Human-environment relationships in Pre-Columbian Amazonia

• Grant number: 19/07794-9
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Prehistoric Archaeology
• Agreement: AHRC, UKRI
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Góes Neves
• Grantee: Eduardo Góes Neves
• Principal researcher abroad: Francis Edward Mayle
• Institution abroad: University of Reading, England
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Paulo Eduardo de Oliveira
• Associated researchers: André Menezes Strauss ; Anne Rapp Py-Daniel ; Carla Gibertoni Carneiro ; Carla Jaimes Betancourt ; Carlos Augusto da Silva ; Carlos Augusto Zimpel Neto ; Eduardo Bespalez ; Fernando Ozorio de Almeida ; Francisco Antonio Pugliese Junior ; Francisco William da Cruz Junior ; Gabriela Prestes Carneiro ; Guilherme Zdonek Mongeló ; Jennifer Watling ; Kelly Brandão Vaz da Silva ; Myrtle Pearl Shock ; Silvana Zuse ; Ximena Suarez Villagran
• Associated research grant(s): 23/00708-5 - 88th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, AR.EXT
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/02099-3 - Diachronic analysis of ceramics from the Monte Castelo shellmound and its influences in southwest Amazonia, BP.MS; 20/14978-6 - Correlations between ceramics and burials: Monte Castelos Bacabal Phase, BP.IC; 20/16412-0 - Indigenous Populations and Environment in Ancient Amazonia: a paleoenvironmental approach, BP.PD; + associated scholarships 20/02485-5 - Microbotanical analyzes in mound sites of the Bolivian Amazon, BP.PD; 19/26285-8 - Human mobility in the ancient Amazon isotopic archaeology of burials from the Monte Castelo shellmound and the bioavailability of strontium in the South America lowlands, BP.PD; 19/14180-7 - The archosedimentary record of human presence in the Amazon: a look through the micromorphology of soils and complementary techniques, BP.DR - associated scholarships

Abstract

One of the major research problems of South American Archeology is to explain the unequal process of emergence of social hierarchies, political centralization, and state along the continent. Throughout the twentieth century, archaeologists have proposed that the Central Andres would have been a kind of nuclear area where elements such as urbanism, sedentary life and agriculture would have developed before other parts, including the tropical lowlands. These ideas, however, have been reviewed in the light of research carried out in the Amazon Basin, which has shown, for example, that this region was an important ancient and independent center for plant domestication and ceramic production. In recent years, research in different parts of the Amazon has revealed the presence of large artificial earth structures that include monumental residential mounds, irrigation and drainage canals, landfills, ditches, roads, etc. In this context, a particularly interesting region is that of the headwaters of the upper Madeira River (Rivers Guaporé, Mamoré, Beni and Madre de Dios), which includes parts of Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, as it is there that some of the old evidences of plant domestication and ceramic production on the continent, as well as the best examples of earthen architecture. A more detailed examination of the Archeology of the headwaters of the upper Madeira River, however, shows an interesting picture: while evidence of ancient occupations and ancient domestication of plants come from parts of the basin which were until recently covered by forests, evidence of monumental structures come from the areas characterized by the presence of periodically flooded savannas. This project intends to understand the correlation between environmental factors and political dynamics in the history of formation and transformation of hierarchical societies in at the headwaters of the upper Madeira River. Particularly, we aim to investigate the correlation between resource concentration and abundance and the emergence of political centralization through archaeological and paleoechological fieldwork in three different research areas characterized by distinct ecological settings: 1) periodically flooded savannas; 2) evergreen forests and 3) transitional areas between 1 and 2. Our working hypothesis is that contexts of resource abundance and dispersion are propitious to long-term human occupation but incompatible to the emergence of political centralization in the long run. The research will be carried out by a team of professionals with different backgrounds from the following institutions: Museum of Archeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo, Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo, Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences of the University of Reading, Institute of Archeology of the University of Reading, School of Archeology of the University of Oxford, Institute of Archeology of the University of Bonn and Institute of Geography of the University of Bern. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FURQUIM, LAURA P.; WATLING, JENNIFER; HILBERT, LAUTARO M.; SHOCK, MYRTLE P.; PRESTES-CARNEIRO, GABRIELA; CALO, CRISTINA MARILIN; PY-DANIEL, ANNE R.; BRANDAO, KELLY; PUGLIESE, FRANCISCO; ZIMPEL, CARLOS AUGUSTO; et al. Facing Change through Diversity: Resilience and Diversification of Plant Management Strategies during the Mid to Late Holocene Transition at the Monte Castelo Shellmound, SW Amazonia. QUATERNARY, v. 4, n. 1, MAR 2021. (19/07794-9, 17/25157-0, 16/03400-8)

