Presence and dispersal of the Amazonian polychrome tradition: an archaeological comparative study in the medium Solimões river and in the medium-low Negro river

• Grant number: 14/03520-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2014
• End date: April 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Prehistoric Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Góes Neves
• Grantee: Rafael Cardoso de Almeida Lopes
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project seeks to do a comparative study of pottery belonging to the so-called Amazonian Polychrome Tradition from sites in the Middle Solimões River and the mid-lower Negro River, both in the state of Amazonas . The objective of this case study is to analyze the material related to this ceramic tradition and include its results in a regional overview of Amazonian archaeology, aiding in the understanding of the ways of their expansion and lifestyles of pre -colonial indigenous populations . The research is justified by the lack of comparative analysis of the TPA , which is found contemporaneously in the aforementioned regions , besides analyzing the forms of presence of the Amazonian Polychrome Tradition in generally distinct environmental contexts .Two cases will be studied: the sites Conjunto Vila and Vila Nova II. The archaeological complex Conjunto VIla is located on Lake Tefe, a right margin tributary of the Solimões River, consisting of four sites: Village I, II , III and IV . The other site: Vila Nova II is located at the mouth of the Unini River, a tributary of the right margin of the middle Rio Negro. The area of the middle Solimões , including the region of Tefe , was first studied in the 50s by Peter Hilbert , being revisited for research only at the beginning of the 2000s , and more recently in 2011 by the master's project in progress of Jaqueline Belletti Mapeamento Arqueológico do Lago de Tefé (Archaeological mapping of Lake Tefe). The area of the mid-lower Negro River was researched by Simões in the 70s and 80s. In the past decade studies on the middle reaches of the Negro River were restarted by the Projeto Amazônia Central (Central Amazon Project) and the master's projects of Marjorie Lima and Fábio Origuela. Studies revealed extensive potential for archaeological research in both areas.