Marine Ventures - Archaeological Perspectives on Human-Sea Relations - Hein B. Bjerck
22. Marine Ventures and Thomas Bridges' Yamana-English Dictionary
Marine Ventures - Archaeological Perspectives on Human-Sea Relations - Hein B. Bjerck
Magnhild M. Husøy
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Elisabeth Forrestad Swensen
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Description
The Yamana people of Tierra del Fuego are described in many sources, both ethnographical and archaeological, and they enlighten different realities of the Yamana society. A source that is rarely used, despite its intriguing contents, is the Yamana-English Dictionary, by Thomas Bridges. His relationship with the Yamana people created insight into their way of life. Through the Marine Ventures project (project nr. 208828); two master theses were outlined to study this dictionary. One concerns the study of dwellings and settlements (Husøy in press) whilst the other studies the dynamics of foraging (Swensen 2014). Comparing the Dictionary to archaeological and ethnographical sources, both found ways in which the sources corresponded, and ways in which they did not. The studies have tried to widen the understanding of the many realities of the Yamana people, and make an effort to challenge the way archaeology looks at unconventional sources.