Abstract

In the La Plata Basin, indigenous populations used canoes for colonizing islands, moving people, fishing, transporting loads, and warfare. According to sixteenth century chronicles, dugout canoes were large, up to 24 m in length, and had a capacity for 40 people. In this paper, four dugout canoes recovered in La Plata River, and in the Paraná Delta, are studied. Their context of discovery, dimensions, radiocarbon dating, and the wood taxonomic identification are presented. Canoes were vital for the riverine populations that inhabited the study area since at least two thousand years ago but constitute a rare record given the low likelihood of preservation. The studied canoes measure between 10–8 m in length and 0.9–0.7 m beam. Two of the canoes were dated between 1509–1647 and 1414–1465 cal AD, 1σ. The diagnostic characters identified in the wood link all the samples to Enterolobium contortisiliquum. The use for centuries of the same species in different areas shows the importance of the type of raw material selected and reflects a shared knowledge of the properties of the dry wood: light and porous that contributes to buoyancy, easy to work, and with mechanical resistance. This, in addition to the size of the tree, up to 30 m high and 2.5 m in diameter, has favored its preference for the manufacture of hulls. These watercrafts constitute a unique cultural heritage on the pre-Hispanic naval engineering of the skilled navigators of the La Plata Basin.

摘要

在拉普拉塔盆地，土著居民使用独木舟进行岛屿殖民、迁徙、捕鱼、运输货物和战争。根据 16 世纪的编年史，独木舟很大，长达 24 m，可容纳 40 人。在本文中，研究了在拉普拉塔河和巴拉那三角洲回收的四艘独木舟。介绍了它们的发现背景、尺寸、放射性碳测年和木材分类鉴定。至少从 2000 年前起，独木舟对于居住在研究区域的河流人口至关重要，但由于保存的可能性很低，因此构成了一个罕见的记录。所研究的独木舟长度在 10–8 m 之间，横梁在 0.9–0.7 m 之间。其中两艘独木舟的年代介于 1509–1647 和 1414–1465 cal AD, 1σ 之间。Enterolobium contortisiliquum。几个世纪以来在不同地区使用同一物种表明了所选原材料类型的重要性，并反映了对干燥木材特性的共同认识：轻质和多孔性有助于浮力、易于加工且具有机械阻力. 除了树的大小，高达 30 m 和直径 2.5 m 之外，还有利于其制造船体的偏好。这些船只构成了拉普拉塔盆地熟练航海家在西班牙前的海军工程上的独特文化遗产。