Puya rafts (Puya chilensis Molina 1782) on the hygromorphic littoral of Chile between the 16th and 19th centuries

Abstract

In the Chilean hygromorphic coast, various vessels were used for multiple purposes. One of the least known is the puya log raft, which use is well documented by the works of the Jesuit historian Diego de Rosales (1877 [1674], 1991 [1680]). The archaeological evidence of its use is indirect (the existence of some populated islands) and in this paper we intend to evaluate the information provided by Rosales, comparing it with that provided by other Europeans who observed the raft, before and after the descriptions of the Jesuit chronicler. It’s important to note that the description of the Puya log raft is made against the background of the Andean or Oceanic raft recorded by various chroniclers since the 16th century. Despite its fragmentary documentation, the puya log raft is a vessel of great importance for understanding the diverse navigation systems developed on shores of Central-South Chile by the groups that inhabited it until the end of the 19th century.