The Marajoara or Marajó culture was an ancient pre-Cabraline era culture that flourished on Marajó island at the mouth of the Amazon River in northern Brazil. In a survey, Charles C. Mann suggests the culture appeared to flourish between 800 AD and 1400 AD, based on archeological studies. Researchers have documented that there was human activity at these sites as early as 1000 BC. The culture seems to have persisted into the colonial era.
Background
Archeologists have found sophisticated pottery in their excavations on the island. These pieces are large, and elaborately painted and incised with representations of plants and animals. These provided the first evidence that a complex society had existed on Marajó. Evidence of mound building further suggests that well-populated, complex and sophisticated settlements developed on this island, as only such settlements were believed capable of such extended projects as major earthworks.
The extent, level of complexity, and resource interactions of the Marajoara culture have been disputed. Working in the 1950s in some of her earliest research, American Betty Meggers suggested that the society migrated from the Andes and settled on the island.
In the 1980s, another American archeologist, Anna Curtenius Roosevelt, led excavations and geophysical surveys of the mound Teso dos Bichos. She concluded that the society that constructed the mounds originated on the island itself.
The pre-Cabraline culture of Marajó may have developed social stratification and supported a population as large as 100,000 people. The Native Americans of the Amazon rain forest may have used their method of developing and working in terra preta to make the land suitable for the large-scale agriculture needed to support large populations and complex social formations such as chiefdoms.
Origin of the mounds Conclusive proof of this ancient human presence in the Amazon is the Pedra Pintada cave, located near the city of Monte Alegre, in Pará (Brazil), which was studied by the American archaeologist Anna Roosvelt.
In the cave area you can admire several cave paintings that represent anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, as well as representations of the sun, which was worshiped as a god.
Rossetti et al. proposed that the archaeological settlements associated with isolated or compound mounds were "systematically developed on top of extensive elevated surfaces formed due to natural sedimentary processes".Dilce de Fátima Rossetti, Ana Maria Góes, Peter Mann de Toledo (2008), "Archaeological Mounds in Marajó Island in Northern Brazil: A Geological Perspective Integrating Remote Sensing and Sedimentology." (PDF) GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, VOL. 24, NO. 1
Thus, the large Marajoara mounds or tesos are not entirely manmade. Rather, the inhabitants took advantage of the natural, preexisting elevated surfaces and added on top of those to build their earthworks. This interpretation suggests less cumulative labor investment in the construction of the mounds.
"Several mounds on Marajo Island and several in Bolivia have yielded radiocarbon dates as early as 1000 to 300 BC in early levels, suggesting that the first mounds of the tradition were built in the Formative, the period when horticulture appears to become widespread for the first time."Neil Asher Silberman, Alexander A. Bauer, The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press, 2012
The earliest phase of human activity and moundbuilding on Marajo Island is known as the 'Ananatuba phase'. The Castanheira site of that phase is an artificial mound.Simoes, M. F. 1969 The Castanheira site: New evidence on the antiquity and history of the Ananatuba phase (Marajo Island, Brazil). American Antiquity 34(4): 402-410.
Agriculture and economy
Plant remains on Marajo Island show a subsistence pattern that relied heavily on small seed crops, as well as small fish, which were either cultivated or protected by indigenous peoples. Many of the carbonized seed remains have not yet been identified, though they seem to be herbaceous and derived from local grasses. Trees such as the açai and tucuma palms also provided important supplements in the Marajo diet and were used for manufacturing items such as baskets or canoes. Evidence from human remains shows that Marajo peoples limited their consumption of starchy root crops like manioc; rather, the heavy wear patterns of teeth suggest a diet based predominantly on seed crops, tree fruits, and fish. Since small fish make up the majority of biomass fauna and there are relatively few terrestrial animals, it follows that pre-historic peoples focused on the abundant populations of small fish. The method for catching fish was likely very similar to present-day techniques, which involves stunning fish with the poisonous liana plant and collecting them as they float to the surface. This method of mass harvesting is not as useful in the rainy season as it is during the dry months when fish are trapped in receding streams or ponds.
The agricultural technology at Marajo is limited to, primarily, stone axes that were introduced in the Marajoara Phase. Other stone artifacts include griddles found at Teso Dos Bichos during Roosevelt’s excavations, although these are very rare. Their rarity is another marker of the absence of root crops from the diet at Marajo.
Earthen mounds, unlike lithic artifacts, are abundant. They were used for cemetery purposes as well as for habitation, as the low-lying areas are prone to flooding in the rainy season. Mounds may have served a defensive purpose too. Pre-historic peoples of Marajo Island may have also constructed ramps, canals, ponds, and drained fields found near earthworks mounds, but most of the evidence has likely been buried by sediment in seasonal floods.
