Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-17T00:17:54.133Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beads and Stamps in the Middle Orinoco: Archaeological Evidence for Interaction and Exchange in the Atures Rapids from AD 1000 to 1480

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2022

Natalia Lozada-Mendieta Open the ORCID record for Natalia Lozada-Mendieta [Opens in a new window] ,
Philip Riris  and
José R. Oliver
Natalia Lozada-Mendieta*
Affiliation:
Arts and Humanities Faculty, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Philip Riris
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Bournemouth University, Dorset, United Kingdom
José R. Oliver
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology University College London, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author: Natalia Lozada-Mendieta, email: n.lozada33@uniandes.edu.co
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The area of the Atures Rapids in the Middle Orinoco River (Venezuela), where multiple Indigenous communities gathered to trade goods, has been identified as a prominent center of commerce since early colonial times. However, the exchange activities taking place there between local and nonlocal actors before European colonization are poorly understood, based only on the ethnohistoric record. This article presents an archaeometric analysis of stone beads and ceramic roller stamps, items previously associated with trade practices, from two recently excavated sites in the region, Picure (AD 1030–1480) and Rabo de Cochino (AD 1000–1440); it assesses their provenance, production, and value. We propose that Picure was a site of a bead-manufacturing workshop and a place where roller stamps were exchanged. The stamps were acquired and produced by different potting groups. Analysis of the chaîne opératoire and production techniques shows processes of adaptation and emulation associated with the multiple, multiethnic communities during the period from AD 1000 to 1480. Both beads and stamps are linked to identity regalia that were likely used as part of ceremonies taking place in the area of the Rapids, as indicated by the numerous and monumental petroglyphs found on the islands.

Resumen

Resumen

Los Rápidos de Atures en el Medio Orinoco (Venezuela), donde múltiples comunidades indígenas se reunían a intercambiar bienes, han sido reconocidos como un centro de comercio desde el periodo colonial. Sin embargo, el rol de los rápidos como el lugar donde ocurrían actividades de intercambio entre actores locales y foráneos no estaba bien estudiado y se ha basado solamente en el registro etnohistórico. Este artículo presenta un análisis arqueométrico de cuentas de collar líticas y pintaderas de cerámica, objetos previamente asociados con prácticas de intercambio, obtenidos en dos sitios recientemente excavados en la región, Picure (1030-1480 dC) y Rabo de Cochino (1000-1440 dC), para evaluar su proveniencia, producción y valor. Este estudio propone a Picure como un taller de producción de cuentas de collar, así como un lugar para el intercambio de pintaderas. Las pintaderas eran adquiridas y producidas por distintos grupos alfareros. El análisis de sus cadenas operativas y manufactura revelaron procesos de adaptación y emulación asociados con las comunidades múltiples y multiétnicas en el periodo entre 1000 y 1480 dC. Tanto las cuentas como las pintaderas están asociadas a insignias usadas como parte de ceremonias que tenían lugar en el área de los rápidos, asociadas con los numerosos y monumentales petroglifos en estas islas.

