Amazonian Archaeology

16 Pages·2015·1.86 MB·English

Amazonian
Archaeology
Michael and Eduardo Goes Neves2
Heckenberger1
'Department ofA nthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32605;
email: [email protected]
2Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de S?o Paulo, Sao Paulo,
Brazil 05508-900; email: [email protected]
Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2009. 38:251-66 Key Words
JFiurnste p23u,b2l0is0h9e d online as a Review inA dvance on indigenous culture history, anthropogenic landscapes, premodern
complex societies,p olitical ecology
The Annual Review ofA nthropologyi so nline at
anthro.annualreviews.org Abstract
This article's doi: Amazonian archaeology has made major advances in recent decades,
10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164310
particularly in understanding coupled human environmental systems.
Copyright ? 2009 by Annual Reviews. Like other tropical forest regions, prehistoric social formations were
All rights reserved long portrayed as small-scale, dispersed communities that differed lit
0084-65 70/09/1021 -02 51$ 20.00 tle in organization from recent indigenous societies and had negligi
ble impactso n the essentially pristine forest.A rchaeology documents
substantial variation that, while showing similarities to other world re
gions, presents novel pathways of early foraging and domestication,
semi-intensive resource management, and domesticated landscapes as
sociated with diverse small- and medium-sized complex societies. Late
prehistoric regional polities were articulated in broad regional polit
ical economies, which collapsed in the aftermath of European con
tact. Field methods have also changed dramatically through in-depth
local and regional studies, interdisciplinary approaches, and multicul
tural collaborations, notably with indigenous peoples. Contemporary
research highlights questions of scale, perspective, and agency, includ
ing concerns for representation, public archaeology, indigenous cultural
heritage, and conservation of the region's remarkable cultural and eco
resources.
logical
257
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INTRODUCTION In-depth studies of the Amazonian past
Archaeology in the Amazon River basin has are beginning to strike a balance with the
cshcainegnetdi stst hvei ewway thanet hwrooprolldog'sis ts largeansdt tnratouprailc al rareccehnaetHo laongdyb ooofk thofeS AonudthesA , maesr irceafnl Aecrtcehda ieno ltohgey
(Silverman & Isbell 2008). Interests have
forest. Recent studies challenge scientific and
popular stereotypes of ecological and cultural changed in stride with broader changes in
uniformityn, otably of small, dispersed human archaeology, including shifts from descrip
settlements living in virgin tropical forest tion and culture history to explanation and
wilderness. These studies reveal dynamic culture process and, more recently, questions
change and variability, including complex so of perspective and voice, including the hy
cial formations and large-scale transformations brid interestso f Latin American archaeology
of the natural environment. The paradigm (Barreto 1998,F unari 2001,O yuela-Caycedo &
shiftf rom ecological equilibrium and cultural Raymond 1998,P olitis & Alberti 1999) and col
stasis to diversitya nd change highlights social laboration with indigenous peoples (Colwell
dynamics and the role of human agency in long Chanthaphonh & Ferguson 2007, Green et al.
term change in coupled human natural systems. 2003, Heckenberger 2003). Archaeology sug
gests broad similaritiesw ith otherw orld areas,
seveArmala zonidaenc ades antphrroompootloegs y syonveerrg y?ift he pnaostt particularly in theA mericas and other tropical
synthesis?between studies focused on the forest regions but also emphasizes the unique
ness of Amazonian societies and environments
past and perspectives on present social forma (Fausto 2000,M cEwan et al. 2001,N eves 2006,
tions and environments (Carneiro da Cunha
1992,D escola & Taylor 1993, Roosevelt 1994, Stahl 1995).T his review focuses on recentf ield
Sponsel 1995,V iveiros de Castro 1996). Build research, particularly along the Amazon and
ingo n the region'sp rodigious ethnographic tra southernb orderlands of theB razilian Amazon,
dition, notablyN orth American cultural ecol to highlight the deep history and temporality
ogy and Franco-Brazilian structuralism, recent of the Amazon's indigenous people (see, e.g.,
Gasson 2003, Lathrap 1970, Myers 2004,
ethnography encourages approaches that ad Prous 1991,R ostain 2008b, for adjacent areas).
