia, and the most southern example on the whole continent. It is also the earliest record in Argentina of pottery of the Red on White Bichrome tradition used as a grave offering, extending the repertoire of characteristics shared between the two slopes of the Andes mountains during the pottery periods, including ritual as well as material aspects.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Main bodies of water mentioned and archaeological sites in red.
Fig 2
Fig 2
A, B Excavation of the Newen Antug site, C- human bodies, D- Stratum 5 of hardened soil and outline of inhumation pit.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Excavation plan of the site.
Fig 4
Fig 4. A- wood with charred face and 14C (S1 Fig) dating.
Sections: 1- cross, 2- radial axial, 3- tangential.
Fig 5
Fig 5. El Vergel pot from Burial N° 3.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Reconstruction of the position of the body, associated artefacts and 14C dating of the body (S5 Fig).
Fig 7
Fig 7. Recreation of lateral view in which bow and stern can be distinguished.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Mapuche burial, c. 1900 (in Chapanoff 2020: 14).
The photograph shows a funeral ritual with a wampo beside the rewe.
Fig 9
Fig 9. Construction of dug-out canoes in the chronicles of Virginia.
Printed hand-coloured engraving by Theodor de Bry after John White, ca. 1590.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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