Keywords

ceramic roller stampsbeadsprecolonial exchangechaîne opératoireOrinocopintaderas cerámicascuentas de collarintercambio pre colonialcadena operativaOrinoco
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , December 2023 , pp. 742 - 763
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Acevedo, Natalia, Weber, Marion, Proenza, Joaquín A., Garcia-Casco, Antonio, and Sáenz-Samper, Juanita. 2021. Provenance Study of the Variscite Artifacts of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, and Approach to Routes of Pre-Hispanic Exchange. Journal of Archaeological Science 136:105511.10.1016/j.jas.2021.105511CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aikenvald, Alexandra T. 2012. The Languages of the Amazon. Oxford University Press, Oxford.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199593569.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aitchison, John. 1986. The Statistical Analysis of Compositional Data. Chapman and Hall, London.10.1007/978-94-009-4109-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarado, Eugenio de. 1966 [1767]. Informe Reservado. In Documentos jesuíticos relativos a la historia de la Compañía de Jesús en Venezuela, edited by Fajardo, José del Rey, pp. 216–333. Biblioteca de la Academia de la Historia, Caracas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Amaral, Selina. 2019. The Geoarchaeological Analysis of the Rabo de Cochino Site, in the Atures Rapids Region of the Middle Orinoco, Venezuela. Master's thesis, Institute of Archaeology, University College, London.Google Scholar
Arellano Moreno, Antonio. 1982. Orígenes de la economía de Venezuela. Universidad Central de Venezuela-Ediciones de la Biblioteca, Caracas.Google Scholar
Arvelo-Jiménez, Nelly, and Biord, Horacio. 1994. The Impact of the Conquest on Contemporary Indigenous Peoples of the Guiana Shield: The System of the Orinoco Regional Interdependence. In Amazonian Indians: From Prehistory to the Present, edited by Roosevelt, Anna C., pp. 55–78. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Arvelo-Jiménez, Nelly, Morales Méndez, F., and Castillo, Horacio Biord. 1989. Repensando la historia del Orinoco. Revista de Antropología 5(1–2):155–174.Google Scholar
Barse, William P. 1989. A Preliminary Archaeological Sequence in the Upper Orinoco Valley, Territorio Federal Amazonas, Venezuela. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Barse, William P. 1990. Preceramic Occupations in the Orinoco River Valley. Science 250:1388–1390.10.1126/science.250.4986.1388CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baxter, Mike J., and Freestone, Ian C.. 2006. Log-Ratio Compositional Data Analysis in Archaeometry. Archaeometry 48:511–531.10.1111/j.1475-4754.2006.00270.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boglár, Luis. 1978. Cuentos y mitos piaroa. Universidad Católica Andrés Bello-Editorial Arte, Caracas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Boomert, Arie. 1987. Gifts of the Amazon: “Green Stone” Pendants and Beads as Items of Ceremonial Exchange in Amazonia and the Caribbean. Antropológica 67:33–54.Google Scholar
Boomert, Arie. 2000 Trinidad, Tobago and the Lower Orinoco Interaction Sphere: An Archaeological/Ethnohistorical Study. Cairi Publications, Alkmaar, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Briceño-Iragorry, Mario. 1928. Sistema monetario de los timoto-cuycas. Anales de la Universidad Central de Venezuela 16:187–191.Google Scholar
Bril, Blandine. 2002. L'apprentissage de gestes techniques: Ordre de contraintes et variations culturelles. In Le geste technique: Réflexions méthodologiques et anthropologiques, edited by Bril, Blandine and Roux, Valentine, pp. 113–150. Erès, Ramonville Saint-Agne, France.Google Scholar
Brown, William A. 2017. The Past and Future of Growth Rate Estimation in Demographic Temporal Frequency Analysis: Biodemographic Interpretability and the Ascendance of Dynamic Growth Models. Journal of Archaeological Science 80:96–108.10.1016/j.jas.2017.02.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaffanjon, Jean. 1986 [1889]. El Orinoco y el Caura: Relación de viajes realizados en 1886 y 1887. Translated by Perera, Miguel A.. Organización Orinoco, Caracas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Cruxent, José M. 1950. Archaeology of Cotua Island, Amazonas Territory, Venezuela. American Antiquity 16:10–16.Google Scholar
