Is there any evidence that indigenous South Americans visited or knew
of Antarctica, before it was discovered by the West in the early 19th
century?

Hi Blossom

I have spent a long time researching this topic for you and have been
able to find no conclusive evidence that native South Americans ever
reached Antarctica. Most history sites credit the first human to reach
Antarctica in its current form was in 1820-21 where it was first
sighted by “Palmer, Bransfield and Smith. On a separate journey,
Thaddeus von Bellingshausen sights an icefield at 69 degrees south and
lays claim to being the first person to set eyes on the Antarctic
continent.”
“Virtual Antarctica History: Chronology”
http://www.terraquest.com/va/history/chronology/chronology.html

“To the End of the Earth” has a different take on the situation,
citing the same year, 1820, but claiming that in that year “The
Antarctic continent was first seen by human eyes. Historians have
disagreed on who those eyes belonged to; at least one possible
claimant is believed to have seen land but mistaken it for ice at the
time. Credit for being the first man to see the continent has been
divided between three men who made separate voyages to Antarctica that
year.”
“To the End of the Earth”
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/antarctica/about/history.shtml

All claims of finding South American artefacts on Antarctica remain
unproven, but it would seem very unlikely that South Americans would
have been able to cross the ocean to Antarctica in primitive boats to
due the extreme conditions of seas in the area. Also the freezing
temperatures and weather conditions have proven fatal to modern
explorers in the Antarctic, even when well prepared.

I hope that this information has been useful to you.

Thanks

Molloch


Additional Links:

Discovery Online: Antarctica
http://www.discovery.com/exp/antarctica/antarctica.html

Explore Antarctica: Human Discovery
http://www.secretsoftheice.org/explore/discovery.html 


Search Strategy:

antarctic ocean conditions
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=antarctic+ocean+conditions

antarctic first human
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=antarctic+first+human

antarctica human artefacts
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=antarctica+human+artefacts

---

Request for Answer Clarification by blossom-ga on 08 May 2002 00:27 PDT

Hello Molloch,

Thank you for your research and answer. The conclusion is more or less
what I expected. However I am curious about a few more details.

Just how primitive or advanced was the boating technology of southern
South America before Europeans arrived? How harsh are the conditions
in the ocean between South America and Antarctica, and have they been
so for all of the relevant time period?

I'm sure there has been some research done on the culture of people of
that area. Are there any hints, in oral history and mythology, of
awareness of Antarctica? I suppose that anthropologists must have
studied the these mythologies in search of an answer to this very
question; presumably they would have documented their findings, even
if they were disappointed.

Finally, and hopefully the easiest to answer, have there been any ice
ages since people first arrived at Tierra del Fuego that might have
made passage to the Antarctic Peninsula more feasible?

To mvguy: thank you for your research too. Your response was
interesting and useful.

Blossom

---

Clarification of Answer by molloch-ga on 08 May 2002 15:53 PDT

Hi Again Blossom,

The Tierra del Fuego website
http://www.bariloche.com.ar/museo/TIERRENG.HTM suggests that the fist
signs of hunting groups in the area were around 10,400 years ago.
According to various sources, the last expansion of polar ice sheets
took place around 18,000 years ago. Therefore it would have been very
unlikely to have assisted people in travelling the distance to
Antarctica. This website (
http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nercSOUTHAMERICA.html ) has much
information about the climate and land mass of South America during
and up to this time period. Whilst this website
(http://www.scotese.com/lastice.htm ) shows the spread of the ice caps
at 18,000 years ago. As you can see the ice-caps really didn’t spread
much further north than the northern most points today.

