Territorial processes and forests and in the Valdivia river catchment during the XVI-XIX centuries

Abstract

Receding of the native forest in the Valdivia river catchment was not directly related to the advancement of the European settlers in this region. It responded, however, to pulses from adaptive processes that originated from the interactions between the native communities and the European settlers. Based on this framework and a interdisciplinary approach where environmental history, archaeology, anthropology, geography and Geographic Information Systems meet, we aim to find answers regarding the distribution and territorial processes linked to the different patterns of land appropriation in the area. By studying historiographic and archaeological resources, along with cartographic studies, we expect to validate and thoroughly understand the explanations about the historical transformation of this regional landscape. A transformation that was shaped by environmental obstacles and opportunities, technological capabilities and political and cultural dynamics of trade and dominion, all of them far from being lineal, homogenous and static processes.