dress temporal and spatial scale and change, in
cluding indigenous histories and perspectives
(Fausto & Heckenberger 2007, Whitehead
AMAZONIA: A BRIEF HISTORY
2003). In tropical forests it is difficultt o ignore
the natural environment, but contemporary The Amazon River basin, coveringn early seven
ecological anthropology highlights symbolic, million square kilometers, is by far the largest
historical, and sociopolitical dimensions and di on Earth, well over twice the size of the next
versity in human ecological systems (Balee & largestb asin, theC ongo. Itsm onthly discharge
Erickson 2006, Biersack 1999).T oday, regional far exceeds that of theM ississippi River (the
specialists agree that humans and environments third largest basin) in a year. Over this vast
act recursively,r ather than directionally (i.e., area there is tremendous variation in forest
one simply causing change in the other), not and river ecologies, but three forest regimes
ing that pre-Columbian and historical soci dominate throughout theH olocene (Colinvaux
etiesm ade major impacts on plant and animal et al. 2000): closed broadleaf evergreen forests
communities, hydrology, and soils. Likewise, of the Amazon River and western tributaries
human groups underwent dramatic transforma [<150 meters above sea level (masl)]; more
tions, includingv aried pre-Columbian trajecto open broadleaf evergreen forests in adjacent
ries of sociohistorical change and the political uplands (150-250 masl); and complex contact
ecology of colonialism and modern globaliza zones in borderland areas, such as the Andes and
tion (Cleary 2001, Hecht 2009). theG uiana and Brazilian plateaus (>250 masl).
252 Heckenberger Neves
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Rivers are likewise highly variable, but are com developed extensive slash-and-burn agricul
monly divided into white (Andean-derived), ture and semi-intensive strategies during
black (northwestern), and clear-water river sys the Late Holocene (Denevan 2001, Lathrap
tems (Meggers 1996,M oran 1993). Culture 1977, Oliver 2008). Of thew ide inventoryo f
history includes varied early forager occupa domesticated and semidomesticated plants,
tions, mid-Holocene settled foragers and hor root crops, particularly manioc, and arbori
ticulturalists, and the late Holocene emer culture were critical elements of Amazonian
gence of settled, agricultural societies. In late agricultural systems, although some systems
pre-Columbian times, small- to medium-sized relied heavily on maize (Lathrap et al. 1985,
polities living in complex constructed land Perry 2005, Roosevelt 1980). These findings
scapes occupied theA mazon River bottoms and generally supportS auer's (1952) prediction that
several other areas (Denevan 2001). domestication and agricultural development in
tropical regions differ in importantw ays from
classicN eolithic settingsa nd cereal crop agri
Early Occupations culture, including complex systemso fw etland
Early (~ 11,000 to 8500 b.p.) occupations management and fish farming (Erickson 2000,
included diverse tropical forest foraging Schaan 2004). Further complicating conven
societies. In the central and lower Amazon, tional models of food production, numerous
bifacial (stemmed) projectile points have been non- or semidomesticated plants are actively
identified( Costa 2009,N eves & Petersen 2006, managed or cultivated in Amazonia, notably
Roosevelt et al. 1996), associated with devel palms (Goulding & Smith 2007,M orcote-Rios
oped rock art traditions in the lowerA mazon & Bernal 2001, Smith 2007). Peach palm
(Pereira 2004). Other early occupations are (Bactrisg asipaes) is the only domesticated palm,
described for several upland areas (Barse 1990, but numerous species, such as buriti (Mauritia
Magalh?es 1994, Meggers & Miller 2003, flexuosa), agaf (Euterpe oleracea), and others,
Miller 1992, Mora 2003, Prous & Fogaca were subject to intense management (Clement
1999).M id-Holocene (-7500-3500 b.p.) shell 2006). Diverse agricultural strategies were
fishf oragers in the lowerA mazon and along the coupled with systems of faunal exploitation
Adantic coastw ith early ceramics (6000 b.p. or that included a varietyo fm anaged species, such
before) have been described,w ith broad affini as birds (Muscovy ducks, parrots and macaws,
tiesw ith preagriculturals hellm ounds in eastern and others), fish, and other aquatic species,
coastal South America (Bandeira 2008, Gaspar including the giant Amazon river turtle (up to
et al. 2008, Roosevelt et al. 1991, Rostain 80 cm) and manatee, or sea cow. Many managed
2008b). Early evidence from coastal Peru, plants and animals are difficultt o distinguish
Northern Colombia, and Panama documents morphologically from wild varieties, but
domesticated Amazonian species, including detailed archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological,
manioc, and mid-Holocene innovations, no and genetic studies are rare (Clement 1999,
tablyh ouse gardens (Castillo & Aceituno 2006, Mora 2003,M orcote-Rios 2008, Perry 2005).