Conditions in the Antarctic region are very hostile. The “Weather in
Antarctica” website (http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/weather/)
shows the recorded minimum and maximums for the continent, as well as
a live temperature reading. Perhaps one of the best indications of the
difficulties experienced there can be found by following the failed
expedition of Shackleton in 1914-1916. Nova Online’s website gives a
great account of the hardships faced in the region and describes the
conditions of the weather and sea in the area. The Fuegian people were
relatively unclothed and would have been unable to survive such harsh
conditions with forward planning.
“Nova Online: Shackleton”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackletonexped/


The Fuegian technology in terms of water craft seems to be limited to
the (dug-out) canoe. Many references can be found to these canoes and
even Charles Darwin is cited as saying “to the effect that the
practical skills of the Fuegians (people of Tierra del Fuego) had
apparently stopped evolving, since even their most ingenious work, the
canoe, had not changed over the last 250 years.”
“Concept of Culture”
http://www.luc.edu/faculty/twren/phil389/wren1.htm

Whilst no studies appear to be available online in regard to the
culture and vocabulary of the Fuegians; the Tierra de Fuego website
has a range of books on the Fuegian people and even a Fuegian to
English dictionary is available.
http://www.tierradelfuego.org.ar/zagieryurruty/indexING.htm

This Antarctica website describes a recent voyage by ship to the area,
describing Drake Passage (the area of sea between South America and
Antarctica. “Those of us on their first trip could be in for a rude
surprise when we cross the Drake Passage at the end of the voyage,
where some of the roughest waters in the world can toss ships about
like corks. That notorious part of the world offers a trip even worse
than is normally provided by latitudes known for good reason as the
roaring forties and furious fifties.” It seems very unlikely that
simple canoes could have journeyed across this straight.
“Antarctica!”
http://www.lsc.org/antarctica/journal3.html

The Tierra de Fuego website has more to say on the subject of the
Fuegian canoe, in 1989 a group recreated one from historical data and
attempted to sail it. They describe them as “frail and simple canoes
[that] could appear to be baskets full of branches or a framework
covered with bark in the eyes of somebody who is not a specialist…The
speed we could reach was of 5-6 knots and we found impossible to sail
against the wind”.
“Tierra de Fuego website”
http://www.tierradelfuego.org.ar/museomar/Maritimo/Canoa/canoa02-I.htm
http://www.tierradelfuego.org.ar/museomar/Ushuaia/Indigenas/indigenas02-I.htm

I hope this helps to clarify the answer.

Molloch

Molloch's answer and clarification were very well researched. I think
it would be extremely difficult to give a more complete answer using
only resources freely available on the web.

Thanks Molloch. 

I'm guessing the price I'm payiing turned out to be pennies per hour.
;-)

I've tracked down the following information, but I haven't been able
to confirm the veracity of the statements made.  Perhaps this will
help you or some other researcher.

The Chronicle of Antractic Expeditions says this:
"24 January 1895, modern man set foot on the soil of Antarctica for
the first time, i.e. the Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink (1864-1934).
Whether South American Indians had been there already remains
controversial: arrow heads found later on the peninsula would suggest
this."
http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/southpole/histdet3.htm


An article in Antiquarian Bookman of November 21, 1988 said this:
"NO ONE KNOWS who first saw Antarctica but there are hints from among
the legends of the peoples of the South Seas that they may have been
the first. Chilean archaeologists recently found a bit of reality on
King George Island of the South Shetland Islands in the shape of
arrowheads that have been identified as those of the indigenous people
of South America."
http://www.antarctic-circle.org/ab.htm

Virtual Antarctica History:
"The name Antarktikos derives from "opposite the Bear", Arktos being
the Great Bear (or Big Dipper) constellation above the North Pole. Yet
while the ancient Greeks only imagined the continent, the first human
to encounter the Antarctic realm may well have been a seventh century
Raratongan traveler, Ui-te-Rangiara who, it is said, 'sailed south to
a place of bitter cold where white rock-like forms grew out of a
frozen sea,' according to Polynesian legend."
http://www.terraquest.com/va/history/ages/discovery.html

There is also a great deal of information out there regarding the
Samoans and their exploits to Antarctica and their alleged decendency
from the Vikings (Yes, Vikings.) written by the current Samoan King.