Adaptations To Climate
Despite the extreme cold climate in which they lived, early Yahgan wore little to no clothing until their contact with Europeans. They were able to survive the harsh climate because:
1) They kept warm by huddling around small fires when they could, including in their boats to stay warm. In fact, the name of "Tierra del Fuego" (land of fire) is a name given to the island cluster by passing European explorers who witnessed these fires burning.
2) They made use of rock formations to shelter themselves from the elements.
3) They covered themselves in animal grease.
4) Over time they had evolved significantly higher metabolisms than average humans, allowing them to generate more internal body heat.
5) Their natural resting position was a deep squatting position, which reduced their surface area and so helped to conserve heat.
Read more about this topic: Yaghan People
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Ghosts, we hope, may be always with us—that is, never too far out of the reach of fancy. On the whole, it would seem they adapt themselves well, perhaps better than we do, to changing world conditions—they enlarge their domain, shift their hold on our nerves, and, dispossessed of one habitat, set up house in another. The universal battiness of our century looks like providing them with a propitious climate ...”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)