Oliver 2008, Piperno et al. 2000, Piperno & Change is commonly manifest in broad
Pearsall 1998,R aymond 2008).M id-Holocene transformation of habitats, rather than focus
horticultural societies have been identified in on specific domesticated plants and animals.
the upperM adeira region (Miller 1999). The "domestication of landscape" referst o the
"conscious process byw hich human manipula
tion of the landscape results in changes in land
Late Holocene Domestication
scape ecology and the demographics of itsp lant
and Agriculture and animal populations, resulting in a land
In Amazonia, house garden horticulture scape more productive and congenial for hu
underwent significant changes as some groups mans" (Clement 1999, p. 190).H uman impacts
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on the natural environment resulted from long single agricultural system, such as manioc
term occupations of select settings, in some cultivation, was accountable for the diversity
cases initiatedb y semisedentary early tom id of crop systems that prevailed in the area.
Holocene societies. Agricultural intensification Furthermore, no sociopolitical formation was
typicallyr efers to large-scale technological ad strong enough to expand itsp olitical influence
vances, such as terracing and irrigation, but on a large scale, as was true of several episodes
in the Amazon forest extractive strategies and of Andean prehistory.C hanges appear to be
semi-intensive agriculture and wedand man tied to early variability of resource management
agement in broad domesticated landscapes were systems,i ncluding settledr iverine (Arawak) and
critical (Denevan 2001). Late Holocene land more mobile upland (Tupi-Guarani and Carib)
scaping involvedr aisedm ounds forc rops inw et strategies, as well as climate change and changes
savanna areas of southwestern and northeast in agricultural lifestyles in the mid to late
ernA mazonia (Erickson 2008, Rostain 2008a), Holocene. Although still poorly understood,
management of Amazonian dark earth or terra agricultural expansions were more complicated
preta (Glaser & Woods 2004, Lehmann et al. than posited by a wave of advance model, such
2003,W oods et al. 2009), and complex for as Lathrap's (1970) "cardiacm odel," or unified
est and wedand management strategies, which processes of site or traitd iffusion,b ut instead
often leave obvious marks or "footprints" de involved complex and variable processes of
tectable (like crop-marks) in orbital imagery change, broadly oriented to river and upland
(Erickson 2000,H eckenberger et al. 2003). ecologies, and resulted in cultural pluralism
(Carneiro 1995,H ornborg 2005, Zucchi 2002).
Whether cause or consequence, changes in
Language, Agriculture, technoeconomics are correlated with impor
and Regional Development tant changes in sociopolitical organization,
In a worldwide review,D iamond & Bellwood notably emerging social hierarchy and regional
(2003) suggest that dispersals of early agricul integration, as was true in the other major
turalists "constitute collectively the most im tropical linguistic diaspora. Carneiro's (1970)
portant process in Holocene human history" observation bears scrutiny in the general sense
(p. 597). The farming/languaged ispersal hy that inb road forested landscapes, societies tend
pothesis argues that early agriculturalists ex to ramify, whereas tightly circumscribed areas,
panded rapidly owing to the adaptive advan such as coastal Peruvian river valleys, seem to
tage over existing foragers and horticulturalists promote rapid and more rigid stratification.
(Bellwood 2004). Amazonia has played a small By ^2500-1500 b.p., early expressions of
role in thesed iscussions, but thew idespread and sociopolitical complexity, in terms of local
fairly early (2500-2000 b.p.) dispersal of sev landscape domestication, monumentality, and
eral language families,n otably Arawak, Tupi integration in regional social systems,a ppeared
Guarani, and Carib, has long been recognized in severalp arts of theA mazon, during a regional
(Brochado 1984, Dixon & Aihkenvald 1999, formative period (Arroyo-Kalin 2008, Neves
Hill & Santos-Granero 2002, Lathrap 1970, 2006). These small-scale regional polities were
Noelli 2008). Speakers of the three familiesd is roughly comparable with other formativec ul
persed widely across the tropical lowlands, in tureso f theA mericas, in termso f technological
cluding eastern coastal South America and the innovations, such as ceramics, agriculture,
Caribbean. and settled villages or towns (Raymond 2008,
Linguistic diversity is a notable feature of Zeidler 2008). Multiethnic societies, regional
Amazonia, but no single language familyd om sociopolitical systems, and interregional in
inates the region, as is true of Europe (Indo teraction underscore the diverse pathways of
European), sub-Saharan Africa (Niger-Congo), social complexity in the region. In this context,
or the Pacific (Austronesian). Likewise, no politically independent, permanent villages
254 Heckenberger Neves
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may have periodically joined into larger, Lathrap (1970, Lathrap et al. 1985M, yers 2004,
regional confederations, for instance around Oliver 1991) and Roosevelt (1980, 1991) in the
singular leaders and warfare. In other cases, Middle Orinoco and lowerA mazon developed
more centralized and hierarchical regional so more in-depth studies of regional sequences
cietiesw ere integrated through ritual and elite and spatial distributions,w hich laid the foun
exchange, although theym aintained diverse dation for detailed regional survey and studies
strategies of political power, as known from of intrasitev ariability, including in upland ar
several areas during the final millennium of eas (e.g., Balee & Erickson 2006,M cEwan et al.
