A Short History of Chile

There is some dispute as to whether Pre-Hispanic Chile was the earliest inhabited part of South America, as held by those who date the Monte Verde archeological site at 12,500 years before-present (BP); or one of the last parts to be inhabited, as held by those who subscribe to the ‘Clovis’ theory, which says that South America was not inhabited until 11,500 BP.

Either way, Chile was home to over a dozen different indigenous peoples, who are generally classified into three major cultural groups: the northern peoples, who developed rich handicrafts and were influenced by pre-Incan cultures; the Patagonian culture, composed of various nomadic tribes, who supported themselves through fishing and hunting; and the Mapuche culture, which inhabited the area between the river Choapa and the island of Chiloé, and lived primarily off agriculture...