Cruxent, José M., and Rouse, Irving. 1958–1959. An Archaeological Chronology of Venezuela. Pan American Union, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Degryse, Patrick, and Braekmans, Dennis. 2014. Elemental and Isotopic Analysis of Ancient Ceramics and Glass. In Treatise on Geochemistry, Vol. 14, edited by Holland, Heinrich D. and Turekian, Karl K., pp. 191–207. Elsevier, Oxford.10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.01215-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dillian, Carolyn D., and White, Carolyn L.. 2010. Introduction: Perspectives on Trade and Exchange. In Trade and Exchange: Archaeological Studies from History and Prehistory, edited by Dillian, Carolyn D. and White, Carolyn L., pp. 3–14. Springer, New York.10.1007/978-1-4419-1072-1_1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dobres, Marcia-Anne, and Hoffman, Christopher R.. 1994. Social Agency and the Dynamics of Prehistoric Technology. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 1:211–258.10.1007/BF02231876CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Earle, Timothy K. 1982. Prehistoric Economics and the Archaeology of Exchange. In Contexts for Prehistoric Exchange, edited by Ericson, Jonathon E. and Earle, Timothy K., pp. 1–12. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Federman, Nicolás. 1958 [1557]. Historia Indiana. Translated by Friede, Juan. ARO-Artes Gráficas, Madrid.Google Scholar
Gassón, Rafael. 1996. La evolución del intercambio a larga distancia en el nororiente de Suramérica: Bienes de intercambio y poder político en una perspectiva diacrónica. In Chieftains, Power and Trade: Regional Interaction in the Intermediate Area of the Americas, edited by Cardenas-Arroyo, Felipe and Langebaek, Carl, pp. 134–154. Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá.Google Scholar
Gassón, Rafael. 2000. Quirípas and Mostacillas: The Evolution of Shell Beads as a Medium of Exchange in Northern South America. Ethnohistory 47:581–609.10.1215/00141801-47-3-4-581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gassón, Rafael. 2014. Blind Men and an Elephant: Exchange Systems and Socio-Political Organizations in the Orinoco Basin and Neighboring Areas in Pre-Hispanic Times. In Against Typological Tyranny in Archaeology: A South American Perspective, edited by Gnecco, Cristóbal and Langebaek, Carl, pp. 25–42. Springer, New York.10.1007/978-1-4614-8724-1_2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, Christopher A. 2015. Gifts and Commodities. 2nd ed. Hau Books, Chicago.Google Scholar
Groman-Yaroslavski, Iris, and Bar-Yosef Mayer, Daniella E.. 2015. Lapidary Technology Revealed by Functional Analysis of Carnelian Beads from the Early Neolithic Site of Nahal Hemar Cave, Southern Levant. Journal of Archaeological Science 58:77–88.10.1016/j.jas.2015.03.030CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gumilla, José 1944 El Orinoco ilustrado: Historia natural civil y geográfica de este gran río y de sus caudalosas vertientes, Vol. 2. Colección Biblioteca Popular de Cultura Colombia-Editorial A.B.C., Bogotá.Google Scholar
Guzzo Falci, Catarina, Van Gijn, Annelou, Magdalena Antczak, M., Antczak, Andrzej T., and Hofman, Corinne L.. 2017. Challenges for Microwear Analysis of Figurative Shell Ornaments from Pre-Colonial Venezuela. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 11:115–130.Google Scholar