Evidence for trade networks at Marajo is found mostly in lithics, because the island has no local source of suitable igneous or metamorphic rock. None of the lithic artifacts have been sourced, although they are primarily made from a green, microcrystalline mafic rock. Such greenstones are typically more associated with Mesoamerica, a possible point of origin for Marajo’s imported stone.
An increased complexity of ceremonial wares and uniformity of utilitarian wares occurred with the Marajoara phase, suggesting ceramic manufacture became a specialized industry at this time. Sometime into the Marajoara phase, however, there was a decline in characteristics that indicated specialization of ceramics.
Architecture Many of the excavations on Marajo island have focused on the largest earthen mound sites. Smaller mounds and non-mound sites likely outnumber them.
Multi-level stratification of sites by size: 3 to 4 very large multi-mound sites such as Os Camutins with 40 mounds, or Fortaleza with 20. These housed several thousand people; e.g. Os Camutins had a population of about 10,000 Many more smaller multi-mound sites with 3 to 5 mounds each, for example Monte Carmelo Numerous single mound sites, such as Teso do Sitio. These housed between a few hundred and about a thousand people Countless low-mound and non-mound sites
Mounds predominate in the lowest areas that are most prone to severe flooding. They were constructed of earthen materials, and garbage was used as fill to maintain them.
The mounds served many purposes, for example as cemeteries, for habitation, for militaristic defense, and as a defense against seasonal flooding.
The mounds housed residential structures similar to present-day malocas, which are Amazonian longhouses. These were multi-family structures with several hearths lined up along the center of the building; each hearth likely represented one nuclear family. The malocas were arranged east to west and generally grouped in a concentric oval pattern. They were built of earth, wooden poles, and thatch roofs. They were occupied continually as evidenced by superimposed layers of structures, with up to 20 structures built atop one another at some places, such as Os Camutins. There were permanent cooking facilities made of baked clay and plastered floors, which were frequently repaired over time.
There are also monumental earthworks, causeways, ramps, canals, ponds, and drained fields that have been buried by extensive sedimentation.
Art and symbolism
The most common motif found in Marajoara iconography involves female imagery such as females as mythical ancestors, creators, cultural heroes, or females portrayed in shamanistic roles and with shamanistic power. These female motifs are typically found on ceramic artifacts, either pottery vessels or statues.
Pieces can be found in the collections of museums in the region and even internationally, such as the Museum of Marajó, Museum of Emílio Goeldi, National Historical Museum (Brazil - Rio de Janeiro), Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of USP, , American Museum of Natural History (New York).
However, among the most significant ceramic collections in the region, the Marajó Museum, created in 1972, brings together pieces of everyday use and customs, relating to the civic-religious aspect of civilization. The museum was created to promote and make known to the public the culture and art of an ancient civilization.
Artifacts
The people on Marajo produced many diverse artifacts such as pottery vessels (urns, jars, bottles, cups, bowls, plates, dishes), figurines, large statues, pubic covers, pendants, ear and lip jewelry, whistles, spindle whorls, and ceramic miniatures of axes, mashers, hammers, and other tools. Lithics were very rare because Marajo island has no source of suitable stone. Lithics that have been found suggest they were used as high-status items and gifts, or they were used in craft production
Elaborate pottery vessels were found in garbage fills between houses and in graves, but not around hearths, which contained only plain domestic wares. Additionally, the low mound and non-mound sites contain very little if any fineware. Some artifacts are found only at specific sites; for example, Teso dos Bichos contains thousands of small ceramic and sandstone abraders, which are very rare or absent from other sites.
The general pattern of change found throughout artifacts on Marajo, especially in ceramics, is one that moves toward more complex, elaborate, and specialized wares through the Marajoara Phase, thought specialization and complexity later declined.
Ceramics
The Marajoara art is a type of pottery produced by Indigenous peoples from the period of Marajoara occupation on the Brazilian island of Marajó, during Brazil's pre-colonial period from 400 to 1400 AD, and is thus called Marajoara ceramics, because there are successive phases of occupation in the region, each with its own distinctive pottery style. According to Samuel Lopes, manager of the School of Arts and Crafts of Pará de Minas, this art represents the origin of pottery in Brazil
The Indigenous people of Marajó made both useful and decorative objects. Among the various objects found by researchers are bowl, jugs, Coffins, toys, statue, flowerpot, plates, and thong. The igaçaba, for example, was a kind of clay pot or large water jug that was used to preserve food and other items. Today there are several copies of Marajó's igaçabas.