Long Duration Histories in the Forests of Southwestern Amazonia: the Anthropogenic Landscapes of Alto Madeira from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

• Grant number: 25/01529-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Luisa de Souza Lucas
• Grantee: Gabriele Maria Oliveira
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 24/17181-2 - Subsidies for the installation of the Indigenous Documentation Center - actions by the Museum of Archaelogy and Ethnology, AP.ESP

Abstract

This research project aims to investigate the anthropogenic landscapes of the Upper Madeira macroregion (Alto Madeira, southwestern Amazon) by examining the historical practices of Indigenous environmental management and territorial occupation in the area. To achieve this, the project will explore both the use of techniques for managing natural resources and the possible cosmological meanings that inform Indigenous interactions with landscapes over time. Employing an ethnoarchaeological approach and drawing on the framework of historical ecology, it will compare available archaeological evidence from the region with ethnographic studies conducted among four contemporary indigenous peoples residing along the tributaries of the Upper Madeira River and the Middle Purus River: the Pirahã, the Karitiana, the Jarawara, and the Jamamadi. A brief exploratory fieldwork phase (30 to 45 days) will address key questions and issues identified in the existing literature, providing the groundwork for more in-depth analysis during future Ph.D. research. In turn, the research internship at Tulane University will be essential for the enhancement of the theoretical and methodological framework that underpins this work. Thus, this research will contribute to several scholarly debates, including the resilience of Indigenous environmental management techniques; the ways Indigenous peoples create, inhabit, and interact with landscapes; and the impacts of colonial expansion on these practices, particularly from the 18th century onward. Additionally, it will advance discussions on the historiography and ethnography of Indigenous peoples in the Upper Madeira basin and highlight the theoretical and methodological potential of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of archaeology, anthropology, and history. (AU)