Amazonian Arts

AmazonianTribal Arts

Max Carocci

Map of Amazonia’s 6 main linguistic groups(within the red area)

Amazonian historical cultures are the result of the fragmentation of precontact chiefdoms and

polities that covered much of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins

Ariste AD 100-1750

Maraca AD 1400 -1750

Marajoara AD 100 -1400

Santarem AD 800 (?)- 1600

Guarita AD 800- 1600

BRAZILArchaeological cultures of the Amazon

Precontact Amazonian societies were connected by long distance trade routes

Amapa standing stones, earthworks and raised fields (AD 500 ca.) reveal the extent the complexity of pre-Columbian Amazon’s social and economic infrastructures

Marajo culture - polished stoneceremonial celts are associated with

hierarchical systemsand social prestige (AD 100-1400 ca.)

As much in the past as among historical cultures, clubs and maces are symbols of masculine authority and leadership

Like many archaeological cultures of the area, Marajoaraexpresses in highly refined aesthetics a concern with status, shamanic themes and the after life

Anthropozoomorphicurns from Marajo

Marajoara traditionanthropomorphic pots show the relevance of body paint and sexual themes expressed through the prominence given to reproductiveorgans

Santarem prestige trade items as shownon locallymanufactured art(AD 800-1600)

Elite expressions in Santaremculture (AD 800 1600)

Santarem caryatid vases reflect the complexity of Precolumbian Amazonian societies

Marajoara’s contemporary Ariste Culture (AD 100-1750)

Clearly shows a concern with social statusdefined by the body markings that correspond to clan and family heraldic Sytems still in vogue among historical peoples

Evidence from contemporary Palikur Indians informs archaeological interpretations of

Ariste’ iconography

Understanding Amazonian graphic systems opens up a window onto their beliefs, social arrangements, and oral traditions

Geometries are part of an inter-semiotic system in which objects refer to each other in a complex multimodal dimension that cuts across visual, olfactory, oral and tactile domains

(Yekuana and Wayana baskets)

Body painting patterns

In the Amazon, body painting has historically been

an important form for the visualisation of social

and cosmological meanings

Caduveo woman ca. 1935 Marajoara urn with body painting

Kene, protective design in progress

Shipibo Coniboshamanic motifs(Kene)

Snuff tablets lower Amazon river

Snuff tubes featuring shamanswith their double, or ‘helper’

Stools are a shaman’sinstrument

The quadripartite division of the seat locates the shaman at the centre of the cosmos

Maraca Culture(AD 1400-1700)

Rio Maracas female shaman sitting on divination stool

Evidence of high female status indicates women’s significance in precolonialAmazonian societies

Designs can indicate tribal

and clan affiliation

Sexuality and gender are important structuring principles in Amazonian art

Phallic and breast symbolism merge in hybrid forms that highlight the significance of fertility and abundance

Cotton ties above the calf ensure that swelling references myths with clear aesthetic resonance

Guarita(AD 800- 1600)urns’ bulging bottoms and swelling calves indicate the antiquity of this belief

Historic and ethnic Amazonians display a great deal of cultural continuity with archaeological cultures

Although Amazonian

environments do not preserve well

perishable material, it is certain that

textile (fabric and baskets) and feather

work have roots in the deep past

Wari hat from Peru (AD 500-900), right: historic Karaja headdress

Kayapo: left Kamayura: right

Amazonian Indians’ languageof feathers is as complex as it is various

Kayapo’s dancing cycle with scheme of corresponding headdresses

Colourcombinations

are associated with very specific

ritual occasions

Amazonians’ social worlds are ordered by way a careful use of coloured feathers, which are associated with statuses, clan subdivisions, roles and areas of responsibility

Kayapo boy’s naming

ceremony

Rikbaksachiefly headdress

Feather items such as back frames, crowns, and bracelets worn in combination deploy specific meanings

The construction and use of artifacts ultimately aims at producing persons

Objects and decorations are not only vehicles for inter and intra-species communication but also technologies that produce specific effectsupon reality

• Wauja apapaatai healing masks

Tikuna woman shaman with harpy Eagle bracelets that give her power to fly

Like feather art, fibre arts produced today have been made since centuries

Fiber masks and costumes are produced allover Amazonia

Not limited to initiation masks and basketry, Amazonian fibre arts also extend to textiles

Ashaninka, Shipibo, Conibo and other West Amazon peoples produce elaborate cotton textiles

Often reproduced in beadwork, traditional graphics extend to necklaces, beaded aprons and other wearable items now also made forthe tourist trade