The Pali-Aike National Park is a park located in the

Magallanes Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. ''Pali-Aike'' is a Tehuelche name that means ''Desolate Place''. Created in 1970, it covers an area of and includes part of the

Pali-Aike Volcanic Field The Pali-Aike volcanic field is a volcanic field along the Argentina–Chile border. It is part of a family of back-arc volcanoes in Patagonia, which formed from processes involving the collision of the Chile Ridge with the Peru–Chile Trench. I ...

. The park draws its name from a prominent volcanic cone known as the Pali Aike Crater. It includes native

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, with some species being exclusive to the region, not being found anywhere else in the world. The park has many rocky formations covered in 1000 year old lava.

Archaeology

Human crania from early

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

occupation have been recovered from a cave at the Pali Aike Crater. This archaeological site goes back to the Paleo-Indian period. The

stone tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

from the cave are dated to around 11,000 years BP, and are among the oldest in South America. Pali Aike cave has strong similarities to Fell's cave, located in the vicinity outside the reserve. Three cremated human skeletons have been discovered here. The site was discovered and studied in the 1930s by Junius Bird. It represents a temporary encampment of early hunters. Pleistocene fauna remains have also been discovered. These early peoples used the type of darts known as 'fluted fishtail points'. Different kinds of other tools have also been found at the cave, among them cylindrical stones which seem to have had a ceremonial use. The stratigraphy of these sites goes back 8,600 to 11,000 years ago.

Petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s and

rock carving A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s have also been found in the area. Weathered volcanic rocks from the Pali-Aike volcanic field were used as red

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...

s. These peoples hunted the

mylodon ''Mylodon'' is a genus of extinct ground sloth belonging to the family Mylodontidae, known from the region of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina in southern South America. With a total length of 3 to 4 m, it is one of the best-known and largest rep ...

(''Mylodon listai''), the American horse (''Parahipparion saldasi''),

guanaco The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The guanaco g ...

, fox, puma, birds, rodents, and also gathered ostrich eggs. They used little or no marine products, despite being relatively close to the sea. In 1998, the Pali Aike and Fell's Caves were jointly proposed to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as World Heritage Sites.Fell and Pali Aike Caves
unesco.org

Gallery

File:Parque Nacional Pali Aike Chile-Foto1.jpg File:Parque Nacional Pali Aike Chile-Foto2.jpg File:Cueva Pali Aike.jpg, Pali Aike Cave File:Guanaco en Parque Nacional Pali Aike, Chile.jpg, Guanaco inside the park

Notes

References

* Teresa Moreno and Wes Gibbons (2007) ''The Geology of Chile'', Geological Society of London, 414 pages * George Wisner
In the footsteps of Junius Bird, Part I: Bird the person.
Mammoth Trumpet 23(4), 2008, pp. 17–20.

External links

* {{authority control Archaeological sites in Chile National parks of Chile Protected areas of Magallanes Region Protected areas established in 1970 1970 establishments in Chile

Archaeology

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links