Hodder, Ian. 1982. Toward a Contextual Approach to Prehistoric Exchange. In Contexts for Prehistoric Exchange, edited by Ericson, Jonathon E. and Earle, Timothy K., pp. 199–211. Academic Press, New York.10.1016/B978-0-12-241580-7.50014-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornborg, Alf. 2005. Ethnogenesis, Regional Interaction, and Ecology in Prehistoric Amazonia: Towards a System Perspective. Current Anthropology 46:589–620.10.1086/431530CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, George D. 1943. Excavations at Ronquín, Venezuela. Yale University Publications in Anthropology No. 28. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Johnson, Allen W., and Earle, Timothy K.. 2000. The Evolution of Human Societies: From Foraging Group to Agrarian State. Stanford University Press, Redwood City, California.10.1515/9780804764513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemonnier, Pierre. 1986. The Study of Material Culture Today: Towards an Anthropology of Technical Systems. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 5:147–186.10.1016/0278-4165(86)90012-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lozada-Mendieta, Natalia. 2020. Ancient Pots and Potters of the Atures Rapids Region: Occupation and Interaction Processes in Pre-Colonial Middle Orinoco, Venezuela. PhD dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University College, London.Google Scholar
Lozada-Mendieta, Natalia, Oliver, José R., and Riris, Philip. 2016. Archaeology in the Atures Rapids of the Middle Orinoco, Venezuela. Archaeology International 19:73–78.10.5334/ai.1913CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansutti Rodríguez, Alexander. 2019. Warime piaroa: Cuatro performances en un rito. Revista Colombiana de Antropología 55(2):149–167.10.22380/2539472X.803CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, T. Rowan. 2019. On Applications of Space–Time Modelling with Open-Source 14C Age Calibration. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 26:479–501.10.1007/s10816-018-9381-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morey, Nancy. 1975. Ethnohistory of the Colombian and Venezuelan Llanos. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Morey, Robert V. 1979. A Joyful Harvest of Souls: Disease and the Destruction of the Llanos Indians. Antropológica 52:77–108.Google Scholar
Morey, Robert V., and Morey, Nancy. 1975. Relaciones comerciales en el pasado en los Llanos de Colombia y Venezuela. Montalbán 4:533–564.Google Scholar
Novoa, Pablo, Andueza, María, Tapia, Jesús, and Rodríguez, Ayolaida. 1981. Arqueología del Estado de Barinas. Centro Arqueológico KUAYU, Barinas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Ojer, Pablo. 1966. La formación del Oriente Venezolano, Vol. 1. Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Oka, Rahul, and Kusimba, Chapurukha M.. 2008. The Archaeology of Trading Systems, Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis. Journal of Archaeological Research 16(4):339–395.10.1007/s10814-008-9023-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oksanen, Jari, Kindt, Roeland, Legendre, Pierre, O'Hara, Bob, Henry Stevens, M., Simpson, Gavin, Solymos, Peter, and Wagner, Helene. 2007. The Vegan Package. Community Ecology Package 10(631–637):719.Google Scholar
Perera, Miguel Ángel. 2000. Oro y hambre: Guayana, siglo XVI: Antropología histórica y ecología cultural de un malentendido 1498–1597. Universidad Central de Venezuela, Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanístico, FACES, Caracas.Google Scholar
Perera, Miguel Ángel. 2003. La provincia fantasma Guayana siglo XVII: Antropología histórica y ecología cultural de un ave de rapiña. Universidad Central de Venezuela, Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanístico, FACES, Caracas.Google Scholar
Reimer, Paula J., Austin, William E. N., Bard, Edouard, Bayliss, Alex, Blackwell, Paul G., Ramsey, Christopher Bronk, Butzin, Martin, et al. 2020. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62:725–757.10.1017/RDC.2020.41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rey Fajardo, José del. 2007. Los Jesuitas en Venezuela: Las misiones, germen de la nacionalidad, Vol. 5. Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá.Google Scholar
Riris, Philip. 2017. On Confluence and Contestation in the Orinoco Interaction Sphere: The Engraved Rock Art of the Atures Rapids. Antiquity 91:1603–1619.10.15184/aqy.2017.152CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riris, Philip, and Oliver, José R.. 2019. Patterns of Style, Diversity, and Similarity in Middle Orinoco Rock Art Assemblages. Arts 8(2):48.10.3390/arts8020048CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riris, Phil, Oliver, José R., and Lozada-Mendieta, Natalia. 2018. Missing the Point: Re-Evaluating the Earliest Lithic Technology in the Middle Orinoco. Royal Society Open Science Journal 5:180690. http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180690.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rivero, Juan. 1956 [1736]. Historia de las misiones de los Llanos de Casanare y los ríos Orinoco y Meta. Biblioteca de la Presidencia de Colombia, Bogotá.Google Scholar
