De los archivos históricos a los archivos etnográficos: las colecciones italianas de Tierra del Fuego

Abstract

This paper proposes a critical survey about the origins of ethnographic collections of Tierra del Fuego in Italian museums, as well as the historical records these institutions. The historical records of ethnographical museums are paramount archives to unveil the history of the objects, specially its acquisition and the historical context of the Italian institutions at that time. At the same time, ethnographical collections may be considered as documentary archives offering essential information about the social and material productive contexts of every item of the collections. Finally, a second aim of this paper is to offer relevant data about ethnographical Fuegian collections in Italy to Spanish speakers.