prehistory. 2001). Two broad ceramic traditionsa rew idely
recognized with substantial regional variation:
the Amazonian Barrancoid or Incised-Rim Tra
LANDSCAPE AND POLITY, dition,~ 500 b.c.e. (2500 b.p.) to 900 c.e. and the
500-1500 C.E.
Amazonian Polychrome Tradition, widespread
By the 1970s, it was clear that Amazon by 1000-1250 c.e. (Lima 2008). Several sub
River polities depended on fairly intensive traditions, such as the earlyM arajoara style,
exploitation of aquatic resources and diver combine elements of modeled, incised-line,
sified cultivation, based on early eyewitness and bichrome decoration, typicalo fA mazonian
accounts from the sixteenth and seventeenth Barrancoid, and the painted pottery of the
centuries. Accounts report large, densely southeast Amazon Tupiguarani tradition, sug
settled populations, which were decimated by gesting cultural pluralism or "ethnogenesis"
the early violence of colonialism (Porro 1996; (Barreto 2009, Brochado 1989,N eves 2006).
Whitehead 1994, 2003). Settled populations Marajoara mound-building societies flour
commonly concentrated along major rivers, as ished from~ 400 to 1300 c.e. in thew ooded
common in other world areas. Where propi savannas and gallery forests of eastern Maraj?,
tious ecological conditions prevailed, notably in the large fluvial island in the Amazon estu
rich soils and aquatic resources, culturalg roups ary. Emerging from earlier ceramic groups,
developed into dense, regionally organized so Marajoara is notable for numerous small- to
cieties by latep rehistorict imes (Carneiro 2007, medium-sized domestic mounds and major cer
Denevan 1996, Lathrap et al. 1985, Myers emonial and elite residentialm ounds (Meggers
1992, Roosevelt 1980). However, theA mazon & Evans 1957; Roosevelt 1991; Schaan 2004;
River bottoms are a smallf raction (<5%) of the Sim?es 1969, 1981). In theA najas River head
basin, which is criss-crossed by numerous large waters, Schaan (2004) describes a small polity,
tributaries.O wing to their difficult access, perhaps numbering in the thousands,w hich in
many upland areas remain terra incognita, tegrated dozens of domestic mounds organized
although this panorama is changing, particu around large ceremonial mounds. The large
larly as "salvage archaeology" is developed in ceremonialC amutins and Beiernm ounds (up to
remote parts of the region (Miller 1992). 12m eters high and 2.5 ha) indicate large-scale
construction, apparently early, ~400-600 c.e.,
and highlight the difference between small
Amazon Floodplain Polities tom edium-sized domestic mounds and larger
Early archaeological surveysw ere conducted mounds, distinguished by major public ritual
primarilya long theA mazon andw ere later ex and elite urn-burials. Camutins/Belem mounds
panded to severalm ajor tributaries,a imed pri are centrally located between other mound
marily to identifyb road regional ceramic tradi groups, more or less equidistant (~8 km) to
tions and local phases (Evans & Meggers 1968, the southeast (Monte Carmelo), northwest
Hilbert 1955,M eggers & Evans 1957, Sim?es (Pequaquara), and northeast (upper Camutins
& Kalkman 1987, Sim?es & Lopes 1987). stream),w hich may have defined the territory
Research in the Upper Amazon initiated by of the regional polity,w ith smaller intervening
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domestic mounds along waterways. Shared spaced roughly 30-50 km apart,w hich served
styles of prestige goods, notably burial urns, as the sociopolitical and ritual centers of small
suggest subregional identitiesa cross the island regional polities, such as those described in
and clearly reflect important social distinc the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Core
tions, such as gender and social hierarchy, residential areas overlooking theN egro and
as true of other urn cemetery complexes in Solim?es riversw ere surrounded by peripheral
the region (Guapindaia 2008b, Schaan 2004). areas of lightert raffica nd nonresidential areas
Maraj? communities were supported by a of anthropogenic dark earth for agricultural
diverse resource base and focus on managed production (Petersen et al. 2001, Neves et al.
