TITLE:
Formoso Stilt Village: An Incised-Punctate/Arauquinoid Tradition Phase in Maranhão, Brazilian Amazon
AUTHORS:
Alexandre Guida Navarro
KEYWORDS:
Stilt Villages, Brazilian Amazon, Incised-Punctate/Arauquinoid Tradition, Spatial Analysis, Pottery Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Anthropology,
Vol.12 No.4,
November
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: Dwellings on stilts were a common type of construction in the lowlands of South America from the pre-colonial period to the present day. The mainfunction of these houses on stilts is to protect their inhabitants from the constant Amazon floods during the rainy season. This article examines the Formoso stilt village, located in the Baixada Maranhense, in the easternmost portion of the Brazilian Amazon. The analysis of the pottery material revealed technological characteristics of the Incised-Punctate/Arauquinoid TraditionPhaseof the Northeast of South America lowlands. Radiocarbon dating between1566-1469 BP indicates that this stilt village is as old as those located in the Venezuela and Guianas, if not even older. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of stilts of the settlement corroborated to pottery analysis showed alinear/rectangular ceremonial space connected by stilts to the circular/residen- cial area. Formoso stilt village presents an unprecedented form of indigenous habitation never before described in Anthropology and Archaeology of the Lowlands of South America.