Interactions across the frontier? Exploring interpretations of ceramic production and design on the upper Tapajós.

Summary

Excavations at ADE sites on the Upper Tapajós River, south of the Amazon, have unearthed ceramics that point to the existence of a cultural frontier along the Tapajós River’s rapids. At Sawre Muybu (SM) and Pajaú, on the river’s right bank, both fine and coarse pottery present techno-stylistic modes – including the use of either quartz sand or sponge spicule (cauixí) temper, of applied and punctuated fillets of clay and clay nubbins – that echo elements of Lower Amazon and Orinocan ceramics belonging to the Incised and Punctuate Tradition (IPT) and Valloid series respectively, previously linked to the expansion of speakers of Carib languages. As elsewhere in the wider region, one of the hallmarks of the material from SM is hybridity, pointing to processes of local appropriation, although trade must also be considered. Further upstream, on the left bank of the Tapajós at Terra Preta do Mangabal however, a different ceramic production grammar prevails overall, with overwhelming use of cauixí, nicked rims and the frequent application of parallel incisions that at times form lozenges, hypothesised to be related to speakers of macro-Tupian languages. Here, the few unequivocal IPT pieces apparently bear testimony to the existence of exchange networks stretching north.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Ceramics, Identity and Regional Interaction in the Lower Amazon

Keywords

Spatial Coverage