river products, such as fish and palm farming 2003). In the centuries before 1492, major
(Meggers 2003, Roosevelt 1991, Schaan 2008). centers were structurally elaborated for ritual
Mound construction apparendy declined after consumption, including prestige goods, such
?1300 c.e., but Marajoara ceramic styles as elaborate elite-ware ceramics. At Agutuba,
continue into the dynamic and plural social the central area is defined by a broad sunken
landscapes of the sixteenth and seventeenth amphitheater-like plaza (400-100 m), flanked
centuries (Schaan 2004). by a series of habitationm ounds with subfloor
In-depth archaeological research at the con and adjacent burials, as well as ramps, ditches,
fluence of the Solim?es and Negro rivers and managed wetlands. Landscape transforma
(Manaus) has identifiedm ore than 100 archae tions and available radiocarbon dates inm ajor
ological sites, providing the clearest picture centers suggest long continuous occupation of
to date of late Holocene occupations along these centers and stable, sedentary populations,
the Amazon (Arroyo-Kalin 2008, Lima 2008, perhaps numbering in the low thousands by
Neves 2008, Neves & Petersen 2006). Major -1000 c.e. (Neves & Petersen 2006).
ceramic complexes include two early variants Early chronicles from the floodplains de
of the Incised-Rim Tradition, the Agutuba scribe populous territorial polities with re
(300 b.c.e. to 400 c.e.) and Manacapuru phases gional overlords, major settlements or towns
(400 c.e. to 900 c.e.), a local Pared?o phase with large-scale roads and productive tech
(700 c.e. to 1200 c.e.), and a regional variant noeconomies, rich artistic and ritual tradi
of theA mazonian Polychrome Tradition, called tions, and organized martial forces (Porro
Guarita (900 c.e. to contact). The chronol 1996). Among these, the polity that domi
ogy shows overlapping andm ixed occupations, nated the lowerT apaj?s River was perhaps the
which suggests extensive interactiona nd ethnic largest (Nimuendaju 1952). The Santarem or
diversity (Lima 2008). Despite ceramic differ Tapajonica archaeological culture is renowned
ences, sites share a circular or horseshoe lay for its ornate ceramics associated with the
out. The period from 600 to 1200 c.e. ap "Incised Punctate" regional tradition (Gomes
pears tom ark a peak in regional population, but 2005, 2008). It shares affinitiews ith the coeval
Pared?o ceramics disappear after ?1200 c.e., Amazonian Polychrome Tradition and, par
coincident with an apparent increase in con ticularly, the Arauquinoid ceramic complexes
flict as reflected in defensive ditches con of the Orinoco and Guianas, which suggests
structed at Agutuba and Lago Grande at that Carib-speaking peoples expanded into
-1100 c.e. (Moraes 2007,N eves 2008). the middle-lower Amazon between 500 and
In late prehistory, fairly large regional 1000 c.e. (Lathrap 1970, Zucchi 1985). The
populations lived in dispersed small settle large capital town at Santarem is composed of
ments (<10 ha) and larger residential and a core area with dense archaeological deposits
ceremonial centers (>30 ha), such as the sites (?100 ha) within a broader settled landscape
of Agutuba and Hatahara, and others located up to 25 km, which rivalsm any major cen
within the limits of the modern cities of ters in theA mericas (e.g.,C ahokia, Chan Chan)
Manacapuru and Manaus. Large centers were (Gomes 2008, Roosevelt 1999).T he polityw as
Heckenberger Neves
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supported by intensivef loodplain and upland central Brazil and eastern Bolivia. Cultural vari
agriculture,i ncludingb oth occupation sited ark ation across the region highlights the interplay
earth (terra preta) and nonoccupational agricul of phylogenetic and reticulate processes, as well
tural soils (terrma ulata) (Denevan 2001W, oods as ecological diversitya, s earlyA rawak-speaking
& McCann 1999). The study of Amazonian settled agriculturalistsd eveloped into distinc
dark earths, the focus of significant recent re tive ethnicallyp lural societies, as seen in other
search in a wide range of settings, has critical areas of the lowlands (Hill & Santos-Granero
implicationsn ot only forc ulturald evelopment, 2002, Hornborg 2005).
