Pre-Columbian Settlement Dynamics in the Central Amazon

During the past decade, integration of anthropology, archaeology, biology, ecology, geography, and soil science has brought important results in the development of an overview of the formation processes of Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE). These interdisciplinary efforts have provided significant information about the genesis, use, and re-use of these soils; moreover, this research is producing important information about pre-Columbian societies and the cultural behaviours that could start the ADE accretion in Amazonia (e.g. Lehmann et al. 2003; Glaser and Woods 2004; Rebellato 2007: Arroyo-Kalin, this volume; Schaan et al., this volume). An archaeological effort directed toward understanding the past socio-cultural processes responsible for the origin of these soils and the subsequent use is presented in this chapter. Evidence for continuity and change in settlement patterns during pre-Columbian times at the Hatahara archaeological site in the Central Amazon of Brazil is reviewed (Fig. 2.1). Soil analysis results correlated with archaeological artifacts excavated in that site provide interpretation of cultural changes, the consequences of these in village morphologies, and advance the interpretation of the region's indigenous history.

Located on a bluff top parallel to the left bank the Solimões/Amazon River, near to the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers, the Hatahara site has natural protection against attack due its 40 m high location. The scarp of this bluff surrounds ca. 60% of the site area leaving only a narrow entrance in the northeast. The secure location of the site was enhanced by access to a wide range of resources that allowed the population to survive by fishing, hunting, gathering, and farming (Fig. 2.2). The Hatahara site is an example of the Bluff Model described by Denevan (1996), who understood that pre-Columbian settlements in Amazonia were often located on bluffs adjacent to major river channels and their floodplains. These settlements, consequently, were not subject to the annual floods that cover the lowlands, but still had ready access to the fertile soils of the floodplain. Hatahara contains pottery from three different archaeological phases (the Açutuba — c.300 BC—c. AD 360; Manacapuru c. AD 400—800; Paredäo c. AD 700–1200; and, the Guarita Subtradition c. AD 900–1600) (Heckenberger et al. 1999; Hilbert 1968).