About Peopling and Rivers: Connections and Boundaries in the Early Peopling of Eastern South America

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Several papers have discussed the role of rivers in the process of knowledge, occupation, and dispersion of human groups in unfamiliar or inhabited landscapes. Most of the time the rivers are seen as displacement axes, facilitating the connection between distant points in a short time. However, at the same time as connecting elements, rivers can play the role of barriers, be they geographical or cultural. In this presentation we will explore the role of rivers in the settlement process of eastern South America, with emphasis on the Tocantins River. This river, part of the Amazon basin, crosses a great extension of plateaus from central Brazil flowing into the right bank of the Amazon River, the meandering plains of the South American lowlands. With this trajectory the Tocantins River crosses distinct environmental areas like savannas and the Amazon Rainforest. Associated with the geomorphological and ecological changes, we identified in the archaeological record the existence of a cultural boundary that points to the existence of different dynamics of mobility and territoriality, both focusing on the Tocantins River Valley. We intend to present this context and explore its implications for the discussion of the ancient settlement of eastern South America.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25158