Editing History of Chile (section)

==Early history (pre-1540)==
{{Main|Prehispanic history of Chile}}
{{see also|Origin of the Mapuche|Incas in Central Chile}}
About 10,000 years ago, migrating [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] settled in the fertile valleys and coastal areas of what is present-day Chile. Pre-Hispanic Chile was home to over a dozen different Amerindian societies. The current prevalent theories are that the initial arrival of humans to the continent took place either along the Pacific coast southwards in a rather rapid expansion long preceding the [[Clovis culture]], or even trans-Pacific migration. These theories are backed by findings in the [[Monte Verde]] archaeological site, which predates the Clovis site by thousands of years. Specific early human settlement sites from the very early human habitation in Chile include the [[Cueva del Milodon]] and the [[Pali Aike Crater]]'s [[lava tube]].<ref name=Hogan>{{cite web |title=Pali Aike |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |year=2008 |website=Megalithic Portal |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18657 |access-date=2008-11-25 |archive-date=2011-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610101646/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18657 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Image:Tulor Settlement Chile.jpg|thumb|left|"Tulor" settlement near [[San Pedro de Atacama]], a Pre-Columbian [[Atacameño]] culture]]
Despite such diversity, it is possible to classify the indigenous people into three major cultural groups: the northern people, who developed rich handicrafts and were influenced by [[Cultural periods of Peru|pre-Incan cultures]]; the Araucanian culture, who inhabited the area between the river [[Choapa River|Choapa]] and the island of [[Chiloé Island|Chiloé]], and lived primarily off agriculture; and the [[Patagonia|Patagonian culture]]  composed of various nomadic tribes, who supported themselves through fishing and hunting (and who in Pacific/Pacific Coast immigration scenario would be descended partly from the most ancient settlers).
No elaborate, centralized, sedentary civilization reigned supreme.<ref name=Mapuches>{{cite book |title=Historia del pueblo mapuche: (siglo XIX y XX) |last=Bengoa |first=Jose |year=2000 |publisher=Lom Ediciones |language=es |isbn=978-9562822329 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k_E3aAiunm8C&q=Mapuche+y+su+forma+de+gobierno&pg=PA190 |access-date=2020-11-01 |archive-date=2023-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123232900/https://books.google.com/books?id=k_E3aAiunm8C&q=Mapuche+y+su+forma+de+gobierno&pg=PA190 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Araucanians, a fragmented society of hunters, gatherers, and farmers, constituted the largest Native American group in Chile. Mobile people who engaged in trade and warfare with other indigenous groups lived in scattered family clusters and small villages. Although the Araucanians had no written language, they did use a common tongue. Those in what became central Chile were more settled and more likely to use irrigation. Those in the south combined [[Slash-and-burn|slash-and-burn agriculture]] with hunting. Of the three Araucanian groups, the one that mounted the fiercest resistance to the attempts at seizure of their territory were the [[Mapuche]], meaning "people of the land."<ref name="Mapuches" />

[[File:Atlas pittoresque pl 037 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Mapuche]] were the original inhabitants of central and southern Chile]]
The [[Inca Empire]] briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, where they collected tribute from small groups of fishermen and oasis farmers but were not able to establish a strong cultural presence in the area.<ref name=Chile>{{cite book |title=Chile |last=Minnis |first=Natalie |year=2002 |publisher=Langenscheidt Publishing Group |page=381 |isbn=978-9812348906 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nf8SnJ_ZJbkC&q=inca+did+not+conquer+araucanians&pg=PA27 |access-date=2013-09-18 |archive-date=2023-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123232900/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nf8SnJ_ZJbkC&q=inca+did+not+conquer+araucanians&pg=PA27 |url-status=live }}</ref> As the Spaniards would after them, the Incas encountered fierce resistance and so were unable to exert control in the south. During their attempts at conquest in 1460 and again in 1491, the Incas established forts in the Central Valley of Chile, but they could not colonize the region. The [[Mapuche]] fought against the Sapa [[Tupac Inca Yupanqui]] (c. 1471–1493)<ref name=Garcilaso>{{cite book |title=Comentarios reales |last=De la Vega |first=Garcilaso |author-link=Inca Garcilaso de la Vega |year=1616 |language=es |chapter=Segunda Parte: Libro VII Cap. 18, 19 & 20 |url=http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Comentarios_reales |access-date=2009-04-11 |archive-date=2019-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116161911/http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Comentarios_reales |url-status=live }}</ref> and his army. The result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the [[Battle of the Maule]] was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the [[Maule river]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm|title=Chile|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=25 February 2015|archive-date=21 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121153101/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> which subsequently became the boundary between the Incan empire and the Mapuche lands until the arrival of the Spaniards.