particularlyr elated to the enrichmento f infer Archaeological complexes associated with
tile soils, but also for sustainable development these multiethnic groups, notably mounds,
strategies (Glaser & Woods 2004, Lehmann roads, and agricultural earthworks, are well
et al. 2003, Petersen et al. 2001,W oods et al. known from the Llanos deM ojos. Erickson's
2009). (e.g., 2000, 2006, 2008) recent work has re
Floodplain archaeology and ethnohistory vealed the remarkable scale and integration
suggest complementarityb etween densely and of agricultural earthworks in broad domes
sparsely settled stretches of the main rivers, ticated landscapes, including causeways, fish
including buffer-zones, and with hinterland weirs and ponds, forest islands (ancient settle
zones (DeBoer 1981, Denevan 1996, Porro ments), raised fields, and diverse other archaeo
1996). In the Parau? area, 80 km upstream logical landscape features. These complexes can
from the Santarem site,G omes (2005) found be subdivided into an eastern group of ring
little evidence of influence by the Santarem walled villages, major causeways, and wetland
polity.L ikewise, regional surveyi n theT rombe fish-farming complexes in forest and savanna
tasR iver (Konduri ceramic tradition) indicates landscapes (Baures) and a western group, in
fairly small and shallow deposits (Guapindaia cludingm ounds and raised fields, in the cen
2008a, Kern et al. 2003). Throughout the re tral llanos, which provide detailed examples
gion, the largestc entersw ere generallyn ot that of urban-scale production landscapes (see also
large (<50 ha), and cycling between periods Denevan 2001,W alker 2004). Excavations of
of greater and lesser political centralization is mounds in the Upper Mamore area have re
apparent in theC entral Amazon, with notable vealed a complex sequence indicating that the
fluctuations in site locations and population area has been occupied by differentg roups in
densities. It remains unclear whether Santarem thep ast (Calandra & Salceda 2004, Erickson &
was a large, centralized polity or represents Balee 2006, Pr?mers 2004,W alker 2008). The
smaller integrated polities within a regional plural ethnic landscape of eastern Bolivia and
peer-polity, as seems to be the case in the estu adjacent areas strongly influenced the develop
ary, central Amazon, and southern borderlands. ment of "mission" or other postcontact "mixed
blood" peoples (Block 1992,G ow 1996).
Early accounts (1600-1750) from eastern
Southern Borderlands Polities
Bolivia describe diverse large, densely settled
The broad transitional forests between the cen populations, with complicated settlement and
tralB razilian plateau (>300 masl) and the ever agriculturalw orks, and regional sociopolitical
green Amazon forests extend from the upper organization (Denevan 1966,M etraux 1942).
Tocantins (east) to the upper Madeira (west) Along the eastern Bolivian-Brazil border
rivers. A century ago, Max Schmidt (1917) (Guapore), ethnohistoryd ocuments palisaded
noted that southernA rawak groups dominated ring villages (Block 1992, Erickson 2000).
forestedh eadwater basins of them ajor southern Farther east in central Brazil, Campos (1862,
tributaries,s urroundedb ym ore mobile groups pp. 443-44) describes a networked settlement
in the rolling upland topography and open pattern in the 1720s, which included densely
wooded savanna and gallery forest landscape of settled plaza communities, well-maintained
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roads, and a plaza ritual complex ("temple margins of roads and plazas (curbs) and around
idol-priest complex") considered characteristic major settlements (ditches). Settlement hier
of the "theocratic chiefdoms" of the southern archies were defined by an exemplary center
Amazon (Steward & Faron 1959). More and fourm ajor satellites and smallerp eripheral
autonomous ring village settlements are also plaza settlements and hamlets within territories
widely known from central Brazil (W?st & of ?250 km2 or more. The two clusters were
Barreto 1999). part of a regional peer-polity?a confederation
In southwestern Amazonia, an area also of culturally related territorialp olities extend
dominated by Arawak-speaking people histor ing across an area >20,000 km2 and likelyn um
ically,m ajor geoglyphs in the upper Purus bering well into the tens of thousands.A cross
River region of Brazil and adjacent portions of the region, land use was fairly intensive,w ith
Peru and Bolivia reveal another complex of re settlements and countryside features (fields, or
latedm onumental sites (P?rssinen& Korpisaari chards,w edands) rigidlyp lanned and defined,
2003, Schaan et al. 2007). The well-planned and including dark earth farmingp lots within the
laterally extensive earthworks, including mas patchy agricultural landscape.
