Early Immigrants: Maragatos in Patagonia, Argentina. The Caves of Fort of Nuestra Señora de El Carmen

Abstract

The small group of Maragatos (people from Maragatería), that arrived together with the rest of the Spanish families at Nuestra Señora de El Carmen fort and village (today known as the city of Carmen de Patagones) as part of the Patagonian plan called «Plan Patagónico de 1778», identified with its name all the people born in this city and the caves where they had to shelter when they first arrived. Through this research, we aim at getting to know what everyday life was like in these original domestic spaces. To that end, we propose applying the theoretical and methodological tools provided by History, Archeology and Anthropology. This approach is enabling us to reconstruct the social puzzle of the first decades of existence of this symbolic place of Patagonia.