Landscape and archaeological ceramics in the Trombetas Basin: a discussion of Karaiwa and Wai Wai Archaeology

Abstract This article addresses the archaeological landscape of the Trombetas River basin (Pará, Brazil), from the points of view of traditional and indigenous archaeologies, based on views about archaeological sites, ancient villages, places with histories of the past, as well as archeological ceramics. This region is inhabited by several indigenous peoples, most of them of Karib origin, such as Wai Wai and Katxuyana. Both the ceramic objects, especially the Konduri zoomorphic appliqués, as well as the sites, with rock art and black earth, are related to ancient histories, whether of the indigenous people or of nature spirits. Traditional archaeology tends to deal with material culture from its formal and symbolic attributes, as well as its chronological reference, to reconstruct the ways of life of peoples of the past. For indigenous elders, when heard, they say that these objects and places, bring to the surface and to the present what has already been ‘forgotten’ and ‘buried’ in the past.