﻿Vol.2] 
  CHACO-SANTIAGUENO 
  CULTURE 
  — 
  MARQUEZ 
  MIRANDA 
  657 
  

  

  LINGUISTIC 
  AND 
  ETHNOGRAPHIC 
  SUMMARY 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  the 
  famous 
  letter 
  dated 
  1574 
  of 
  Father 
  Barzana 
  to 
  

   Father 
  Sebastian, 
  his 
  provincial, 
  the 
  most 
  common 
  languages 
  were 
  

   Tonocote 
  and 
  Sanaviron. 
  The 
  first 
  was 
  spoken 
  by 
  the 
  Tonocote 
  and 
  

   Lule, 
  at 
  least 
  by 
  many 
  of 
  them; 
  the 
  second, 
  by 
  the 
  Sanaviron 
  and 
  

   Indama, 
  who 
  could 
  also 
  speak 
  Quechua 
  with 
  the 
  missionaries. 
  These 
  

   linguistic 
  data 
  permit 
  determination 
  of 
  the 
  tribes 
  which 
  inhabited 
  

   this 
  territory. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  some 
  groups 
  of 
  Sanaviron 
  

   reached 
  the 
  Rio 
  Salado. 
  The 
  Tonocote, 
  who 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  

   more 
  numerous, 
  served 
  in 
  Nuestra 
  Senora 
  de 
  Talavera 
  and 
  near 
  

   Concepcidn. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  these 
  sedentary 
  and 
  agricultural 
  natives, 
  

   there 
  were 
  a 
  few 
  peaceful 
  Diaguita, 
  who 
  like 
  all 
  the 
  other 
  Diaguita 
  

   groups, 
  spoke 
  Cacan. 
  There 
  were 
  likewise 
  nomadic 
  and 
  warlike 
  Lule 
  

   groups, 
  who 
  built 
  fortresses 
  of 
  wood. 
  This 
  sketchy 
  tribal 
  summary 
  is 
  

   completed 
  with 
  the 
  Chiriguano, 
  also 
  warlike, 
  who 
  reached 
  the 
  Rio 
  

   Salado. 
  (See 
  Volume 
  3.) 
  

  

  Varied 
  culture 
  traits 
  allow 
  us 
  to 
  surmise 
  with 
  Frengueli 
  (1940) 
  the 
  

   existence 
  of 
  a 
  heterogeneous 
  population, 
  consisting 
  of 
  different 
  ethnic 
  

   elements. 
  The 
  Rio 
  Dulce 
  and 
  Rio 
  Salado 
  were 
  routes 
  of 
  penetration 
  

   to 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  this 
  culture 
  area. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  archeological 
  traits 
  

   are 
  of 
  Andean 
  origin, 
  but 
  there 
  are 
  Amazonian 
  infiltrations, 
  such 
  as 
  

   feather 
  dress, 
  poisoned 
  arrows, 
  and 
  burial 
  of 
  adults 
  in 
  urns. 
  Other 
  

   routes 
  of 
  penetration 
  were 
  the 
  large 
  series 
  of 
  lagoons, 
  cafiadas, 
  marshes, 
  

   and 
  depressions, 
  which, 
  principally 
  in 
  summer, 
  are 
  flooded 
  by 
  waters 
  

   from 
  the 
  northern 
  Chaco. 
  

  

  CULTURE 
  

  

  SUBSISTENCE 
  ACTIVITIES 
  

  

  The 
  basis 
  of 
  subsistence 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  agriculture, 
  collecting 
  

   wild 
  foods, 
  and 
  herding. 
  Farm 
  plots 
  were 
  in 
  unirrigated 
  marshy 
  

   grounds 
  along 
  the 
  Rio 
  Dulce 
  and 
  Rio 
  Salado, 
  where* 
  the 
  Indians 
  took 
  

   advantage 
  of 
  floods. 
  The 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  Rio 
  Dulce, 
  which 
  was 
  the 
  

   more 
  populated, 
  was 
  especially 
  suited 
  for 
  cultivation, 
  for 
  the 
  floods 
  

   penetrated 
  the 
  barrier 
  of 
  mounds, 
  producing 
  a 
  fringe 
  of 
  marshes 
  on 
  

   which 
  crops 
  could 
  be 
  sowed. 
  The 
  cultivated 
  plants 
  were, 
  in 
  order 
  of 
  

   importance: 
  maize, 
  quinoa, 
  beans, 
  and 
  pumpkins. 
  Wild 
  foods 
  that 
  

   supplemented 
  the 
  diet 
  were 
  algarrobo 
  pods, 
  chafiar, 
  tuna 
  fruits, 
  

   pascanas, 
  wild 
  roots, 
  and 
  honey. 
  

  

  To 
  this 
  vegetable 
  diet 
  was 
  added 
  the 
  products 
  of 
  herding 
  llamas, 
  

   rheas 
  (which 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  domesticate), 
  and 
  turkeys, 
  The 
  chron- 
  

   icles 
  do 
  not 
  give 
  hunting 
  methods, 
  but 
  we 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  Indians 
  fished 
  

   by 
  various 
  methods: 
  nets, 
  pesqueras 
  (weirs), 
  bows 
  and 
  arrows 
  (in 
  

   shallow 
  waters), 
  and 
  by 
  hand. 
  

  

  