The earliest records for human presence in territory that is now
Argentina can be dated back 12,000 years, and at least 11,800 years
ago the first nomadic groups reached as far as Tierra del Fuego.
Over the millennia that preceded the arrival of Europeans, widely
varying cultures developed. Some of these, such as those of the
Pampas, the Patagonian plateau and the Chaco floodplains, were
dependent on nomadic, terrestrial hunter-gathering. From at least
6000 years ago, distinct nomadic cultures like that of the Yámana
emerged in the channels of the Fuegian archipelago, where canoe
technology allowed the adoption of a marine-based life. Other
groups, such as the Guaraní peoples of the subtropical northeast,
evolved semi-nomadic lifestyles dependent on hunter-gathering and
shifting, slash-and-burn agriculture, whereby they cultivated
maize, manioc, beans and sweet potatoes while also producing cotton
for textiles.
The most complex cultures emerged, how ever, in the Andean
northwest , where sedentary agricultural practices developed
from about 500 BC. Irrigation permitted the intensive cultivation
of staple crops like maize, quinoa, squash and potatoes and this,
combined with the domestication of animals like the llama,
facilitated the growth of rich material cultures, as attested to by
the archeological record. The most important early sedentary
culture is the Tafí one of the Tucumán region, whose people
sculpted intriguing stone menhirs incised with geometric designs,
feline shapes and human faces. This initial period saw the later
development of Catamarca's Condorhuasi culture, renowned for
its distinctive and beautifully patterned ceramics. From about 600
AD, metallurgical technologies developed, which saw the use of
bronze for items as elaborate as ceremonial axes and chest-plates,
as best witnessed in the Aguada civilization, whose
territory also centred on Catamarca. From about 850 AD, the
increasing organization of Andean groups is demonstrated by the
appearance of fortified urban settlements, which, though relatively
humble by the standards of the great civilizations further north,
were nevertheless built in stone and had populations of up to a few
thousand. Three important Diaguita cultures emerge:
Sanagasta; Belén; and Santa María , whose overlapping zones
of influence stretched from Salta through to San Juan, and which
are notable for their elaborately painted ceramics, anthropomorphic
funeral urns, superb metalwork, and the use of agricultural
terracing. Further north, separate cultures develop in the
Humahuaca region of Jujuy, including those of Tilcara and El
Alfarcito, both of which have evidence of a marked use of
hallucinogenic substances.
These Andean cultures engaged in trade with their counterparts
on the Pacific side of the Andes and north into what is now
Bolivia. Trade networks were vastly increased once the area came
under the sway of pan-Andean empires: first that of Bolivia's great
city, Tiahuanaco , which probably influenced Condorhuasi
culture; and, from 1480, that of the Incas , who
incorporated the area into Kollasuyo, their southernmost
administrative region. Incredibly well-preserved finds, such as
recent excavation of three ritually sacrificed mummies at
the summit of 6739-metre Cerro Llulliallaco - the world's highest
archeological discovery - are helping to reveal the extent of this
influence in terms of customs, religion and dress.
In the early sixteenth century, before the arrival of Europeans,
Argentina's indigenous population was probably in the region
of 400,000, an estimated two-thirds of whom lived in the northwest
- Andean groups such as the Diaguitas, the Omaguacas of Jujuy's
Humahuaca Valley, the Atacameños of the far northwestern puna, and
the Tonocotés of Santiago del Estero. Other relatively densely
settled areas included the central sierras of Córdoba and San Luis,
where the Comechingones and the Sanavirones lived. The Cuyo
region was home to semi-sedentary Huarpes; while to the south and
east of them lived various Tehuelche tribes, often referred to
generically by the Spanish as Pampas Indians or, further south,
Patagones. Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by Selk'nam and
Mannekenk, as well as the Yámana sea-goers. The Chaco region was
home to a bewildering variety of shifting nomadic groups, including
Chiriguanos, the Lule-Vilela, Wichí, and groups of the Guaycurú
nation, like the Abipone and Qom. The northeastern areas of El
Litoral and Mesopotamia were inhabited by the Kaingang, the Charrúa
and Guaraní groups.
The first group to encounter the Spanish were probably the
nomadic Querandí of the Pampas region - the northernmost
group of the wider Tehuelche culture. They lived in temporary
shelters and hunted guanaco and rhea with bolas ( boleadores
): weighted thongs used to bring down their prey. Though they put
up determined resistance to the Spanish for several decades, their
culture was eliminated during the subsequent colonial period - a
fate that was to be shared by many others.