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Patterned Villagescapes and Road Networks in Ancient Southwestern Amazonia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2020

Sanna Saunaluoma Open the ORCID record for Sanna Saunaluoma [Opens in a new window] ,
Justin Moat ,
Francisco Pugliese  and
Eduardo G. Neves
Sanna Saunaluoma*
Affiliation:
University of Turku, Degree Program in Cultural Production and Landscape, PO Box 124, 28101Pori, Finland
Justin Moat
Affiliation:
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, TW9 3AB, London, United Kingdom (J.Moat@kew.org)
Francisco Pugliese
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Geochronology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Brasília, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900Brasília-DF, Brazil (pugliesefrancisco@yahoo.com.br)
Eduardo G. Neves
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tropical Archaeology, Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, 1466, 05508-070, São Paulo, Brazil (edgneves@usp.br)
*
(sanna.saunaluoma@gmail.com, corresponding author)
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Abstract

Our recent data, collected using remotely sensed imagery and unmanned aerial vehicle surveys, reveal the extremely well-defined patterning of archaeological plaza villages in the Brazilian Acre state in terms of size, layout, chronology, and material culture. The villages comprise various earthen mounds arranged around central plazas and roads that radiate outward from, or converge on, the sites. The roads connected the villages situated 2–10 km from each other in eastern Acre. Our study attests to the existence of large, sedentary, interfluvial populations sharing the same sociocultural identities, as well as structured patterns of movement and spatial planning in relation to operative road networks during the late precolonial period. The plaza villages of Acre show similarity with the well-documented communities organized by road networks in the regions of the Upper Xingu and Llanos de Mojos. Taking into consideration ethnohistorical and ethnographic evidence, as well as the presence of comparable archaeological sites and earthwork features along the southern margin of Amazonia, we suggest that the plaza villages of Acre were linked by an interregional road network to other neighboring territories situated along the southern Amazonian rim and that movement along roads was the primary mode of human transport in Amazonian interfluves.

Los recientes datos, recopilados por nosotros a través de prospecciones utilizando imágenes de sensores remotos y vehículos aéreos no tripulados (VANT), revelaron aldeas arqueológicas con plazas en el estado brasileño de Acre que destacan por presentar patrones bien definidos en términos de tamaño, diseño, cronología y cultura material. Las aldeas comprenden varios montículos de tierra dispuestos alrededor de plazas centrales y caminos que se proyectan o convergen desde o hacia los sitios. Los caminos conectaban las aldeas situadas a una distancia de 2 a 10 km entre sí en el este de Acre. Nuestro estudio atestigua la existencia de grandes poblaciones interfluviales sedentarias que comparten las mismas identidades socioculturales, así como patrones estructurados de movimiento y planificación espacial en relación con los sistemas operativos de redes viales durante el período pre-Colonial Tardío. Las aldeas con plazas de Acre muestran una similitud con comunidades bien documentadas organizadas por redes de caminos en las regiones del Alto Xingu y los Llanos de Mojos. Teniendo en cuenta la evidencia etnohistórica y etnográfica, así como la presencia de sitios arqueológicos comparables, y características de movimiento de tierras a lo largo del margen sur de la Amazonía, sugerimos que las aldeas con plazas de Acre estaban conectadas a los territorios vecinos por una red de caminos interregionales situados a lo largo del borde sur de la Amazonía, y ese movimiento a lo largo de las caminos fue el principal modo de transporte humano en las zonas interfluviales amazónicas.

Keywords

interfluvial AmazoniaUAV surveyearthworksroad networksplaza villagesAmazonia interfluvialprospección con VANTmovimiento de tierrasredes de caminosplazas
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 173 - 187
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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