Cueva Fell
Cueva Fell as seen from across the Chico River
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 Shown within Chile
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| Location |
Chico, Gallegos,  Chile
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| Region | Patagonia |
| Coordinates | 52°02′S 70°03′W / 52.033°S 70.050°W |
| History | |
| Founded | Early Holocene |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Bird; John Fell |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | None significant |
Cueva Fell is a natural cave and archaeological site in southern Patagonia. Cueva Fell is in proximity to the Pali Aike Crater, another significant archaeological site. Cueva Fell combined with the nearby Pali Aike site have been submitted to UNESCO as a possible World Heritage Site.
Fell's Cave was discovered by Junius Bird. It came to his attention because arrow points and flakes were found on the surface. The cave was originally called the Río Chico shelter, but was later renamed by Bird to Fell's Cave in honour of the Fell family who owned the Estancia Brazo Norte, the North Arm Station, where the cave is located. Excavation of the site began in 1936.
Fell's Cave is located in the Río Chico canyon, Chile, near the Straits of Magellan and the Argentine border. This area is known as the southeastern Patagonian basalt plateaus. Situated on the southeast side of what was once a river bank, it is more accurately described as a shelter. It was formed by river water wearing away at the sandstone bank, leaving behind a canopy of lava conglomerate and thus creating a shelter 28 feet deep and 38 feet wide. The erosion formed a smooth floor of hard clay. Remnants of sandstone still clinging to the conglomerate roof eventually fell to the floor, forming a sterile layer that later separated human occupation periods.
Junius Bird labelled the occupational layers of the site from top to bottom, thus the layer directly under the surface is I, and the oldest layer is V.
The surface material of the site is composed of dirt, rocks, and hard-packed sheep manure. The surface layer ranges from 18 to 24 inches in thickness.
The youngest stratigraphic layer of Fell’s Cave is a dark earth layer, reaching approximately 10 inches in thickness. This component dates from c. 700 years BP to the present. According to conventional radiocarbon dating, the layer dates to 1265 A.D. +-90.
The division between Layer I and Layer II is relatively indistinguishable as the sediments are of similar dark earth, and also reach about 10 inches or more in thickness. This layer dates to c. 6,500 years BP.
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