Arqueologia do baixo Tapajós: ocupação humana na periferia do domínio tapajônico

Abstract

This research investigates a archaeological site located on a supposed south boundary of the Incised and Punctate Tradition area of influence, in the lower Tapajós River, and debates the results of the investigation in the light of the data and hypotheses on the precolonial occupation of the region. Archaeological investigations in the region in the last couple of years have revealed that the area of dispersal of this tradition is larger than previously expected. Material culture styles and the ways the landscape was occupied seem to indicate cultural contact between the inhabitants of the lower Tapajós River and the peoples who lived on the Nhamundá and Trombetas rivers basins by the end of the first millennium. So being, this research focus was twofold: (1) a local scale, with reference to Serraria Trombetas site and a detailed study of the in-site space as a micro cosmos of a regional history; and (2) a regional scale, comparing local results with the chronology and the characteristics of other sites in the region. Cultural diversity among the pre-colonial indigenous groups in the region was studied through ceramic styles, lithic objects, spatial distribution of vestiges in the local and regional levels, and the absolute chronology.