An engineered environment
At the mouth of the Amazon River lies Marajó, the world's largest river island. From approximately 400 AD to 1300 AD, this island was where the Marajoara culture. To manage the seasonal flooding that inundates the region, the Marajoara people constructed hundreds of artificial earthen mounds, known as "tesos". These mounds were elevated platforms for entire villages, protecting them from the floodwaters. Some mounds, like those at the Camutins site, reach up to 12 meters in height and cover several hectares. The society engineered an extensive area of mounds, causeways, ramps, and canals to support a large population. Research led by American archaeologist Anna Curtenius Roosevelt in the 1980s challenged the prior assumption that the Amazon could not sustain complex societies. Her work demonstrated that the Marajoara originated on the island itself and developed sophisticated ways to manage their environment.
A society revealed in clay
The most distinctive artifacts of the Marajoara culture are their large, elaborately decorated ceramics. Found within the artificial mounds, these pieces provide the primary evidence of a, socially stratified society. The pottery includes large funerary urns, some standing up to 85 cm tall, used for secondary burials. After a person died, their bones were cleaned and placed inside these urns, which were then buried in the floors of their houses on the mounds. The urns and other vessels are famous for their complex designs, which combine painting with incised and excised geometric patterns. Artists used red, black, and white slips to create complex representations of animals like birds and snakes, as well as anthropomorphic figures. The complexity and standardization of these ceramics suggest a society with craft specialization and established social hierarchies. Some researchers believe the frequent depiction of female figures may indicate that chiefly descent was traced through a mythical female ancestor. The Marajoara culture declined and eventually vanished around 1300 AD, centuries before Europeans arrived in the region.