sive circular and square ditches (up to 7m deep) The domesticated landscapes of theU pper
and long linearp rocessionals (up to 50m wide Xingu basin provide a particularly striking
and nearly 1 km in length), suggest sociopo example of the self-organized built environ
litical integrationb ased on broadly shared rit ments of the southern borderlands. Descen
ual interaction among numerous sites (~150, dent Xinguano populations, well described
which is estimated as 10%;M ann 2008). Link since the 1880s, continue to practice basic
ages between sites isn ot yet described, but it is cultural patterns documented from prehistoric
clear that basic orientations are similar and were times, notably in terms of technoeconomy,
conceived as related elements of a regional built house and village spatial organization, and gen
environment and served as ceremonial central eral settlement locations (Fausto et al. 2008,
places within regional social systems. Heckenberger 2005). Agricultural landscapes,
In eastern portions of the southern border in the past and today, included broad areas
lands region, the headwater basin of theX ingu under cultivation in primary staple crops of
River preserves a sequence of occupations from manioc (Manihot esculentas pp.) and pequi fruit
early agricultural groups (Arawak), who col (Caryocars p.), large tractso f sape grass (Imper
onized the basin by 500-800 c.e. or earlier, ata sp.) for thatch, diverse palms and other sec
to contemporaryX inguano peoples (Hecken ondary crops, and managed secondary forest, as
berger 2005; Heckenberger et al. 2003, 2008). well asm anaged wedand areas (Carneiro 1983).
In one study area (~1200 km2), correspond Although isolated from early colonial activi
ing to the traditional lands of the Kuikuro ties,X inguano peoples were not insulatedf rom
(Xinguano) community, two dozen residential the catastrophic effectso f early colonialism, no
sites have been identifiedm, ost or all ofw hich tablyd isease thatd ecimated populations across
were occupied in latep rehistoric to earlyp roto the Amazon. Xinguano settlement and land-use
historic times, ^1250-1650 c.e. Late prehis provides graphic testimony of the post-1492
toric settlements were integrated in two ranked population collapse, with regional populations
clusters,w hich represent small, territoriapl oli reduced to nearly 500 by the 1950s, and docu
ties. In clusters, largew alled towns (25-50 ha), ments the extensive landscape fallowingt hato c
estimated to number more than 1000 in some curred across the southern borderland regions.
cases, and smaller nonwalled villages were
linked by an extensive road system.R oad and
CONCLUDING REMARKS
settlementn odes, marked by large ceremonial
plazas surrounded by residential areas, are ar The archaeology of the Amazon, an area larger
chaeologically visible as linear earthworksa t the than Europe, is still poorly known?the least
Heckenberger Neves
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known region of the "least known continent" As well documented among more re
(Lyon 1974)?but recent advances in archaeol cent social formations, the primary capital in
ogy have dramaticallyc hanged thew ay scholars Amazonian political economies was sociopo
view the region. In world historical schemes, litical and symbolic, in the sense that surplus
Amazonia was long appraised byw hat it lacked, andw ealth orbited around human bodies, con
notably the absence of harbingers of classic structed through ritual and social interaction,
civilizations, such as stone architecture, writ rathert han theo therw ay around. In diffusea nd
ing, grain surplus, and domesticated ungu oftenm ulticentric regional systems small and
lates. Archaeology reveals novel variation and large settlementsw ere integratedt hroughm a
dynamic indigenous histories, including al jorp ublic ritual,n otably including elitem ortu
ternative pathways to domestication, settled aryr ituals (Chaumeil 2007,G uapindaia 2008b).
life,a nd social complexity.R ecent studies into Ritual performance in highly structuredp ublic
the deep history of the region, like other ceremonial spaces and material culture, notably
tropical forest regions worldwide, challenge prestige goods and bodily adornment,w ere pri
stereotypeso f small-scale, dispersed villages? mary mechanisms of social communication?
primitive tribes?in a largely pristine forest. a symbolic language?within multiethnic and,
These studies raise the possibility that the av in some cases, multilingual regional sociopo
erageA mazonian person in 1492 did not live in litical systems (Barreto 2009, Lathrap 1985).
an isolated, autonomous village, but instead was The fine-ware ceramics of the Amazonian Poly
part of a regional polity or articulatedw ith one chrome Tradition are the most obvious expres
inb road regional social networks that extended sion of such broad prestige goods economies,
across the region. spread throughoutt heA mazon floodplains, but
These findingss uggestr emarkable sociocul these economies also included numerous other
tural diversity,a lthough it seems likely thatn o wealth items, such as shell, stone, and perish
large bureaucratic state or integrated macrore able wood, basketry,a nd featherv aluables and
gional political entityo r empire ever developed other commodities (McEwan et al. 2001).
