PRIMEROS POBLADORES ESPA OLES EN EL FUERTE-POBLADO DE EL CARMEN, PATAGONIA ARGENTINA (FINALES DEL SIGLO XVIII)

In this work we present our current historic- anthropologic investigation aboutthe first Spanish settlers installed on the end of 18th century in Fuerte de El Carmen town (Buenos Aires province, Argentina). The objective to colonize this territory was toconsolidate Spanish possessions in the South Atlantic, threatened by constant foreigner presence. This is how Spanish people arrived from different regions, attracted by promises of lands, work and inhabitation. Nevertheless, once arrived, authorities did not complywith those promises and families had to build their houses digging caves in the Rio Negroscarps, known today as Maragatos caves.Nowdays, our work is focused on those first homes and face to the main objective of the project, which is to: access to the knowledge of the historic change processes,the restructuration and continuity of those populations of creole-european origin, and to study their link with aboriginal inhabitants during XVIIIth and XIXth centuries in thePampa-Patagonia region. Besides, our objective is to investigate the maragato’s popular origin myth of these home-caves dig in the north cliff of Rio Negro.