From virtual survey to real prospection: Kawésqar mobility in the Fuego-Patagonia seascape across terrestrial passages

PreCaPas (Prehistoric Canoeists' Passages Project) is based on the use of geo-computing tools for the detection, description, and evaluation of the presence of terrestrial passages from prehistoric canoeists: the Kawésqar People, hunter–fisher–gatherer groups from the Fuego-Patagonia region of Chile. In this southern region, the heuristic value of terrestrial passages would be more than an expeditious route to shorten the distances involved in coastal navigation or to avoid certain geographic obstacles: terrestrial canoeists' passages were an efficient and timely solution for connecting remote areas. Therefore, if we could identify potential passages, we would be able to establish new vital information about the possible mobility of these people along the seascape complex. For this purpose, we revisited ethnographical information to make a quantitative and qualitative characterization of these potential crossing places, and therefore, we elaborated spatial predictions about expected places where a terrestrial passage could be located.