in the area. In the comparative context of other Communication and integrationi n regional
tropical forest regions or complex social for systems of interaction did not create cultural
mations in the Americas, Amazonian complex homogeneity but produced remarkable diver
societies do not seem out of place (Mclntosh sity and pluralism. Against the backdrop of
1999, Pauketat 2007). In general terms, the diversity,t he distinctionb etween river and up
forest polities of the Amazon were more dif land regimes of dwellingw as critical to local and
fuse and less centralized in terms of technoeco broader regional patterns of social interaction,
nomic, sociopolitical, and symbolic resources as witnessed in archaeological distributions
than areas with more circumscribed resources, and "sedimented" in the languages, bodies, and
such as the desert river valleys of the Peru built environments?the cultural memory?of
vian coastal region (Carneiro 1970). As them e living descendent peoples. The sociocultural
dieval historian Jacques Le Goff (1964) once integrity of descendent peoples, following
noted of Europe's forest civilizations, they are traditional lifestylesi ng enerally nonindustrial
like the "photographic negative" of classic "oa ized landscapes, provides richo pportunities for
sis" civilizations. Nonetheless, the settled ter ethnoarchaeological research into indigenous
ritorialp olities thatd ominated various areas in history and archaeological formationp rocesses
late prehistoric times constructed elaborate do (e.g., DeBoer et al. 1996, Politis 2007, Roe
mesticated landscapes, linking important cen 1982, Silva 2008). Research with descen
ters in regional peer polities and perhapsm ore dent populations also highlights questions
centralized tributary systems, as suggested of multicultural collaboration and dialogue
along portions of theA mazon River (Roosevelt (Colwell-Chanthaphonh & Ferguson 2007,
1999). Green et al. 2003, Schmidt& Patterson 1996).
www.annualreviews.org Amazonian Archaeology
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The recognition of sociohistorical variation ticularly in indigenous areas, which constitute
has great relevance to contemporary debates more than 20% of the Brazilian Amazon and
on biodiversityw, hich reflectsd ramatic prehis are a critical barrier to deforestation (Nepstad
toric influencea nd complex post-1492 histories et al. 2005). In these areas, indigenous and folk
across the region (Cleary 2001, Denevan 1992, knowledge systems,i ncluding diverse formso f
Erickson 2008, Stahl 1996). Long-term and, in cultural and ecological memory, draw attention
some cases, semi-intensive resource manage to the need for memory conservation and
ment strategies had widespread and dramatic cultural property rightsa longside conservation
impacts on the natural environment. The do of natural resources (Nazarea 2006, Posey
mestication of nature began early, and over 2002, Posey& Balee 1989).
time human groups became increasingly teth Much has changed in recent decades re
ered to certain places, which by late prehis garding how scholars view thew orld's largest
toric times includedm ajor centers and dense tropical forest, including the antiquity and di
populations in a variety of areas. The fo versity of human occupations and how they
cus shiftsf rom human societies adapting to transformed the natural environment. Much
the natural environment to humans partici has also changed in archaeological prac
pating as active agents of change, both be tice, notably increasingly interdisciplinarya p
fore and after European contact (Balee & proaches, regional perspectives, fine-grained
Erickson 2006). The decimation of regional excavations, and the application of new tech
polities and native world systems in the early nologies (e.g., remote-sensing applications and
centuries of European colonialism resulted in geo-archaeology). These changes occur within
the fallowing of the region's tropical forests, the context of broader changes in scientificr e
which were then affected by colonial extrac search, notably the shiftf rom science as de
tive economies, such as theR ubber Boom, and tached, objective observation tom ultivocal and
twentieth-centuryd evelopment (Balee 2006, multiscalar contexts of research applications,
Hecht 2009). including engagementw ith local communities
Discovering that the region's forested land and attention to regional and global concerns
scapes are not pristine in no way diminishes (Latour 2004). In thisw orld of research, ar
their relevance in debates on conservation chaeology plays an importantr ole, particularly
and sustainable development in the Amazon, in understanding centennial- and millennial
the poster child of global environmentalism. scale change in human-natural systems, which
However, it does complicate things and are vital to debates regarding conservation, sus
makes archaeology?the primary means to tainable development, and human rights in an
understand change in coupled natural human era of unprecedented change across the re
systems over long timescales?not only more gion. For practitioners of archaeology this en
interestinga nd contested but also more central tails getting dirty, digging more deeply into
in contemporary debates on the Amazon. the Amazonian past, and learning to read the
The legacy of cultural landscapes, including varied traces of the deep past. One thing is
contemporary practices, offers important clues certain: It is an exciting, challenging, and im
to discussions of resource management in the portant time to be engaged with Amazonian
future (Willis et al. 2007). This is true par archaeologies.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The authors are not aware of any affiliationsm, emberships, funding,o r financial holdings that
might be perceived as affectingt he objectivityo f this review.
260 Heckenberger Neves
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