Where Does the South Begin? Social Variability at the Southern Top of the World

For thousands of years, hunter-gatherer societies from southern and central Patagonia inhabited a Subantarctic landscape. In this paper, we argue against the traditional assumption that these were simple societies. We examine population diversity from ecological, archaeo- logical, and ethno-historical data sources, emphasizing the economic and social variability while considering social change through time. We end by analyzing processes of the develop- ment of social complexity and hierarchy in recent times, when the industrial world violently disarticulated those societies. All this evidence suggests levels of social variability and com- plexity archaeologists have not expected. The paper critically reviews traditional archaeologi- cal approaches and suggests new research lines that allow for a better understanding of social dynamics.