Subsistence fishery at Hatahara (750-1230 CE), a pre-Columbian central Amazonian village

Author(s)

Prestes-Carneiro, Gabriela ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Bearez, Philippe ^[1] ; Bailon, Salvador ^[1] ; Py-Daniel, Anne Rapp ^{[2, 3]} ; Neves, Eduardo Goes ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] CNRS, UMR 7209, Museum Natl Hist Nat Archeozool Archeobot Soc Pra, 55 Rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris - France

^[2] Univ Fed Oeste do Para, Programa Antropol & Arqueol, Av Mendonca Furtado 2946, BR-68040470 Santarem, Para - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Arqueol & Etnol, Av Prof Almeida Prado 1466, Cidade Univ, BR-05508070 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS; v. 8, p. 454-462, AUG 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 10

Abstract

Aquatic resources play a major role in modern Amazonian societies, however little is known about their importance in pre-Columbian economies. In this paper, we present results of the first zooarcheological study in the Central Amazon, carried out at the Hatahara site, a large pre-Columbian settlement situated at the confluence of the Amazon and Negro rivers. The faunal assemblage comes from archeological features belonging to the Paredao phase occupation (750-1230 CE) and reveals that fish were the primary animal resource. The richness of ichthyofaunal spectrum (37 taxa) recovered is the most varied continental fish spectrum described to date in South-American archeology and shows the fishermen's profound knowledge of specific ecological niches and fishing techniques. Amazon aquatic turtles (Podocnemis spp.) were the second most frequently exploited aquatic resource. These data demonstrate the key role of aquatic resources in ancient Amazonia economies and suggests that fishing could have provided long-term subsistence to large Amerindian settlements. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 02/02953-0 - Archaeological survey on Negro and Solimões rivers confluence: continuity of excavations, chemical composition analysis and setting up a geographic information system
• Grantee: Eduardo Góes Neves
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants