The Continuing Quest for El Dorado: Round Two

Betty J. Meggers

Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 12, No. 3. (Sep., 2001), pp. 304-325.

Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1045-6635%28200109%2912%3A3%3C304%3ATCQFED%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

Latin American Antiquity is currently published by Society for American Archaeology.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained
prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in
the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/journals/sam.html.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For
more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

http://www.jstor.org
Mon May 14 09:31:59 2007
 THE CONTINUING QUEST FOR EL DORADO: ROUND TWO

Betty J. Meggers

- ~

An increasing number of publications supports the autonomous development of dense sedentay populations with advanced
social organization throughout Amazonia in spite of abundant archaeological, ethnographic, physical, and biological evidence
for environmental limitations to sustainable intensive exploitation of the varzea as well as the terra jirme. Three articles in
recent issues of Latin American Antiquity dispute the validity of the data collected during three decades of survey by partici-
pants of the Programa Nacional de Pesquisas Arqueoldgicas nu Bacia Amazdnica, which indicate that surviving indigenous
groups perpetuate settlement and social behavior adopted at least 2,000 years ago, when the widespread use o f p o t t e y makes
it detectable. Correction of the misunderstandings contributing to this "revisionist" assessment is essential because uncritical
acceptance of the conclusions not only conflicts with ecological and archaeological evidence, but provides support for the
unconstrained deforestation of the region.

Un creciente numero de publicaciones apoya el desarrollo autdnomo de poblaciones densas y sedentarias con organizacidn social
avanzada a lo largo de la Amazonia a pesar de la abundante evidencia arqueoldgica, etnogra'jca,fisica y bioldgica de la exis-
tencia de limitaciones medioambientales para la explotacidn intensiva sostenible de la varzea como de la terrajrme. Tres articu-
10s en niimeros recientes de Latin American Antiquity rechazan la credibilidad de la evidencia recolectada durante tres de'cadas
de prospecciones realizadas por 10s participantes del Programa Nacional de Pesquisas Arqueoldgicas nu Bacia Amazdnica, que
sostiene que 10s grupos indigenas sobrevivientes consewan un comportamiento habitacional y social desarrollado por lo menos
hare 2000 afios, cuando el uso de la cera'mica lo torna visible. Una clar@cacidn de 10s malentendidos que contribuyen a esta
evaluacidn <<revisionists>> es esencial, porque una aceptacidn de las conclusiones no solamente contradice la evidencia ecold-
gica y arqueoldgica, si no que respalda la deforestacidn desenfrenada de la regidn.

T
he vast neotropical rainforest fascinated the
early European explorers, initially because of
its luxuriant vegetation and later because of
its supposed mineral wealth. According to Acuiia "si
el Nilo riega lo mejor del Africa, fecundandola con
sus corrientes, el Rio de las Amazonas riega mas
extendidos reinos, fecunda mas vegas, sustenta m b
hombres, y aumenta con sus aguas mas caudalosos
octanos" (1946:31). Carvajal, chronicler of the first
descent of the Amazon in 1542, describes villages
extending for leagues along the bank, "fine high-
ways" leading inland, stone-walled houses, female
warriors, gold and silver utensils, and "many sheep
of the sort found in Peru" (Heaton 1934). During the
seventeenth century, the lure of El Dorado inspired
numerous well-equipped expeditions to search for
"the great and golden city of Manoa," located on the
shore of a vast saline lake in the interior of the
Guianas (Hemming 1978). Although no one ever
saw it, the Lake Parima continued to appear on maps
until the early eighteenth century, when the quest was
finally abandoned (Alks and Pouyllau 1992). Since
then, archaeological and ethnographic investigations,
mineral explorations, power-line surveys, and other
kinds of expeditions have failed to encounter any
trace of El Dorado.
After a lapse of three centuries, the myth of El
Dorado is being revived by archaeologists. Roo-
sevelt's contention that "the rich floodplains and fish-
eries of the Amazon are hundreds of times more
extensive than those of the Nile" (199 1:435) is rem-
iniscent of Acuiia's 1641 description. She envisions
"territories tens of thousands of square kilometers in
size, larger than those of many recognized prehis-

Betty J. Meggers .MRC-112, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 20560

Latin American Antiquity, 12(3), 2001, pp. 304-325

Copyright@ 2001 by the Society for American Archaeology

 COMMENTS
toric states. Their organization and ideology of dei-
fied chiefs and ancestors, nobles and seers, vassals
or commoners, and captive slaves are more similar
to those of early states and complex chiefdoms else-
where in the world than to the present Indian soci-
eties of Amazonia" (199 1:436). Similarly,Whitehead
(1994:43) contends that "ancient Amerindian polit-
ical and cultural life was of a level of sophistication
that rivaled or even exceeded that of their (Euro-
pean) homelands [and] we are dealing with civiliza-
tions of considerable complexity, possibly even
protostates." More specifically, he argues that "we
cannot dismiss. . .the implicit ethnography contained
in the European myth of El Dorado" (199258-59).
The reincarnation of the myth of El Dorado is also
the focus of three articles in recent issues of Latin
AmericanAntiquity, which claim to provide evidence
for dense sedentary populations supported by inten-
sive terra firme agriculture, contrary to the interpre-
tations that my Brazilian colleagues and I have
developed during more than three decades of archae-
ological investigation throughout Amazonia. The
articles at issue are "Ceramic Seriation and Settle-
ment Reoccupation in Lowland South America" by
DeBoer, Kintigh, and Rostoker (1996), "The Ring
Villages of Central Brazil: A Challenge for Ama-
zonian Archaeology" by Wiist and Barreto (1999),
and "Village Size and Permanence in Amazonia" by
Heckenberger, Peterson, and Neves (1999).
Clarification of their misinterpretations of the
environmental limitations and understandings of our
data, methods, and theoretical approach is necessary
because these are unlikely to be recognized by most
readers of this journal. It is also essential because,
unlike archaeological controversies in other parts of
the world, this one has serious political implications.
If local subsistence resources sustained dense seden-
tary populations in the past, then the biologists, ecol-
ogists, climatologists, agronomists, and other experts
are wrong in their assessment of the environment,
surviving indigenous groups are under-exploiting
their habitats, modem efforts to intensify agricultural
productivity are incompetent, and developers are
entitled to operate without constraint. If they did not,
then the growing environmental devastation is not
only ill-advised, but likely to be irreversible. Con-
sequently, reconstructions of prehistoric population
density and cultural complexity must be based on the
most accurate scientific evidence we can obtain.
Space constraints make it necessary to focus on
305
the most controversial assumptions and interpreta-
tions in the three articles and the principal archaeo-
logical, ecological, and ethnographic evidence
relevant to their evaluation. Readers are encouraged
to consult the bibliographic references for additional
information.
Archaeological Evidence
"Detailed archaeological field studies and research
methodologies designed to identify regional-level
settlement patterns in Amazonia are still largely lack-
ing. Even basic aspects of chronology, regional set-
tlement patterns, and the characteristics of individual
sites and site components (e.g., size, duration, and
internal variability) are poorly understood (Heck-
enberger et al. 1999:354).
The Programa Nacional de Pesquisas Arque-
ol6gicas na Bacia AmazBnica (PRONAPABA), a
collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution
and the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (CNPq),
was initiated in 1976 to supply this lund of evidence
(SimBes 1977).Since then, survey and sampling have
been conducted along the lower Tocantins, Xingu,
Tapajbs, and Negro, the entire Madeira and JuruB,
the middle Purus, the lower Uatumii and Urubu, the
left and right banks of the lower Solimdes, GuaporC
and Jaman', the headwater rivers in the State ofAcre,
and on the northeastern Llanos de Moxos (Figure 1).
Similar information is available from earlier surveys
along the middle Amazon (Hilbert 1959, 1962,
1968), at the mouth of the Amazon (Meggers and
Evans 1957), on the upper Essequibo, Rupununi
savanna, and coast of Guyana (Evans and Meggers
1960), the upper Orinoco-Ventuari (Evans et al.
1960), and the Napo (Evans and Meggers 1968).
All sites encountered were described, mapped,
and sampled with unselected surface collections and
many were also documented with one or more strati-
graphic excavations. Uniform criteria for the collec-
tion, classification, and quantitative analysis of the
pottery and the construction of seriated sequences
have made it possible to identify phases corre-
sponding to endogamous communities throughout
the lowlands and to define their temporal and spatial
parameters. Several hundred radiocarbon dates per-
mit estimating the duration of phases within a region
and correlating them between regions.
Detailed publication of the PRONAPABA data
has been delayed because of continuing refinements
in analysis and interpretation, but the theoretical and
306 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
Figure 1. Northern lowland South America showing the rivers and other features mentioned in the text.
methodological aspects of the approach and the
implications of the evidence have been discussed in
various articles (Dias and Carvalho 1988;Dougherty
and Calandra 1981,1984, 1984-85; Meggers 1987,
1991, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c, 1994, 1995a, 1995b,
1995c, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Meggers et al. 1988;
Miller 1992; Perota and Botelho 1994; Simbes
1974). Abbreviated pottery type descriptions and
preliminary seriated sequences from several widely
separated regions have also been published (Meg-
gers 1992c, 1999; Miller 1983; Miller et al. 1992;
Perota 1992;Sim6es et al. 1987).These publications
contain far more ecological and archaeological data
than have been provided by Heckenberger et al.
(1999) or by Wiist and Barreto (1999).
Extension of the "Standard Model"
into Prehistory
"Based on ethnographic examples . . . Meggers has
repeatedly espoused a general model for Amazonia
in which settlements are portrayed as uniformly
small, . . . impermanent, dispersed, and politically
autonomous. . . . Models of Precolumbian occupa-
tions . . . typically are hypothetical, based largely on
[Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011
nonarchaeologicaldata (ethnographic,ethnohistoric,
andlor ecological) and untested theoretical assump-
tions. .. . [Tlhere is no sound empirical basis to sup-
port. . . [the] contention that the standard model can
be extended into prehistory" (Heckenberger et al.
1999:354-355).
Empirical Basis
Having been taught in graduate school that a seri-
ated sequence has no social counterpart and that
irregular trends are the expectable expression of sam-
pling error, I began to question the validity of these
assumptions only after comparing the spatial distri-
butions of the sites included in dozens of seriations
produced by different archaeologists along the
Brazilian coastal strip and in Amazonia during the
past four decades. Classification of the pottery from
sites along the Tocantins, for example,produced five
seriated sequences, each confined to a different sec-
tion of the river. The absence of overlap in their dis-
tributions suggested the seriations identified the
territories of endogamous communities (Figure 2;
Simbes and Araujo-Costa 1987).
A search of the ethnographic literature revealed
 COMMENTS

Figure 2. Contiguous prehistoric territories along the lower Tocantins, each characterized by a unique seriated ceramic
sequence. The boundary between the Taua and Tucurui phases coincides with the first rapid, which marks the southern pen-
etration of Amazonian aquatic fauna. In the Tucurui Phase territory, the river descends from the Brazilian Shield across a
rocky substrate, and in the Tauari Phase sector it flows over a sandy floodplain that narrows in the Itupiranga Phase terri-
tory and disappears in the Maraba Phase territory. The existence in each sector of significant differences in the kind, abun-
dance, and seasonality of aquatic resources and their methods of capture accounts for the absence of overlap in territorial
boundaries even at the first rapid, where the contrast is greatest and the sites are in closest proximity. This stability and the
occasional occurrence of pottery with Taua Phase decoration in Tucurui Phase sites suggest that trade was a more viable
option than invasion (after Miller et al. 1992, Figs. 72,99,100).
308 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
a similar contiguous pattern among the Akawaio of
western Guyana, where each territory was occupied
by an endogamous community divided among two
or three widely separated exogamous matrilocal
households (Colson 1983-84). An explanation for
the permanence of the boundaries on the Tocantins
was provided when subsequent publication of the
results of environmental and demographic survey
undertaken prior to construction of the Tucurui
hydroelectric dam revealed that they coincided with
significant changes in the riverine topography and
associated differences in the abundance, seasonality,
and methods of capture of fish (Merona 1990).Sim-
ilar correlations have been identified along other
rivers where the archaeological and environmental
documentation is sufficiently detailed.
The notion that I have imposed the "standard
model" onto the archaeological record reverses the
actual procedure. It was the archaeological evidence
for the spatial segregationof the sites included in dif-
ferent seriated sequences and the discontinuity in
the interdigitated positions of successive levels from
the same excavation that provoked a search of the
literature for evidence of territoriality and village
movement among surviving indigenousgroups. Four
types of territory have been reported ethnographi-
cally: contiguous, isolated, overlapping, or shifting
boundaries (Grenard 1980:70; Kaplan 1975), and
temporary or ephemeral boundaries (e.g.,Rosengren
1981-82:61). Only the first two types have been
identified archaeologically, suggesting that the lat-
ter two are post-contact responses to disruption and
dislocation (Meggers 1995b, 1996a; cf. Hill and
Moran 1983:121). Centripetal village movement
within a territory and reoccupation of sites were also
inferred from the seriated sequences prior to identi-
fying ethnographic examples (e.g., Gallois 1981;
Vickers 1983). Comparing the archaeological pat-
terns with the ethnographic data makes it possible to
identify specific ways in which indigenous settlement
behavior has altered since European contact.
Theoretical Support
Rather than an "untested theoretical assumption,"
there is abundant ethnographic evidence that the
quantitative differences in pottery types used to cre-
ate seriated sequences are produced by evolutionary
drift. The susceptibility of nonmaterial cultural traits
(e.g., myths, rituals, languages) to change via drift
has been observed repeatedly (e.g., Colson 1983-84;
[Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011
Gross 1983; Henley 1982), and the operation of
unconscious drift in vessel shape was confirmed
experimentally decades ago (Hodges 1965). The
development of minor differences in the presence or
relative frequency of decorative techniques as a con-
sequence of isolation among potters has been
observed among autonomous communities sharing
a ceramic tradition and among matrilocal residence
groups in the same community (Arnold 1993:235;
Roe 1981:65;Wiist 1994:329).Long-term monitor-
ing of pottery production in endogamous Kalinga
communities has documented the emergence of
quantitative differences in several details of decora-
tion (Graves 1994) and detected changes in the rel-
ative frequencies of vessel shapes within only five
years (Longacre 1985).
Variations in unobtrusive ceramic features have
been interpreted by North American archaeologists
as evidence of social distinctions. Statistical rnanip-
ulation validates the correlation of minor differences
in "latent stylistic expressions" in surface treatment
and temper with Hohokam residence groups (Abbot
2000: 141).The results of applying evolutionary the-
ory to stylistic variation in IllinoisWoodland ceramic
assemblages suggest that the approach "would lead
to real payoffs in historical knowledge" (Nieman
1995:32). Intrasite seriation by pottery types at
Pueblo de 10s Muertos was judged to be as accurate
as using attributes and considerably less time con-
suming (Duff 1996). Successful replication in sim-
ulation experiments of the spatial patterns obtained
by seriating surface collections of decorated sherds
from sites in the lower Mississippi valley led to the
conclusion that "populations whose members were
free to interact equally over the entire space pro-
duced nearly perfect seriations,whereas any restric-
tions on the radius of interaction would destroy our
ability to include the entire test population in one seri-
ation" (Lipo et al. 1997:310). Changes in the rela-
tive frequencies of pottery types have also proved the
most useful guide to chronology during the Forma-
tive to Classic transition in southern Veracruz (Pool
and Britt 2000: 151).
In short, the repeated independent observation of
gradual divergence in composition, decoration, and
vessel shape in the production of traditional potters
in various parts of the world, both chronologically
within the same community and spatially between
contemporary households, and the detection of sim-
ilar patterns in North American archaeology support
 COMMENTS

PA-BA-8.1.m-50

PA-84-11 1'0-20

PA - 9A - 6 SURFACE

PA-BA.5 0.10

PA.BA.4,r:O.lO

m PA SA r. i10.30

P A - B A - 5 10.20

s
Q PA. BA .l6, SURFACE

PA-BA-920.30
\-

2
2 - BA - 7,
s

C PA.BA. 19, SURFACE

PA - BA - 26.SURFACE

PA.BA.11 1 20-30

PA BA .28, SURFACE

PA - BA 21,SURFACE

W.BA. 30. SURFACE

b
PA-EA.B.2.20.30

PA - BA. 9, SURFACE

PA-BA-8 2'30-40

PA. BA .2Q,SURFACE

PA. BA - 25, SURFACE

PA - BA - 23, SURFACE

PA 61.27. SURFACE

-
PA 8A - 17 SURFRCE

Figure 3. Subdivision of the Wcurui Phase seriation into two subphases based on 5 percent relative frequency of Tucurui
Painted decoration. The existence of the same pottery types, trends, and durations in both sequences implies their contem-
poraneity and the restriction of all but three of the sites to one of the suhphases is compatible with the existence of matrilo-
cal residence. The wide separations of levels of the same excavation document episodes of ahandonment and reoccupation of
the location by the same matrilocal household.

the reliability of quantitative analysis and seriation
for reconstructing prehistoric Amazonian settlement
and social behavior.
Ceramic Evidence for Matrilocal Residence
"Meggers and Maranca suggest that some of the vari-
ation [within the Aldeia da Queimada Nova] . . .
might reflect the operation of a moiety division, a
type of social organization common in lowland South
America, although its material correlates, at least as
evinced in ceramics, remain largely undocumented"
(DeBoer et al. 1996:272).
310 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
Divergence in details of pottery production as a
consequence of matrilocal residence has been
observed repeatedly (e.g., Brumbach 1985; Longacre
1964; Reina and Hill 1978:21; Roe 1981:65) and pro-
vides a potential explanation for the erratic occur-
rences of minor pottery types in seriated sequences
that exhibit consistent trends in the principal undec-
orated types. In the case of the Tucurui Phase on the
Tocantins, separating the samples based on the pres-
ence of 5 percent painted decoration produces two
sequences or subphases with similar trends and rel-
ative frequencies in the undecorated types, implying
their contemporaneity (Figure 3). Comparing the
locations of the sites on the map shows that all except
three were occupied and reoccupied by the same
subphase and that the locus of occupation in two of
those shared was different. This finding is compati-
ble with the ethnographic evidence that the first moi-
ety to occupy a location often retains permanent
rights to future reoccupation, but that permission
may be granted to the other moiety on request (Basso
1973:4445; Cer6n Solarte 1991: 107).
Similar quantitative differences in minor pottery
types in the ceramic phases of the Jamm' Tradition
in southwestern Amazonia and the Taruma Phase on
the upper Essequibo in Guyana also permit con-
structing contemporary subseriations, again com-
posed principally of different sites (Miller et al.
1992). By contrast, seriated sequences for phases of
the Polychrome Tradition cannot be subdivided,
implying circulation of the women and patrilocal
residence (e.g., Figure 7; Linares 1969:3).
The validity of attributing the spatial dichotomy
in two minor decorated types to matrilocal residence
at the Aldeia da Quemada Nova, a prehistoric ring
village of the Tupiguarani Tradition in Piaui, is sup-
ported by observations of similar associations in a
historic Bororo ring village in Mato Grosso. Seri-
ation of samples of pottery from 15 house locations
at the Piaui site permit separating two contemporary
sub-sequences, one with painted decoration on an
unslipped surface and the other with painting on a
white-slipped surface. Examination of the map
shows them to correspond to different halves of the
ring, compatible with the existence of matrilocal res-
idence (Figure 4; Meggers and Maranca 1980).
The plan of Tadarimana, a recently abandoned
Bororo ring village in central Brazil, shows similar
variation in the sizes and orientations of the houses,
as well as similar inequality in the number of houses
[Vol. 12, No. 3,20011
in each half of the ring (Figure 5). The population in
this village was divided into matrilocal moieties, also
characterized by rare ceramic features. In this case,
a shouldered water jar was manufactured by one
moiety and ovoid vessels with appliquC decoration
by the other. The possibility that this distinction
would be recognizable archaeologically has been
rejected because Bororo vessels are loaned to mem-
bers of the opposite moiety (Wiist 1994:329), and
our archaeological reconstruction has been criticized
as "elevating what might be accidents to large and
unwarranted inferential effects" (DeBoer et al.
1996:273).In view of the demonstrated ethnographic
correlation between minor quantitative and qualita-
tive differences in ceramics and matrilocal residence,
however, it would seem more productive to use this
information to reconstruct prehistoric settlement and
social behavior than to dismiss it a priori.
Soil Color as Evidence
of Continuous Occupation
"Short, small-scale occupations . . . simply do not
create the areally extensive alterations [in soil color]
characteristic of many prehistoric occupations"
(Heckenberger et al. 1999:355, emphasis in original);
"the evidence . . . does not justify . . . interpretation
that large TP sites in Amazonia represent palimpsests
of numerous successive and only partially overlap-
ping reoccupations, as opposed to extensive con-
temporaneous occupations and long-term settlement
permanence" (Heckenberger et al. 1999:355; also
DeBoer et al. 1996:276).
The conclusion that permanent occupation is
required to produce the uniform extensions of black
soil (TP) typical of Amazonian habitation sites is
based on two questionable criteria: (1) the absence
of layers or patches of unaltered soil in prehistoric
habitation sites, and (2) the absence of terrapreta in
a modem settlement occupied up to 50 years.
The first criterion is falsified by the existence of
continuous terra preta in trenches across extensive
sites presenting stratigraphic discontinuities in
ceramic trends and carbon 14 dates implying multi-
ple reoccupation (e.g., Miller et al. 1992, Figures
34-36). There are at least three explanations for the
absence of sterile zones: (1) reoccupied areas over-
lap; (2) recycling of organic materials is too efficient
for a sterile layer to develop on the surface during
abandonment in the absence of extraneous forces,
such as water-bome deposition, and (3) biotic activ-
 COMMENTS 311

WEST SIDE

63 "
EAST SIDE

Figure 4. Plan of the Aldeia da Queimada Nova, a ring village of the Titpiguarani 'hadition in northeastern Brazil. Patches
of black soil mark the locations of former houses. Seriation of the pottery samples obtained from the surface and trenches
in each location produced two contemporary sequences corresponding to different halves of the ring, compatible with the
existenceof matrilocal residence. Arrows indicate possible replacement of three houses during the occupation (after Meggers
and Maranca 1980, Figure 2).

ity involved in the production of terra preta elimi-
nates any remnants of unaltered soil (Woods and
McCann 1997).
The second criterion fails to recognize the absence
of comparableconditions.Modem and Precolumbian
settlements differ in house construction (raised ver-
sus dirt floor), cooking methods (elevated stove ver-
sus floor-level hearth), type and disposal of organic
refuse, household composition (nuclear versus
extended family), number of occupants,
presencetabsenceof domestic animals, and other fea-
tures. Although the genesis of terra preta remains
unclear, these kinds of variables are certainly
involved (Vacher et al. 1998:52-55; Woods 1995).
Decorated Pottery as Evidence
of Continuous Occupation
"[D]iagnostic ceramics . . . associated with the
Guarita phase of the Amazonian Polychrome tradi-
tion . . . are widely distributed across the entire site
surface [implyingthat] A~utubawas occupiedalmost
continuously, if not continuously, throughout the
Christian era, if not before" (Heckenberger et al.
1999:362).
Equating the surface extent of decorated sherds
with continuous occupation overlooks two uncer-
tainties: (1) the social equivalent of "Guarita cerarn-
ics" and (2) the significance of their distribution.
 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011

-- ECERAE 7aG

r - - ; +r<. .. 70

:--J u .... *

-- --
[j--.
s

0
6

* \
...
o1O
5&-..

...
TUGAREGE

t- 0
20m

Figure 5. Plan of Tadarimana, a Bororo ring village in central Brazil occupied in 1983. The orientations and distributions of
the houses and the moiety division are comparable to those reconstructed from the archaeological evidence at the Aldeia da
Queimada Nova (modified from Wiist 1994, Fig 14.1).

"Diagnostic Guarita ceramics," also termed "Guarita
fineware," are described as "including red-and/or
black-on-white painted, wide-line incised, flanged,
and complicated modeled designs" (Heckenberger
et al. 1999:362). This combination of decoration
identifies the Guarita Subtradition of the Polychrome
Tradition, which has a large spatial and temporal
extension along the central Amazon and into the
lower part of the adjacent tributaries. Like the other
subtraditions, it contains numerous local phases of
varying ages and durations that share the diagnostic
pottery types and are distinguished by differences in
their trends and relative frequencies. The radiocar-
bon dates for the Pajura and Apuau phases on the
adjacent part of the Negro indicate that they are con-
temporary with A~utuba,as are several other phases
of the Guarita Subtradition on the lower Madeira and
the lower Solimdes (Simdes 1974; Simdes and Kalk-
mann 1987; Simdes and Lopes 1987).
Defining the spatial and temporal parameters of
the occupation of A ~ u t u b arequires establishing
whether all or part of the site was occupied by any of
these phases or by one or more undescribed phases
or both. Until this is done, it is premature to identify
it as "the home of a large, sedentary population." It
is even more speculative to assert that other "exten-
sive (30 ha. or more of TP), . . . late prehistoric sites
. . . within a 30 km radius of Aqutuba" were con-
temporaneous because they contain "diagnostic
Guaritaceramics" (Heckenbergeret al. 1999:364).To
do so is equivalent to considering all the sites in the
eastern United States that contain diagnostic Wood-
land pottery or all those in the Caribbean area with
diagnostic Saladoid features to be contemporary.
Reconstruction of the village area is complicated
by the stratigraphic evidence provided, which does
not support the existence of Guarita ceramics across
the entire site. The profiles of the excavations at AGU-
tuba I, Unit 2 and A~utuba11, Unit 1 show sherds to
begin below ca. 20 cm of sterile soil (Heckenberger
 COMMENTS
et al. 1999: Figure 5). All the pottery in both exca-
vations is identified as "modeled-incised" rather than
Guarita and the radiocarbon dates extend from 23 10
+ 140 to 1030 + 100 BP. The pottery assigned to the
Guarita Subtraditionwas obtained in a different exca-
vation at an unspecified location in A~utuba11, where
the dates extend from 980 +60 to 5 10 +70 BP (Heck-
enberger et al. 1999:Table 1). The significance of "a
clear vertical increase in artifact frequency" in the
three excavations must be evaluated in terms of these
ceramic associations and the dates, which suggest
the occupations in the three locations were not con-
temporary (Heckenberger et al. 1999:Table 3).
Ceramic Evidence of Reoccupation
Although "seriated-based arguments for site reoc-
cupation. . . generally survive tests of statistical plau-
sibility, they neither withstand scrutiny from the
standpoint of empirically observed patterns nor are
buttressed by a body of theory that points unequiv-
ocally to the recognition of separate occupations"
(DeBoer et al. 1996:276).
Empirical Patterns
The "empirically observed patterns" consist of a seri-
ated sequence based on the relative frequencies of
ceramic features in contemporary houses in a mod-
em Shipibo village, which are sufficiently different
to imply that their occupation was sequential
(DeBoer et al. 1996: Figure 6). Examination of the
evidence indicates, however, that this discrepancy
can be attributed to incomparable conditions. The
Shipibo community is distributed among a dozen
dispersed nuclear family dwellings, whereas tradi-
tional Amazonian communities typically occupy a
communal house. The Shipibo pottery samples con-
sist of all vessels in use during a single year (or less),
whereas a 10 cm level represents at least a decade of
discard. The Shipibo vessels were "broken" into uni-
form "sherds" 20 cm square for tabulation, so that
each sample consists of 100 percent of those corre-
sponding to each vessel, whereas archaeological
fragments differ in size and efforts at refitting indi-
cate that a 10 cm level seldom includes more than a
couple of sherds from the same vessel. Other vari-
ables include differences in manufacture, use, and
disposal. Given these disparities, it is not surprising
that the Shipibo "seriation" misrepresents the
chronological relationships of the houses.
A more appropriate ethnographic test of the reli-
31 3
ability of seriated sequences for identifying sequen-
tial occupations has been provided by Dillehay
(1999), who conducted stratigraphic excavations in
a site extending over a distance of 250 m that was
continuously occupied by the same Mapuche fam-
ily during about 100 years. As a consequence, the
locations and durations of the houses, the activities
undertaken, the number of residents, and the
sequence of movement are known. Excavations were
made in five of the concentrations to evaluate the cor-
respondence between the distributions of surface
sherds and subsurface post holes and floors, to iden-
tify activities, and to provide unselected samples of
pottery. Classification into seven types, quantitative
analysis, and seriation produced consistent trends in
all the types and a sequence that corresponded to the
known order of occupation (Figure 6).
In this case, the pottery revealed such slight vari-
ation in form, size, and composition that
were it not for the informants and the seriated
ceramic sequence, the house floors would eas-
ily have been interpreted as a group of contem-
porary dwellings. . . . Without the informants,
h e might have also interpreted the differences
in frequency of the types of artifacts in the
structures as evidence of different economic
tasks performed by different families. . . . In
short, the Mapuche evidence suggests that spa-
tial redundance or increased reoccupation may
be a key factor in the creation of extensive, and
often superimposed, concentrations of cultural
remains. The sites consisting of palimpsests of
episodes of reoccupation by a single family (or
a few families) may be just as extensive and
complex as large village sites, and they may or
may not have clearly separated activity areas
representing each episode of use. . . . One can
imagine hypothetically the discovery of 100
large archeological sites, each one of which was
occupied by a single family or a few families. . . .
Based on this, we could estimate a dense popu-
lation between 500 and 600 families, and
between 2000 and 2500 individuals living in
these sites, when in reality only 5 or 6 families
and 200-250 individuals may have existed
[Dillehay 1999:264, translation].
The Pajurci Phase Seriation
As noted earlier, the principal reason for failure to
publish more of the PRONAPABA data is continu-
ing revision of earlier seriations as understanding of
the implications of the discontinuities in trends has
increased. In the initial seriation constructed by
Simdes prior to the inception of the PRONAPABA,
31 4 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011

Ceramic Types overall increase in frequency and Vila Plain tends to

Houses

decline, whereas the trends in the other types are

restricted within each episode. For example, Pajura
Painted decreases within Episode 1 and increases
within Episodes 2, 3, and 4, whereas Pajuri Broad
5

A B
- - - --
C D
Figure 6. Seriated sequence obtained from quantitative
analysis of the pottery excavated at five successive house
locations at Rukalleco, a site continuously occupied by the
same Mapuche family during 100 years. The trends in all
seven pottery types (A-G) are consistent and the chronolog-
ical sequence is historically correct (after Dillehay 1999,
Figure 5).
the Pajura and Apuau phases were combined (Sim8es
and Kalkmann 1987, Figure 3). Their separation,
which is approved by DeBoer et al. (1996), produced
the Pajura Phase sequence they criticize. This ver-
sion also been revised.
When the trends in all the pottery types are exam-
ined, rather than only those undecorated types con-
sidered by DeBoer et al. (1996), the levels from the
three excavations at AM-MA-9 can be grouped into
four episodes (Figure 7). Pajura Plain exhibits an
E F G
Incised undergoes a succession of declines.
In the context of evolutionary theory, this "punc-
tuated equilibrium" implies temporary disruption of
the community. A clue to the cause is provided by a
similar revision of the exceptionally erratic seriations
for the Barrancoid and Saladoid phases in eastern
Venezuela to produce a succession of relatively con-
sistent episodes. Existing radiocarbon dates corre-
late the most dramatic discontinuities with
mega-Nifio events ca. 1500, 1000, and 700 B.P.,
when severe drought would have depleted local sub-
sistence resources and forced the members of the
communities to disperse until conditions returned to
normal (Meggers 1996b).
The current revision of the Pajura Phase sequence
produces a slightly different spatial distribution of
the four episodes of occupation at AM-MA-9, but
the implications are the same. Episodes 1 and 4 are
restricted to Cut 2, Episode 2 to Cut 3, and Episode
3 to Cut 1. This confines the maximum limits of the

AM MA 9 C U T 1 0 10

3 AMMA9CUTllO20

AM MA 9 CUT 1 20 40 E

AM - M A 9.CUT 3 40 - 60
ab
AM-MA-9.CUT2 20-30

1 AM-MA-9.CUT2 30-40

AM - MA-27 SJRFACE

Figure 7. Reseriation of the Pajuri Phase excavations at AM-MA-9 based on the recognition that inconsistent trends in
minor pottery types have historical significance. Pajuri Plain maintains a relatively consistent increase throughout the
sequence and Vila Plain exhibits an overall decline, whereas most of the decorated types repeat a trend of increase or
decrease within each episode. This "punctuated equilibrium" characterizes many other seriations and appears to reflect
temporary dislocation of the community as a consequence of drought-induced subsistence stress, rather than normal village
movement.
 COMMENTS 31 5

LIMIT OF S I T E

Figure 8. Plan of AM-MA-9 showing the locations of the stratigraphic excavations and maximum extent of the associated
episodes of occupation. The first and fourth episodes were restricted to Cut 2, the second to Cut 3, and the third to Cut 1.
The absence of interdigitation of the levels in Cut 2 with those in Cuts 1 and 3 implies that the settlements during Episodes
1 and 4 did not overlap them. Since the maximum diameter of houses reported ethnographically is ca 50 m, the actual dimen-
sions were probably no greater than this. It seems likely that additional excavations would identify other episodes and pos-
sibly contemporary houses during a single episode (after Meggers 1992b).

first and fourth settlements within the area between
Cuts 1 and 3, the second settlement west of Cut 2,
and the third settlement east of Cut 2. Each occupa-
tion thus could not have extended over more than
about half of the site or ca. 250 m. Since the maxi-
mum diameter of indigenous communal houses
today is about 50 m, the actual area was probably
less (Figure 8).
Stratigraphic Discontinuities
Since cultural drift should proceed gradually, other
things being equal, the abrupt changes in the rela-
tive frequencies of both undecorated and decorated
pottery types in consecutive 10 cm levels are evi-
dence of discontinuous occupation of the location
sampled. For example, although the trends in two
excavations at RO-PV-30 on the Rio Jamm'in south-
western Amazonia are similar, both exhibit gaps
between Levels 10-20 and 20-30 cm (Figure 9, top).
The interpretation that these imply abandonment and
reoccupation of the locations represented, rather than
social or functional differences, is favored by the
seriated sequence, in which the lower two levels of
Cut 3 interdigitate into the hiatus in Cut 2 and the
upper two follow the upper levels of Cut 2 (Figure
9, bottom).
When multiple radiocarbon dates are available
from several locations at the same site, they also fre-
quently imply temporal and spatial discontinuity of
occupation. Although those at RO-PV-25, another
large habitation site on the Rio Jaman', are in chrono-
logical order within each excavation, differences of
120 and 860 years between consecutive 10 cm lev-
els in Cut 3 are compatible with the seriational evi-
dence for episodes of abandonment (Figure 10). The
horizontal discrepancies are also large. The dates
from the same depth (10-20 cm) in Cuts 1,2, and 3
differ by 430 years; those from the same depth
(2C30 cm) in Cuts 3 and 4 differ by 320 years, and
those from the same depth (50-60 cm) in Cuts 1 and
2 differ by 2,120 years. This example (one of many)
suggests that the differences of 360 years and 720
years in the radiocarbon dates from consecutive 10
cm levels in Unit 1 at A~utubaidentify at least two
major episodes of abandonment of this location
(Heckenberger et al. 1999:Table l), as do similarly
large gaps between the radiocarbon dates at three
sites on the upper Xingu (Heckenberger et al.
1999:Table 4). Residential continuity must conse-
quently be demonstrated rather than assumed.
Earthworks as Evidence
of Permanent Occupation
"The substantial structural elaboration at each of
these [Amazonian] sites, including the construction
of central plazas, earthworks, and specialized rnid-
den deposits, documents the type of landscape alter-
ation and functional variability that would be
expected for large, sedentary occupations, but highly
unlikely for small, impermanent communities"
 COMMENTS 31 7

500k90
20-30 190i60 510k80
30-40 1050*60
50-60 5250k80 3130~110
60-70 2500*90

--.-----

FOREST

-
0 10 50 M

Figure 10. Plan of RO-PV-25 showing the locations of four stratigraphic excavations and the associated radiocarbon dates.
Five episodes of occupation are suggested by the seriated sequence and indicated by circles ca 50 m in diameter. The first
and fifth were in the location of Cut 3, the second in Cuts 1 and 4 (contemporary houses), the third also in Cut 4, and the
fourth in Cut 2. Discontinuous occupation is also implied by the horizontal and vertical discrepancies in the dates. Those
from Level 10-20 cm in three excavations differ by 430 years, those from Level 20-30 cm in two excavations differ by 320
years, and those from Level 50-60 cm in two excavations differ by 2,120 years. Although the dates within each excavation
also differ significantly, the discrepancy is particularly noteworthy in Cut 3, where consecutive 10 cm levels differ by 120 and
860 years. The three earliest dates identify preceramic occupations of the site (after Miller et al. 1992, Figure 71).

A similar prehistoric water-control system on the
northeastern lowlands of Bolivia consists of a net-
work of ridges 1-2 m wide, 20-50 cm high, and up
to 3.5 km long, totaling ca. 1515 linear km. Associ-
ated small artificial ponds are 0.5-2.0 m deep and
10-30 m in diameter. Earth-moving experiments
indicate that construction could have been accom-
plished by 1,000 people working only 30 days per
year during 10 years (Erickson 2000). The "scale of
earthmoving" at Agutuba and on the upper Xingu is
insignificant by comparison.
Another archaeological perspective is provided by
29 habitation sites along the Guaport on the Brazil-
ian border with Bolivia (Miller 1983). The majority
have a single peripheral ditch, but two exhibit rem-
nants of two or three ditches (Figure 11). Black soil
318 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011

Flood Plain

.....,...... Ditch
- -- - Limit of site

Figure 11. Habitation sites of the Corumbiara and Pimenteiras phases on the upper GuaporC, which marks the frontier
between Brazil and Bolivia. As on the upper Xingu, the two semicircular ditches at RO-PN-4 and the remnants of three at
RO-CO-5 do not correlate with the boundaries of the habitation refuse. Both the seriated sequences and the radiocarbon
dates imply multiple episodes of occupation. RO-CO-05 has been reoccupied by a modem settlement and an airfield (after
Miller 1983, Figs. 20 and 27).
 COMMENTS
extends 250-900 m along the bank, 8G230 m inland,
and is 20-90 cm deep, and does not coincide with
the locations of the ditches. A 1 x 1, 2 x 2, or 3 x 3
m stratigraphic excavation in 10 cm levels was made
in six sites and systematic surface collections were
made in 10.
The pottery was classified into 4 undecorated and
14 decorated types. Quantitativedifferencesrequired
construction of two seriated sequences, which allo-
cated the sites to two regions separated by an unin-
habited zone, compatible with the existence of
endogamous territories.All of the stratigraphic exca-
vations exhibit discontinuities, and the disjunct seri-
ated positions of the levels imply at least two to four
episodes of abandonment and reoccupation at each
of the locations represented. As on the upper Xingu,
these sites are relatively recent; four radiocarbon
dates extend from ca. 580 to 290 B.P., when the first
significantEuropean occupation of the region began.
Population Estimates
On the upper Xingu "it seems highly likely that the vil-
lage populations ranged into the low thousands, at least
1,000to 1,500. . . [and] there may have been five con-
temporary plaza villages . . . and perhaps even more"
(Heckenbergeret al. 1999:370);in the vicinity o f A p
tuba, "extensive (30 ha or more of TP),generally con-
temporaneous sites . . . [provide] further evidence of a
high regional population density" (Heckenbergeret al.
1999:364).In central Brazil, "precontact ring villages
were far more numerous, populous, and diverse than
the ones described in the ethnographic literature" (Wust
and Barreto 1999:4, 14).
Upper Xingu
The population estimate for the upper Xingu settle-
ments is based on total site area, which is up to 10
times greater than that of present-day Kuikuru vil-
lages. However, most of the archaeological accu-
mulation of 40-50 cm of terra preta appears to
correspond to a pre-ditch phase extending from ca.
A.D. 800-1200, rather than the post-ditch phase ca.
A.D. 1400-1500 (Heckenberger et al. 1999:367and
Figure 9), and the absence of ceramic seriation pre-
vents identifying the locations and dimensions of
the settlement at any time during these 400 years.
Domestic pottery, described only as exhibiting
"marked conservatism," is said to be "distributed
across the surface of the sites . . . except in road and
plaza areas," although the maps show the highest den-
31 9
sities present in the latter locations as well (Heck-
enberger et al. 1999: Figures 8, 10). Nor is any evi-
dence provided to indicate that "the partitioning of
each site, conditioned by the placement of artificial
earthworks, created discrete intravillage precincts .
. . [that] may well correspond to social divisions," or
that "households were more than likely positioned
with respect not only to affiliation . . . but also inter-
nal rank" (Heckenberger et al. 1999:370).
The contemporaneity of the upper Xingu villages
is inferred from their "density and regular place-
ment,'' although the radiocarbon dates from five sites
*
extend from 1000 70 to 180 60 B.P., and most
+_
of them interdigitate sufficiently to suggest sequen-
tial rather than simultaneous occupation (Hecken-
berger et al. 1999:370, 366).
Central Brazil
The population estimates for central Brazil are based
on the number of sites, the diameter of the village
ring, the size and number of the houses, and the
assumption that "most houses belonging to the same
ring are likely to have been occupied simultane-
ously" (Wust and Barreto 1999:14). As Wiist
(1990:412414) has observed, however, the fact that
most of the prehistoric sites are less than 5 krn apart
and many overlap makes it difficult to consider them
as contemporary, especially since smaller Bororo
villages occupied during the first half of the twenti-
eth century were 14-35 km apart. The differences in
the radiocarbon dates from Survey Area 2 also argue
against contemporaneity.Three sites along the lower
Tadorimana produced dates of 1090 + 60,700 70, *
and 230 + 70 B.P. and three ca. 40 krn to the north-
*
east produced dates of 1750 65,950 + 60, and 590
* 60 B.P. Another site somewhat to the west was
dated 780 + 70 B.P. (Wiist and Barreto 1999: Figure
3 and Table 1).
The assumption of simultaneousoccupation of all
the houses in the same ring is also incompatible with
the ethnographic evidence that (1) one-third of the
occupants of a Bororo village changed residence
during a year and a half and most of the people inter-
viewed had lived in some nine different villages and
(2) when a house deteriorates or an occupant dies,
another is built behind it, nearby, or in a different ring
(Wiist 1990:321,324-325).Similarreplacement dur-
ing the Precolumbian period is suggested by the seri-
ated positions of several houses in the Aldeia da
Queimada Nova in Piaui (Figure 4).
320 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
Given these and other kinds of potential variables,
confirmation of contemporaneity is necessary before
the number of dwellings can be used to infer village
population. This caveat has been raised for decades
(e.g.,Ammerman et al. 1976:40;Haviland 1985:186;
Martin et al. 1949:191), and greater awareness of
potential duplication has provoked recent reduction
of estimates for the Maya area (Becquelin and
Michelet 1995), the Cahokia chiefdom (Milner
1998:123), and the southwestern pueblos (Creamer
and Haas 1998:50),among others.
Carrying Capacity
"It is now clear that archaeological villages in Cen-
tral Brazil can be surprisingly large in size, a fact that
challenges the belief that low agricultural produc-
tivity and protein availability in the tropical South
American lowlands have placed relatively low ceil-
ings on the maximum size of tribal villages"(Wiist
and Barreto 1999:13-14,19); "the 'carrying capac-
ity' of diverse Amazonian settings is substantially
higher than commonly accepted. . . .The large, seden-
tary villages. . . were apparently supported by inten-
sive terra j m e agriculture" (Heckenberger et al.
1999:371-372).
Intensive Terra Firme Agriculture
Neither citations nor tangible evidence are provided
for "heavy dependence on agriculture" in any of the
three regions, nor is its feasibility documented by eco-
logical or ethnographicobservations. On the contrary,
Wiist describesthe predominate soils in central Brazil
as low in phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium, high
in aluminum,and even the best as often unsuitable for
traditional cultivation because of relief or physical
condition (Wiist 1990:33-34). Those on the upper
Xingu are rated high in phosphorous, calcium, and
magnesium, very low in potassium, and have a pH of
5.2-6.8 (Setzer 1967), and the amount of cultivable
land availablehas been disputed (Gregor 1977:13-14).
The nutrient deficiency and high erodability of most
terra firme soils in the vicinity of Aqutuba are con-
sidered serious obstacles to agricultural use (Blum
and Magalhiies 198736; Schubart 1977565).
The assumption that dense sedentary pre-
columbian populations could have achieved long-
term intensive exploitation of local soils is also
contrary to the judgment that, even with modem
technology, "in Amazonia, there are no land-use sys-
tems in existence today for agricultural purposes
[Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011
which fulfill all the prerequisites for sustainability"
(Serriio 1995262; cf. Jordan 1987:105;Walker et al.
1995:9)and incompatible with the conclusion based
on a 23,600 ha study area with typical or better than
average soils that "at most 0.24 persons ha-1 and pos-
sibly substantially less, could be supported" (Fem-
side 1990). It is thus not surprising that phytoliths
identified in cores taken north of Manaus indicate
that the forest was "never significantly altered by
humans" (Piperno and Becker 1996:207).
Sustainable Hunting
Although some anthropologists deny the existence
of limitations on protein, biologists have estimated
maximum human carrying capacity at ca. 0.2/km2
and documented the efficacy of traditional methods
of sustainable exploitation (Bodmer 1995; Hill and
Padwe 2000: 100; Robinson and Bennett 2000).
There is abundant ethnographic evidence that the
permanence even of relatively small settlements
depends on their periodic abandonment. In central
Brazil, for example, the 285 inhabitants of a Mekra-
noti village spent 22 percent of their time away on
treks lasting a few weeks to several months (Werner
1983),and similar behavior has been reported for the
Kalapalo (Basso 1973), Kaiap6 (Verswijver 1992),
and Bororo (Wiist 1998:666). In Amazonia, a
Yanomami community of less than 100 spent 40-60
percent of the year trekking (Good 1995).Although
fish management is poorly documented, Tukanoan
groups in southeastern Colombia employ sophisti-
cated strategies to maintain sustainable populations
of fish (Chernela 1989).
Subsistence depletion and environmental degra-
dation are universal consequences of sedentism on
the terra firme, even when settlements are small and
local resources are compensated by periodic
absences, domestic animals, and importedfood (e.g.,
Carneiro 1970; Clark and Uhl 1984; Eden 1974;
Fajardo and Torres 1987; Frechione 1990; Gross
1983:438;Henley 19825 1-53; Murrietaet al. 1992;
Yost 1981:687). It has also been suggested that the
absence of cases of Chagas disease in lowland Ama-
zonia, in spite of the universal presence of the infec-
tious agent and invertebrate host, is due to settlement
mobility, which prevented the carriers from adapt-
ing to human dwellings (Coimbra 1988).
Risk-Reduction Strategies
The number and variety of risk-reduction strategies
 COMMENTS
practiced by indigenous Amazonians are further tes-
timony to subsistence uncertainty (Brack Egg 1997;
Cer6n Solarte 1988). Although ethnologists often
assert underutilization of resources, this view is not
shared by their informants, who frequently express
anxiety over potential scarcity (e.g., Descola
1994:214;Wagley 1977:24).The discovery that Ama-
zonia is subject to infrequent, unpredictable long-
termdroughts that severely diminish the productivity
of both wild and cultivated plants provides an expla-
nation for their apprehension (Meggers 1994).
"Vacant" Ceremonial Centers
Instead of rejecting all of the environmental, eco-
logical, ethnographic, and experimental evidence for
limitations on settlement size and permanence, we
need to find explanations for the extensive archaeo-
logical sites that accommodate it. In addition to mul-
tiple reoccupation by relatively small communities,
a second possibility is suggested by the long history
of "vacant ceremonial centers" elsewhere in South
America, extending back into the Formative Period
in the Andes. A possible prehistoric example in east-
em Ecuador is provided by the multi-mound Sangay
site, where the existence of at least two loci with dis-
tinct ceramic sequences suggests that dispersed
autonomous communities may have collaborated in
its construction and use (Porras 1987).
An ethnographic example is provided by the con-
temporary Cayapa of north coastal Ecuador, who are
divided among four main territories, each contain-
ing a permanent "vacant" ceremonial center. During
most of the year, the population is dispersed among
nuclear family dwellings. One family moved 16
times during four generations (100 years), returning
12 times to a previous location. Based on this case,
the author warns that "the longevity of generally
vacant ceremonial centers . . .can create the archeo-
logical appearance of large, sedentary settlements"
and produce a "wildly inflated" estimate of popula-
tion density (DeBoer 1989, 1997). This function
could be assessed at A ~ u t u b aby quantitative analy-
sis and seriation of pottery from a dozen or more
stratigraphic excavations across the site, and attempt-
ing to interdigitate the results with one another and
with seriations from the surrounding region.
Conclusion
Applying quantitative analysis to samples of pottery
from surface collections and excavations at hundreds
of sites throughout Amazonia and constructing
321
dozens of seriated sequences has permitted recog-
nizing consistent patterns with social, cultural, and
climatological significance. None of these discover-
ies is the result of projecting ethnographic models
onto the archaeological record. Instead, the archae-
ological evidence has revealed social and settlement
behavior that has seldom been reported ethnograph-
ically, such as permanent affiliation of the same site
with the same moiety and avoidance by later com-
munities of locations occupied by previous groups.
Seriated sequences provide more precise chronolo-
gies than radiocarbon dates for identifying contem-
porary sites and the number of contemporary houses
during successive occupations of the same site, per-
mitting more reliable estimates of village size and
permanence and population density.
Drought sufficiently intense to disrupt well-
adapted communities has rarely been observed, giv-
ing ethnographers the impression that surviving
indigenous groups under-exploit their subsistence
resources, whereas pollen profiles and charcoal in
the soil document the infrequent occurrence of severe
droughts. The coincidence between the dates for
these episodes, the glottochronological estimates for
differentiation in the major language families, and
the timing of discontinuities in the archaeological
sequences provides an explanation for the dispersals
reflected in the exceptional heterogeneity of lin-
guistic and genetic distributions across the lowlands
(Meggers 1994). It also explains the multiple lunds
of risk avoidance behavior reported among indige-
nous Amazonians. Rather than the projection of an
ethnographic model onto the archaeological record,
our approach permits projecting Precolumbian set-
tlement, social, and subsistence behavior onto the
ethnographic record. Instead of prejudging surviv-
ing groups as decimated and decultured remnants,
we can identify the extent to which they have pre-
served their Precolumbian heritage.
Pottery is the only widespread and abundant
source of archaeological evidence throughout most
of tropical lowland South America. As such, it
behooves us to try to extract the maximum infor-
mation possible from its characteristics and their spa-
tial and temporal distributions. Observation of
gradual changes in pottery and other cultural traits
among contemporary groups as aconsequence of res-
idential isolation and evolutionary drift provides the-
oretical justification for equating seriated ceramic
sequences with endogamous communities. Apply-
ing this theoretical perspective to the archaeological
322 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
data permits detecting territorial boundaries, village
movement, site reoccupation, and matrilocal resi-
dence and correlating these features with subsistence
resources and other aspects of the local environment.
It seems likely that seriated sequences can provide
other clues for reconstructing past cultural behavior
and I hope that a few readers will be stimulated to
accept rather than reject the challenge.
As the future of Amazonia becomes increasingly
threatened, the potential contribution of archaeology
becomes more significant. Natural scientists in every
field are supplying detailed evidence that the complex
inorganic and organic interactions that maintain the
tropical forest ecosystem are incompatible with inten-
sive exploitation, and their conclusions are supported
by the repeated failure of well-financed efforts.
Whereas archaeologists working elsewhere in South
America, as well as in other parts of the world, are
giving increasing attention to the influence of envi-
ronmental conditions on cultural development and
change, those working in Amazonia reject "environ-
mental determinism" and accuse the natural scientists
of being misinformed (Roosevelt 1995; also Hecken-
berger et al. 1999:372; Wiist and Barreto 1999:19).
Nearly 15 years ago, a forester with global experience
in the tropics observed that, "Misunderstandings
among anthropologists, particularly regarding the
problem of soil depletion, must be resolved if this aca-
demic literature is to make a significant contribution
to the transformation of development strategiesbefore
this basic resource has been destroyed" (Lamb
1987:429). Unfortunately, the message remains
unheeded. Adherence to "the lingering myth ofAma-
zonian empires" not only prevents archaeologistsfrom
reconstructing the prehistory ofAmazonia, but makes
us accomplices in the accelerating pace of environ-
mental degradation (Foresta 1991:265).
Acknowledgments. The fieldwork during the PRONAPABA
and the pottery analysis have been conducted by Ondemar F.
Dias, Instituto de Arqueologia Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro;
Eurico Th. Miller, Eletronorte, Brasilia; Mkio F. SimBes,
Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, BelCm; Celso Peroto,
Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Vitbria, and Bernardo
Dougherty, Museo de La Plata, Argentina. Long-term funding
has been provided by the Neotropical Lowland Research
Project of the National Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA and
Eletronorte, Brasflia DF, Brasil.
References Cited
Abbot, David R.
2000 Ceramics and Community Organization Among the
[Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011
Hohokam. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Acuiia, Cristbbal de
1946 Nuevo descubrimiento del Gran Rfo de las Arnazonas.
Emect Editores, Buenos Aires.
AEs, Catherine, and Michel Pouyllau
1992 La conquete de l'inutile: les gCographies imaginaires
de 1'El Dorado. L'Homme 32(122-124):271-308.
Ammerman, Albert J., Luigi L. Cavalli-Sforza, and Diane K.
Wagener
1976 Toward the Estimation of Population Growth in Old
World Prehistory. In Demographic Anthropology, Quanti-
tative Approaches, edited by Ezra B. W. Zubrow, pp. 2 7 4 1 .
University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
Arnold, Dean E.
1993 Ecology and Ceramic Production in an Andean Com-
munin: Cambridge University Press, New York.
Basso, Ellen B.
1973 The Kalapalo Indians of Central Brazil. Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, New York.
Becquelin, Pierre, and Dominique Michelet
1995 Demografia in la zona puuc: el recurso del mttodo.
Latin American Antiquity 5:289-3 11.
Blum, Winfred E. H., and Luis M. S. MagalhLs
1987 Restrifdes edificas de solos na bacia sedimentar
amaz6nica h utilizafio agrhia. In Homem e natureza na
AmazBnia, edited by Gerd Kohlhepp and Achim Schrader,
pp. 83-92. Tiibinger Geographische Studien 95. Geo-
graphisches Institut der Universitat Tiibingen.
Bodmer, Richard
1995 Susceptibility of Mammals to Overhunting in Amazo-
nia. In Integrating People and Wildlife for a Sustainable
Future, edited by John A. Bissonette and Paul R. Krausman,
pp. 292-295. Wildlife Society, Bethesda.
Brack Egg, Antonio
1997 Pobreza y manejo adecuado de 10s recursos en la Ama-
zonia peruana. Revista Andina 15(1):15-30.
Brumbach, Hetty Jo
1985 Ceramic Analysis and the Investigation of Matrilocal-
ity at the Smith Mohawk village site. North American
Archaeologist 6:341-355.
Cameiro, Robert
1970 Hunting and Hunting Magic Among the Amahuaca of
the Peruvian Montaia. Ethnology 9:33 1-341.
Cerbn Solarte, Benhur
1991 El manejo indigena de la selva pluvial tropical: ori-
entaciones para un desarrollo sostenido. AbyaYala, Quito.
Chernela, Janet
1989 Managing Rivers of Hunter: The Tukano of Brazil.
Advances in Economic Botany 7:238-248.
Clark, Kathleen, and Christopher Uhl
1984 Deterioro de la vida de subsistencia traditional en San
Carlos de Rio Negro. Interciencia 9:358-365.
Coimbra, Carlos E. A. Jr.
1988 Human Settlements, Demographic Pattern, and Epi-
demiology in Lowland Amazonia: The Case of Chagas' Dis-
ease. American Anthropologist 90:82-97.
Colson, Audrey B.
1983-84 The Spatial Component in the Political Structure of
the Carib Speakers of the Guiana Highlands: Kapon and
Pemon. Antropoldgica 59/62:73-124.
Creamer, Winifred, and Jonathan Haas
1998 Less than Meets the Eye: Evidence for Protohistoric
Chiefdoms in Northern New Mexico. In Chiefdoms and
Chieftaincy in the Americas, edited by Elsa M. Redmond,
pp. 4 3 4 7 . University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
DeBoer, Warren R.
1989 The House that Jesusito Built. In Households and Com-
 COMMENTS
munities, Proceedings of the 21" Annual Chacmool Con-
ference, pp. 478-489. Archeological Association of the Uni-
versity of Calgary, Calgary.
1997 Ceremonial Centres from the Cayapas (Esmeraldas,
Ecuador) to Chillicothe (Ohio,USA). Cambridge Archaeo-
logical Journal 7:24&248.
DeBoer, Warren R., Keith Kintigh, and Arthur G. Rostoker
1996 Ceramic Seriation and Site Reoccupation in Lowland
South America. Latin American Antiquity 7:263-278.
Descola, Philippe
1994 In the Society of Nature: A Native Ecology in Amazo-
nia. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Dias, Ondemar F., and Eliana T. de Carvalho
1988 As estruturas de terra na arqueologia do Acre. Arqueo-
IAB (TextosAvulsos) 1: 1 4 28. Rio de Janeiro.
Dillehay, Tom D.
1990 Mapuche Ceremonial Landscape, Social Recruitment
and Resource Rights. World Archaeology 22223-241.
1999 El formativoandino: problemas y perspectivas demogri-
ficas. In Fotmativo Sudamericano, una revaluacidn, edited
by Paulina Ledergerber-Crespo, pp. 255- 267. AbyaYala,
Quito.
Dougherty, Bemardo, and Horacio H. Calandra
1981 Nota preliminar sobre investigaciones arqueol6gicas en
10s llanos de Moxos, Departamento del Beni, Repliblica de
Bolivia. Revista do Museo de La Plata 8537-106.
1984 Prehistoric Human Settlement in the Llanos de Moxos,
Bolivia. Quaternary of South America and Antarctic Penin-
sula 2: 163-199. A.A. Balkema, RotterdatnBoston.
198485 Ambiente y arqueologia en el oriente boliviano: la
provincia ItCnez del departamento Beni. Relaciones de la
Sociedad Argentina de Antropologia 16:37- 61.
Duff, Andrew I.
1996 Ceramic Micro-Senation: Types or Attributes? Ameri-
can Antiquity 6139-101.
Eden, Michael J.
1974 Ecological Aspects of Development among Piaroa and
Guahibo Indians of the Upper Orinoco Basin. Antropolbg-
ica 39:25-56.
Erickson, Clark L.
2000 An Artificial Landscape-scale Fishery in the Bolivian
Amazon. Nature 408: 19& 193.
Evans, Clifford, and Betty J. Meggers
1960 Archeological Investigations in British Guiana. Bureau
of American Ethnology Bulletin 177. Smithsonian Institu-
tion, Washington DC.
1968 Archeological Investigations on the Rio Napo, Eastern
Ecuador. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology 6.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
Evans, Clifford, Betty J. Meggers, and JosC M. Cruxent
1960 Preliminary Results of Archeological Investigations
along the Orinoco and Ventuari Rivers. Actas del33" Con-
greso Intemacional de Americanistas, pp. 359-369. San
JosC, Costa Rica.
Fajardo, Gloria, and William Torres
1987 Ticuna. In Introduccidn a la Colombia Amerfndia, pp.
165-175. Instituto Colombiano de Antropologia, Bogoti.
Fearnside, Philip M.
1990 Estimation of Human Carrying Capacity in Rainforest
Areas. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 5:192-196.
Foresta, Ronald A.
1991 Amazon Conservation in the Age of Development: The
Limits of Providence. University of Florida Press,
Gainesville.
Frechione, John
1990 Supervillage Formation in the Amazonian Terra Firme:
The Case of Asenoiia. Ethnology 29: 117-133.
323
Gallois, Dominique
1981 0 s Waiipi e seu temtorio. Boletin do Museu Paraense
Emilio Goeldi, Antropologia No. 80. BelCm.
Good, Kenneth
1995 The Yanomami Keep on Trekking. Natural History
104:5M5.
Graves, Michael W.
1994 Kalinga Social and Material Culture Boundaries: A
Case of Spatial Convergence.In Kalinga Ethnoarchaeology,
edited by William A. Longacre and James M. Skibo, pp.
13-49. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
Gregor, T.
1977 Mehinaku: The Drama of Daily Life in a Brazilian
Indian Ellage. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Grenard, Pierre
1980 Introduction B 1'Ctude de l'invers Waygpi: ethnoCcolo-
gie des Indiens du Haut-Oyapock (Guyana franfaise).
Langues et Civilisations a Tradicion Orale 40. SociCtC d'E-
tudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France, Paris.
Gross, Daniel R.
1983 Village Movement in Relation to Resources in Amazo-
nia. In Adaptive Responses of Native Amazonians, edited by
Raymond B. Hames and William T. Vickers, pp. 429-449.
Academic Press, New York.
Haviland, William A.
1985 Excavations in Small Residential Groups of Tikal:
Groups 4F-1 and 4F-2. Tikal Report No. 19, University
Museum Monograph 59. The University Museum, Philadel-
phia.
Heaton, Herbert C. (editor)
1934 The Discovery of the Amazon According to the Account
of Friar Gaspar de Carvajal and Other Documents. Ameri-
can Geographical Society Special Publication 17. Ameri-
can Geographical Society, New York.
Heckenberger, Michael J., James B. Petersen, and Eduardo G.
Neves
1999 Village Size and Permanence in Amazonia: TwoArchae-
ological Examples from Brazil. Latin American Antiquity
10:353-376.
Hemming, John
1978 The Search for El Dorado. Michael Joseph Ltd., Lon-
don.
Henley, Paul
1982 The Panare: Tradition and Change on the Amazonian
Frontier. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Hilbert, Peter P.
1959 Preliminary Results of Archeological Investigations in
the Vicinity of the Mouth of the Rio Negro. Actas del33"
Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, Volume
II:370-377. San JosC, Costa Rica.
1962 New Stratigraphic Evidence of Culture Change on the
Middle Amazon (Solimdes). Akten des 34" Internationalen
Amerikanisten-kongresses, pp. 471476. Vienna.
1968 Archaologische Untersuchungen am Mittleren Ama-
zonas. Marburger Studien zur Volkerkunde 1. Dietrich
Riemer Verlag, Berlin.
Hill, Jonathan, and Emilio F. Moran
1983 Adaptive Strategies of WakuCnai People to the Olig-
otropic Rain Forest of the Rio Negro Basin. In Adaptive
Responses of Native Amazonians, edited by Raymond B.
Hames and William T. Vickers, pp. 113-135. Academic
Press, New York.
Hill, Kim, and Jonathan Padwe
2000 Sustainability of Acht Hunting in the Mbaracayu
Reserve, Paraguay. In Huntingfor Sustainability in the Trop-
ical Forests, edited by John G. Robinson and Elizabeth L.
Bennett, pp. 79-105. ColumbiaUniversity Press, NewYork.
324 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 12, No. 3, 20011
Hodges, H. W. M.
1965 Aspects of Pottery in Temperate Europe Before the
Roman Empire. In Ceramics and Man, edited by Frederick
R. Matson, pp. 114-123. Viking Fund Publications in
Anthropology 41. Aldine, Chicago.
Jordan, Carl F. (editor)
1987 Amazonian Rain Forests: Ecosystem Disturbance and
Recovery. Springer-Verlag,New York.
Kaplan, Joanna 0.
1975 The Piaroa: a People of the Orinoco Basin. Clarendon
Press, Oxford.
Lamb, F. B N C ~
1987 The Role of Anthropology in Tropical Forest Ecosys-
tem Resource Management and Development. The Journal
of Developing Areas 21:429-458.
Linares de Sapir, Olga
1969 Diola Pottery of the Fogny and the Kasa. Expedition
11(3):2-11.
Lipo, Carl P., Mark E. Madson, Robert C. Dunnell, and Tim Hunt
1997 Population Structure, Cultural Transmission and Fre-
quency Seriation. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
16:301-333.
Longacre, William A.
1964 SociologicalImplicationsof the CeramicAnalysis. Fiel-
diana, Anthropology 55: 155-170.
1985 Pottery Use-life Among the Kalinga, Northern Luzon,
the Philippines. In Decoding Prehistoric Ceramics, edited
by Ben A. Nelson, pp. 33&346. Southern Illinois Univer-
sity Press, Carbondale.
Lourandos, H.
1997 Continent of Hunter-gatherers: New Perspectives in
Australian Prehistory. Cambridge University Press, New
York.
Martin, Paul S., John B. Rinaldo, and Ernest Antevs
1949 Cochise and Mogollon Sites, Pine Lawn Vallley, West-
ern New Mexico. Fieldiana, Anthropology 38(1): 1-232.
Meggers, Betty J.
1987 The Early History of Man in Amazonia. In Biogeogra-
phy and Quarernay History in Tropical America, edited by
Tim C. Whitmore and Ghillean T. Prance, pp. 151-174.
Clarendon Press, Oxford.
1991 Cultural Evolution in Amazonia. In Projles in Cultural
Evolution, edited by A. Terry Rambo and Kathleen Gillo-
gly, pp. 191-216. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
1992a Amazonia: Real or Counterfeit Paradise? The Review
of Archaeology 13 (2):25- 40.
1992b Prehistoric Population Density in the Amazon Basin.
In Disease and Demography in theAmericas, edited by John
W. Verano and Douglas H. Ubelaker, pp. 197-205. Smith-
sonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
1992c ReconstrufBo do comportamento locacional prC-
hist6rica na AmazGnia. Bolerim do Museu Paraense Emilio
Goeldi, Se'rie Antropologia 6: 183-203. BelCm.
1994 Archeological Evidence for the Impact of Mega-Nifio
Events on Amazoniaduring the Past Two Millennia. Climatic
Change 28:321-338.
199% Amazonia on the Eve of European Contact: Ethno-
historical, Ecological, and Anthropological Perspectives.
Revisra de Arqueologia Americana 8:9 1-1 15.
199% Archaeological Perspectives on the Potential of Ama-
zonia for Intensive Exploitation. In: The Fragile Tropics of
Latin America, edited by Toshie Nishizawa and Juha I. Uitto,
pp. 68-93. United Nations University Press, Tokyo.
1995c Judging the Future by the Past: The Impact of Envi-
ronmental Instabilityon PrehistoricAmazonian Populations.
In Indigenous Peoples and the Future of Amazonia, edited
by LeslieE. Sponsel, pp. 1 5 4 3 . University ofArizonaPress,
Tucson.
1996a Amazonia: Man and Culture in a CounterfeitParadise.
Second Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington
DC .
1996b Possible Impact of Mega-Nifio Events on Pre-
columbian Populations of the Caribbean Area. Ponencias del
PrimerSeminario deArqueologia del Caribe, edited by Mar-
cia Veloz Maggiolo and Angel Caba Fuentes, pp. 156-176.
Altos de Chavon, Republics Dominicana.
1999 La utilidad de secuencias ceramicas seriadas parainferir
conducta social prkhistorica. El CaribeArqueologico3:2-19.
Meggers, Betty J., Ondemar F. Dias, Eurico Th. Miller, andCelso
Perota
1988 Implications of Archeological Distributions in Amazo-
nia. Proceedings of a Workshopon Neorropical Distribution
Patterns, edited by Paulo Vanzolini and W. Ronald Heyer,
pp. 275-294. Academia Brasileira de Ciincias, Rio de
Janeiro.
Meggers, Betty J., and Clifford Evans
1957 Archeological Investigations at the Mouth of the Ama-
zon. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 167. Smith-
sonian Institution, Washington DC.
Meggers, Betty J., and Silvia Maranca
1980 Uma reconstituifiio de organizafBo social, baseada na
distribui~iiode tipos de cerlmica num sitio habitaGBo da
tradifBo Tupiguarani. Pesquisas,Antropologia 3 1:227-247.
Instituto Anchietano de Pesquisas, SBo Leopoldo.
Merona, Bernard de
1990 Amazon Fisheries: General Characteristics Based on
Two Case-studies. Interciencia 15:461475.
Miller, Eurico T.
1983 Historia da cultura indigena do alto Medio-Guapore'
(Rond6nia e Mato Grosso). Tesis de Mestrado em Hist6ria
da Cultura Brasileira, PUCRS, Porto Alegre.
1992 AdaptaGBo agncola pre-historica no Alto Rio Madeira.
In Prehistoria Sudamericana: Nuevas Perspectivas, edited
by Betty J. Meggers, pp. 219-229. Taraxacum, Washington,
DC .
Miller, Eurico T., et al.
1992 Archeology in the Hydroelectric Projects of Eletronorte:
Preliminary Results. Centrais Eletricas do Norte do Brasil
S.A., Brasflia.
Milner, George R.
1998 The Cahokia Chiefdom..The Archaeology of a Missis-
sippian Socierq: Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington,
DC .
Murrieta,Rui S.S.,Eduardo Brodizio,Andrea Siqueira,and Emilio
F. Moran
1992 EstratCgias de subsist6ncia da comunidade de Praia
Grande, Ilha de Maraj6, Pari, Brasil. Boletin do Museu
Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Antropologia 8(2): 185-201.
Nieman, Fraser D.
1995 Stylistic Variation in Evolutionary Perspective: Infer-
ences from Decorative Diversity and Interassemblage Dis-
tance in Illinois Woodland Ceramic Assemblages. American
AntiquiQ 60:7-36.
Perota, Celso
1992 AdaptafBo agricola no baixo Xingu. In Prehistoria
sudamericana: nuevasperspectivas, edited by Betty J. Meg-
gers, pp. 21 1-218. Taraxacum, Washington DC.
Perota, Celso, and Waine C. Botelho
1994 0 s sambaquis do GuarP e as variafBes climaticas no
Holoceno.Revisra do Departamento de Geograja 7:49-59.
Piperno, Dolores, and P. Becker
1996 Vegetational History of a Site in the Central Amazon
Basin Derived from Phytolith and Charcoal Records from
Natural Soils. Quarernay Research 45:202-209.
 COMMENTS 325
Pool, Christopher A,, and Georgia M. Britt
2000 A Ceramic Perspective on the Formative to Classic
Transition in Southern Veracruz, Mexico. Latin American
Antiquity 11:139-161.
Porras, Pedro I.
1987 Investigaciones arqueologicas a lasfaldas del Sangay:
Tradicidn Upano. Quito.
Reina, Ruben E, and Robert Hill
1978 The Traditional Pottery of Guatemala. University of
Texas Press, Austin.
Robinson, John G. and Elizabeth L. Bennett (editors)
2000 Hunting for Sustainability in Tropical Forests. Colum-
bia University Press, New York.
Roe, Peter G.
1981 Aboriginal Tourists and Artistic Exchange Between the
Pisquibo and the Shipibo: Trade Ware in an Ethnographic
Setting. In Networks ofthe Past, edited by Peter D. Francis,
F. J. Kense, and P. G. Duke, pp. 61-84. University of Cal-
gary Archaeological Association, Calgary.
Roosevelt, Anna C.
1991 Moundbuilders of the Amazon: Geophysical Archaeol-
ogy on Marajd Island, Brazil. Academic Press, San Diego.
1995 Educating Natural Scientists About the Environment.
Practicing Anthropology 17 (4):25-28.
Rosengren, Dan
1981-82 Proximity and Interaction: the Case of the Matsi-
genka of the Upper Umbamba, SoutheasternPeru. Goteborgs
Etnogra$ska Museum, Arstryck: 48-63.
Schubart, H.O.R.
1977 CritCrios ecoMgicos para o desenvolvemento agricola
das terras firmes da AmazBnia. Acta AmazBnica
7(4):559-567.
SerrXo, Emanuel A.
1995 Possibilities for Sustainable Agriculture Development
in the BrazilianAmazon: An EMBRAPA Proposal. In Brazil- Woods, William I.
ian Perspectives on Sustainable Development of the Ama-
zon Region, edited by Miguel Clusener-Godt and Ignacy
Sachs, pp. 259-285. Man in the Biosphere Series Vol 15.
UNESCO, Paris.
Setzer, JosC
1967 Impossibilidade do uso racional do solo no alto Xingu,
Mato Grosso. Revista Brasileira de Geografia
29(1): 102-109.
SimBes, M&io F.
1974 Contribui~ba arqueologia dos arredores do baixo rio
Negro, Amazonas. Publicap7esAvulsas 26: 165-200. Museu
Paraense Emiio Goeldi, BelCm.
1977 Programa Nacional de Pesquisas Arqueol6gicas da
Bacia AmazBnica. Acta AmazBnica 7:297-300.
SimBes, M&io F., and Femanda de Araujo-Costa
1987 Pesquisas arqueoldgicas no baixo no Tocantins (Par&).
Revista de Arqueologia 4 (1):ll-27.
SimBes, M&io F., and Concei@o G. Correa
1987 Pesquisas arqueol6gicasno baixouatuml-Jatapu (Ama-
zonas). Revista de Arqueologia 4:2948.
SimBes, M&io F., and Anna L. Kalkmann
1987 Pesquisas arqueol6gicas no mCdio rio Negro (Ama-
zonas). Revista de Arqueologia 4(1):83-116.
SimBes, M&io F., and Daniel F. Lopes
1987 Pesquisas arqueol6gicas no baixo/mCdio rio Madeira
(Amazonas). Revista de Arqueologia 4(1): 117-134.
SimBes, M&io F., and Anna L. Machado
1987 Pesquisas arqueolbgicas no lago de Silves (Amazonas).
Revista de Arqueologia 4(1):49-82.
Vacher, StCphane, Sylvie JCrtmie, and JCrBme Briand (editors)
1998 Amtrindiens du Sinnamary (Guyane): archCologie en Submitted July 13, 2000; accepted December 1, 2000; revised
for& Cquatoriale. Documents d'Arch.6ologie Franpise 70. Januaiy 30, 2001.
Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris.
Verswijver, Gustaaf
1992 The Club-jighters of the Amazon: Waflare among the
Kaiapo Indians of Central Brazil. Rijksuniversiteit, Gent.
Vickers, William T.
1983 TheTemtorial Dimensions of Siona-Secoya and Enca-
be110 Adaptation. In Adaptive Responses of Native Amazo-
nian~,edited by RaymondB. Hames and WilliamT.Wckers,
pp. 45 1 4 7 8 . Academic Press, New York.
Wagley, Charles
1977 Welcome of Tears: The Tapirape' Indians of Central
Brazil. Oxford University Press, New York.
Walker, Ilse, Ari Marques Filho, and Eneas Salati
1995 Climatic and Hydrological Conditions as Key Factors
for Ecodevelopment Strategies. In Brazilian Perspectiveson
Sustainable Development of the Amazon Region, edited by
Miguel Clusener-Godt and Ignacy Sachs, pp. 9-22. Man in
the Biosphere Series No. 15. UNESCO and The Parthenon
Publishing Group.
Werner, Dennis
1983 Why Do the Mekranoti Trek? In Adaptive Responses of
Native Amazonians, edited by Raymond B. Hames and
WilliamT. Vickers, pp. 225-238. Academic Press, New York.
Whitehead, Neil L.
1992 El Dorado, Cannibalism and the Amazons-European
Myth and Amerindian Praxis in the Conquest of SouthAmer-
ica. In Beeld en Verbeelding van Amerika, edited by Wwil-
helmus G. Pansters and Jan Weerdenburg, pp. 53-69.
University of Utrecht Press, Utrecht.
1994 The Ancient Amerindian polities of the Amazon, the
Orinoco, and the Atlantic Coast: A Preliminary Analysis of
their Passage from Antiquity to Extinction. In Amazonian
Indians, edited by Anna C. Roosevelt, pp. 33-53. Univer-
sity of Arizona Press, Tucson.
1995 Comments on the Black Earths of Amazonia. Papers
and Proceedings of Applied Geography Conferences
18:159-165.
Woods, William I., and Joseph M. McCann
1997 Who Put the Black in the Terra Preta? Paper presented
at the 931dAnnual Meeting of the Association of American
Geographers, 4 April 1997, Ft. Worth TX.
Wust, Irmhild
1990 Continuidade e mudanga-para uma interpretagzo dos
grupos ceramistaspr.6- coloniais da bacia do rio Vennelho,
Mato Grosso. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation. Department
of Anthropology, Universidade de SXo Paulo.
1994 The Eastern Bororo from an Archaeological Perspec-
tive. In Amazonian Indians from Prehistory ro Present:
Anthropological Perspectives, edited by Anna C. Roosevelt,
pp. 315-342. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
1998 Continuities and Discontinuities:Archaeology and Eth-
noarchaeology in the Heart of the Eastern Bororo Temtory,
Mato Grosso, Brazil. Antiquity 72:663-675.
Wust, Irmhild, and Cristiana Barreto
1999 The Ring Villages of Central Brazil: A Challenge for
AmazonianArchaeology.LatinAmencanAntiquity 10:3-23.
Yost, James A.
1981 Twenty Years of Contact: The Mechanisms of Change
in Wao ("Auca") Culture. In Cultural Transfonnations and
Ethniciv in Modem Ecuador, edited by Norman E. Whit-
ten Jr. pp. 677-704. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.
http://www.jstor.org

LINKED CITATIONS
- Page 1 of 2 -

You have printed the following article:

The Continuing Quest for El Dorado: Round Two
Betty J. Meggers
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 12, No. 3. (Sep., 2001), pp. 304-325.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1045-6635%28200109%2912%3A3%3C304%3ATCQFED%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

This article references the following linked citations. If you are trying to access articles from an
off-campus location, you may be required to first logon via your library web site to access JSTOR. Please
visit your library's website or contact a librarian to learn about options for remote access to JSTOR.

References Cited

Demografia en la zona puuc: El recurso del metodo

Pierre Becquelin; Dominique Michelet
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 5, No. 4. (Dec., 1994), pp. 289-311.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1045-6635%28199412%295%3A4%3C289%3ADELZPE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23

Human Settlements, Demographic Pattern, and Epidemiology in Lowland Amazonia: The

Case of Chagas's Disease
Carlos E. A. Coimbra, Jr.
American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 90, No. 1. (Mar., 1988), pp. 82-97.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7294%28198803%292%3A90%3A1%3C82%3AHSDPAE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23

Ceramic Seriation and Site Reoccupation in Lowland South America

Warren R. DeBoer; Keith Kintigh; Arthur G. Rostoker
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 7, No. 3. (Sep., 1996), pp. 263-278.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1045-6635%28199609%297%3A3%3C263%3ACSASRI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I

Mapuche Ceremonial Landscape, Social Recruitment and Resource Rights

Tom D. Dillehay
World Archaeology, Vol. 22, No. 2, Monuments and the Monumental. (Oct., 1990), pp. 223-241.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0043-8243%28199010%2922%3A2%3C223%3AMCLSRA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T
http://www.jstor.org

LINKED CITATIONS
- Page 2 of 2 -

Ceramic Micro-Seriation: Types or Attributes?

Andrew I. Duff
American Antiquity, Vol. 61, No. 1. (Jan., 1996), pp. 89-101.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7316%28199601%2961%3A1%3C89%3ACMTOA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9

Village Size and Permanence in Amazonia: Two Archaeological Examples from Brazil
Michael J. Heckenberger; James B. Petersen; Eduardo Goés Neves
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 10, No. 4. (Dec., 1999), pp. 353-376.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1045-6635%28199912%2910%3A4%3C353%3AVSAPIA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

A Ceramic Perspective on the Formative to Classic Transition in Southern Veracruz, Mexico

Christopher A. Pool; Georgia Mudd Britt
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 11, No. 2. (Jun., 2000), pp. 139-161.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1045-6635%28200006%2911%3A2%3C139%3AACPOTF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5

The Ring Villages of Central Brazil: A Challenge for Amazonian Archaeology

Irmhild Wüst; Cristiana Barreto
Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 10, No. 1. (Mar., 1999), pp. 3-23.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1045-6635%28199903%2910%3A1%3C3%3ATRVOCB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3