Roosevelt, Anna C. 1978. La Gruta: An Early Tropical Forest Community of the Middle Orinoco. In Unidad y variedad: Ensayos antropológicos en honor a José M. Cruxent, edited by Wagner, Erika and Zucchi, Alberta, pp. 173–201. Ediciones del Centro de Estudios Avanzados IVIC, Caracas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Roosevelt, Anna C. 1990. The Excavations at Corozal, Venezuela: Stratigraphy and Ceramic Seriation. Yale University Publications in Anthropology No. 83. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Scaramelli, Franz. 2005. Material Culture, Colonialism, and Identity in the Middle Orinoco, Venezuela. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Chicago.Google Scholar
Scaramelli, Franz, and de Scaramelli, Kay Tarble. 2005. Roles of Material Culture in the Colonization of the Orinoco. Journal of Social Archaeology 5(1):135–168.10.1177/1469605305050152CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scaramelli, Franz, and de Scaramelli, Kay Tarble. 2015. Uncommon Commodities: Articulating the Global and the Local on the Orinoco Frontier. In Archaeology of Culture Contact and Colonialism in Spanish and Portuguese America, edited by Funari, Pedro P. and Senatore, Maria X., pp. 155–181. Springer, Cham, Switzerland.10.1007/978-3-319-08069-7_9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tapia, Matías de. 1966 [1715]. “Mudo lamento . . .” In Documentos jesuíticos relativos a la historia de la Compañía de Jesus en Venezuela, edited by del Rey Fajardo, José, pp. 169–213. Biblioteca de la Academia Nacional de Historia, Caracas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Tarble, Kay and Eduardo Vaz, J.. 1986–1987. Distribution Analysis of Precolumbian Roller Stamps from the Middle Orinoco. Journal of the Julian Steward Anthropological Society 16(1–2):1–35.Google Scholar
Tarble de Scaramelli, Kay. 2006. Picking up the Pieces: Ceramic Production and Consumption on the Middle Orinoco Colonial Frontier. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Chicago.Google Scholar
Useche Losada, Mariano. 1987. El Proceso colonial en el alto Orinoco-Río Negro (Siglos XVI a XVIII). Fundación de Investigaciones Arqueológicas Nacionales, Banco de la República, Bogotá.Google Scholar
Vargas, Iraida. 1981. Investigaciones arquelógicas en Paramana: Los sitios de La Gruta y Ronquín, Estado Guárico, Venezuela. Biblioteca de la Academia Nacional de la Historia, Caracas.Google Scholar
Vidal, Silvia M. 2000. Kuwé Duwákalumi: The Arawak Sacred Routes of Migration, Trade, and Resistance. Ethnohistory 47:635–667.10.1215/00141801-47-3-4-635CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volkmer-Ribeiro, Cecilia, and Viana, Sibeli A.. 2009. Cerâmica arqueológica com cauxí. In Pré-história no vale do rio Manso, edited by Viana, Sibeli A., pp. 32–51. Editorial UCG, Goiás, Brazil.Google Scholar
Zucchi, Alberta. 1975. Caño Caroní: Un grupo prehispánico de la selva de los Llanos de Barinas. Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas.Google Scholar
Zucchi, Alberta, and Gassón, Rafael. 2002. Elementos para una interpretación alternativa de los circuitos de intercambio indígena en los Llanos de Venezuela y Colombia durante los siglos XVI–XVIII. Revista de Arqueología del Área Intermedia 4:5–87.Google Scholar
Zucchi, Alberta, Tarble, Kay, and Eduardo Vaz, J.. 1984. The Ceramic Sequence and New TL and C-14 Dates for the Agüerito Site of the Middle Orinoco, Venezuela. Journal of Field Archaeology 11:155–180.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lozada-Mendieta et al. supplementary material 1
Download undefined(File)
File 12.4 KB
Supplementary material: File

Lozada-Mendieta et al. supplementary material 2
Download undefined(File)
File 23.9 KB
Supplementary material: File

Lozada-Mendieta et al. supplementary material 3
Download undefined(File)
File 16.1 KB