Editing History of the Falkland Islands (section)

== Claims of pre-Columbian discovery ==
[[File:FalklandIslandFox2.jpg|right|thumb|The extinct [[Falkland Islands wolf]] or warrah is sometimes taken as evidence of pre-European discovery.]]

When the world sea level was lower in the [[Last glacial period|Ice Age]], the [[Falkland Islands]] may have been joined to the mainland of South America.

While [[Fuegian]]s from [[Patagonia]] could have visited the Falklands,<ref>{{cite journal
| author = G. Hattersley-Smith
|date=June 1983
| title = Fuegian Indians in the Falkland Islands
| journal = [[Polar Record]]
| volume = 21
| issue = 135
| pages = 605–606
| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
| doi = 10.1017/S003224740002204X
|bibcode=1983PoRec..21..605H
|s2cid=129083566
| access-date = 1 February 2012
| url = http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=C6D4151001DCF6AE8937B936C8FDCC62.journals?fromPage=online&aid=5400340
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buckland |first1=Paul C. |last2=Edwards |first2=Kevin J. |year=1998 |title=Palaeoecological Evidence for Possible Pre-European Settlement in the Falkland Islands |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=599–602 |publisher=Elsevier |doi=10.1006/jasc.1998.0297 |bibcode=1998JArSc..25..599B }}</ref> the islands were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans. Recent discoveries of arrowheads in [[Lafonia]] (on the southern half of [[East Falkland]]) as well as the remains of a wooden [[canoe]] provide evidence that the [[Yaghan people]] of [[Tierra del Fuego]] may have made the journey to the islands. It is not known if these are evidence of one-way journeys, but there is no known evidence of pre-Columbian buildings or structures. However, it is not certain that the discovery predates arrival of Europeans. A Patagonian Missionary Society mission station was founded on [[Keppel Island]] (off the west coast of [[West Falkland]]) in 1856. Yahgan people were at this station from 1856 to 1898 so this may be the source of the artifacts that have been found.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Wagstaff
 |first=William
 |date=2001
 |title=Falkland Islands 
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LBSzvruimFgC&dq=yaghan+keppel+island&pg=PA159
 |publisher=Bradt Travel Guide
 |page= 159
 |isbn=9781841620374
}}</ref> In 2021, a paper was published on deposits of marine animal bones (primarily [[South American sea lion]] and [[Southern rockhopper penguin]]) on [[New Island]] off the coast of West Falkland, at the same site where a quartzite arrowhead made of local stone had been found in 1979. The sites dated to 1275 to 1420 [[Common Era|CE]], and were interpreted as processing or [[midden]] sites where marine animals had been butchered. A charcoal spike consistent with anthropogenic causes (i.e. caused by humans) on New Island was also dated to 550 [[Before Present|BP]] (1400 CE). The Yaghan people were capable seafarers, and are known to have travelled to the [[Diego Ramírez Islands]] around {{cvt|105|km|mi}} south of Cape Horn, and were suggested to be responsible for the creation of the mounds.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hamley|first1=Kit M.|last2=Gill|first2=Jacquelyn L.|last3=Krasinski|first3=Kathryn E.|last4=Groff|first4=Dulcinea V.|last5=Hall|first5=Brenda L.|last6=Sandweiss|first6=Daniel H.|last7=Southon|first7=John R.|last8=Brickle|first8=Paul|last9=Lowell|first9=Thomas V.|date=2021-10-29|title=Evidence of prehistoric human activity in the Falkland Islands|journal=Science Advances|volume=7|issue=44|pages=eabh3803|doi=10.1126/sciadv.abh3803|pmid=34705512|pmc=8550247|bibcode= 2021SciA....7.3803H|issn=2375-2548}}</ref> Other authors have suggested that the mounds and arrowheads do not provide unambiguous evidence of pre-European presence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zangrando |first1=Atilio Francisco J. |last2=Borrero |first2=Luis A. |date=2022-05-30 |title=A pre-European archaeology in Malvinas/Falkland Islands? A review |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15564894.2022.2077484 |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |volume=19 |issue=2|pages=433–447 |doi=10.1080/15564894.2022.2077484 |issn=1556-4894}}</ref>

The past presence of the [[Falkland Islands wolf]], ''Dusicyon australis'', has often been cited as evidence of pre-European occupation of the islands, but this is contested. The animal was observed in the Falklands by [[Charles Darwin]], but is now extinct.

The islands had no native trees when discovered but there is some ambiguous evidence of past forestation, which may be due to wood being transported by oceanic currents from Patagonia. All modern trees have been introduced by Europeans.