HILBERT, LAUTARO; ALVES, DAIANA TRAVASSOS; NEVES, EDUARDO GOES; IRIARTE, JOSE. A glimpse into shell mound builders' diet during mid-to-late Holocene on Marajo island. VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY, v. N/A, p. 10-pg., 2023-06-12. (20/02485-5, 19/07794-9)

XIMENA SUAREZ VILLAGRAN; MARCONY LOPES ALVES; THIAGO KATER; KELLY BRANDÃO VAZ DA SILVA; NICOLÁS BATALLA; MARCELO DA COSTA; JESSICA COSTA; DIONNE MIRANDA AZEVEDO ERLER; MARIANE PEREIRA FERREIRA; PATRÍCIA MAGON; et al. Petrografia de cerâmicas da fase Bacabal (sambaqui Monte Castelo): um dos mais antigos usos de cauixi na Amazônia. Bol. Mus. Para. Emílio Goeldi. Ciênc. hum., v. 17, n. 1, 2022-05-06. (15/19405-6, 17/16451-2, 17/11817-9, 19/07794-9)

GABRIELA, PRESTES-CARNEIRO; PHILIPPE, BEAREZ; FRANCISCO, PUGLIESE; PEARL, SHOCK MYRTLE; AUGUSTO, ZIMPEL CARLOS; MARC, POUILLY; GOES, NEVES EDUARDO. Archaeological history of Middle Holocene environmental change from fish proxies at the Monte Castelo archaeological shell mound, Southwestern Amazonia. HOLOCENE, v. 30, n. 11, JUL 2020. (17/11817-9, 19/07794-9)

NOVELLO, VALDIR FELIPE; DA CRUZ, FRANCISCO WILLIAM; VUILLE, MATHIAS; PEREIRA SILVEIRA CAMPOS, JOSE LEANDRO; STRIKIS, NICOLAS MISAILIDIS; APAESTEGUI, JAMES; MOQUET, JEAN SEBASTIEN; AZEVEDO, VITOR; AMPUERO, ANGELA; UTIDA, GISELLE; et al. Investigating delta C-13 values in stalagmites from tropical South America for the last two millennia. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, v. 255, MAR 1 2021. (16/15807-5, 17/50085-3, 19/07794-9)

DELLA LIBERA, MARCELA EDUARDA; NOVELLO, VALDIR FELIPE; CRUZ, FRANCISCO WILLIAM; ORRISON, REBECCA; VUILLE, MATHIAS; MAEZUMI, SHIRA YOSHI; DE SOUZA, JONAS; CAUHY, JULIO; PEREIRA SILVEIRA CAMPOS, JOSE LEANDRO; AMPUERO, ANGELA; et al. Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes in Amazonian lowlands over the last three millennia. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, v. 279, p. 13-pg., 2022-03-01. (16/15807-5, 19/22711-2, 18/25020-8, 19/07794-9, 17/50085-3)

LOMBARDO, UMBERTO; HILBERT, LAUTARO; BENTLEY, MCKENZIE; RAMSEY, CHRISTOPHER BRONK; DUDGEON, KATE; GAITAN-ROCA, ALBERT; IRIARTE, JOSE; RAMON, ANDRES G. MEJIA; QUEZADA, SERGIO; RACZKA, MARCO; et al. Maize monoculture supported pre-Columbian urbanism in southwestern Amazonia. Nature, v. N/A, p. 20-pg., 2025-01-29. (19/07794-9)