Monumental Variability in Southwestern Amazonia

Abstract This chapter discusses different forms of monumentality in southwestern Amazonia and what is known about their settings (landscapes), regional patterns, and internal organization. The area of interest covers more than 250,000 km2, which is about the size of Great Britain, and large parts of it are still unexplored archaeologically. However, available data suggest a remarkable synchronic and diachronic diversity of monumental sites in the southwest Amazon. Here, we concentrate on four specific areas of study: the geometric ditched and mound sites in Acre; the ring ditches, causeway, and fish traps in the northeast Mojos, or Iténez, region; the raised fields in western Mojos; and the monumental mounds in southeast Mojos. Numerous small occupational sites are intertwined with ritual monuments and massive engineering works for water management that modified the landscape of this region. Archaeological research in recent decades has revealed the cultural characteristics of the peoples who have occupied these savannas for at least 2,000 years and their relationship with the environment.