Abstract

During late historical times the bark canoe which had been employed for at least 300 years by Western Patagonia kawésqar and the yámana of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago was displaced rapidly and simultaneously by a dugout or logboat made from hollowed logs. Kawésqar groups had already assimilated the dalca or plank canoe during the 18th century. Research focused on two logboats pertaining to the collection «Chile Austral» of the Valparaiso Natural History Museum provides us with the opportunity of discussing the informative potential of ethnographic specimens for gaining a better insight of change and continuity processes affecting indigenous watercraft and the adaptive capacity of maritime hunter-gatherers.