Scholars speculate that the total Araucanian population may have numbered 1.5 million at most when the Spaniards arrived in the 1530s; a century of European conquest and disease reduced that number by at least half. During the conquest, the Araucanians quickly added horses and European weaponry to their arsenal of clubs and bows and arrows. They became adept at raiding Spanish settlements and, albeit in declining numbers, managed to hold off the Spaniards and their descendants until the late 19th century. The Araucanians' valor inspired the Chileans to mythologize them as the nation's first national heroes, a status that did nothing, however, to elevate the wretched living standard of their descendants.<ref name="Mapuches" /><ref name="PC"/>

The Chilean [[Patagonia]] located south of the [[Calle-Calle River]] in [[Valdivia]] was composed of many tribes, mainly [[Tehuelches]], who were considered giants by Spaniards during Magellan's voyage of 1520.

The name Patagonia comes from the word ''[[patagon|patagón]]''<ref name="Pigafetta">[[Antonio Pigafetta]], ''[[:wikisource:it:Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo|Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo]]'', 1524: "Il capitano generale nominò questi popoli Patagoni." The original word would probably be in [[Ferdinand Magellan|Magellan]]'s native Portuguese (''patagão'') or the Spanish of his men (''patagón''). It has been interpreted later as "big foot" but the etymologyrefers to a literary character in a Spanish novel of the early 16th century (see text).</ref> used by [[Ferdinand Magellan|Magellan]] to describe the native people whom his expedition thought to be giants. It is now believed the Patagons were actually [[Tehuelche people|Tehuelches]]  with an average height of 1.80 m (~5′11″) compared to the 1.55 m (~5′1″) average for Spaniards of the time.<ref>{{cite book |last= Fondebrider|first= Jorge|title= Versiones de la Patagonia|edition= 1st|year= 2003|publisher= Emecé Editores S.A.|location= Buenos Aires|language= es|isbn= 9500424983|page= 29|chapter= chapter 1 (Ámbitos y voces)}}</ref>

The Argentine portion of Patagonia includes the provinces of [[Neuquen Province|Neuquén]], [[Rio Negro Province|Río Negro]], [[Chubut Province|Chubut]] and [[Santa Cruz Province, Argentina|Santa Cruz]], as well as the eastern portion of [[Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina|Tierra del Fuego]] archipelago.  The Argentine politico-economic Patagonic Region includes the [[La Pampa Province|Province of La Pampa]].<ref>{{Cite web|website=Argentina.gob.ar |url=https://www.argentina.gob.ar/produccion/segemar |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414115219/http://www.segemar.gov.ar/P_Oferta_Regiones/Regiones/Patagonia/Poblaci%C3%B3n%20y%20Econom%C3%ADa/POBLACION%20Y%20ECONOMIA.htm |title=Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino (SEGEMAR)|date=March 23, 2021 |archivedate=April 14, 2010}}</ref>

The Chilean part of Patagonia embraces the southern part of [[Valdivia]], [[Los Lagos Region|Los Lagos]] in Lake Llanquihue, [[Chiloe Island|Chiloé]], [[Puerto Montt]] and the Archaeological site of [[Monte Verde]], also the fiords and islands south to the regions of [[Aisén Region|Aisén]] and [[Magallanes Region|Magallanes]], including the west side of [[Tierra del Fuego]] and [[Cape Horn]].<ref name="PC">{{cite book |last1=Jarpa |first1=Francisco Fantini |title=Patagonia chilena: historia |date=2007 |publisher=Patagonia Media |isbn=978-956-310-774-6 }}{{pn|date=October 2023}}</ref>