ABSTRACT

Water has always been a major resource for all human societies. This chapter looks at how different societies through time exploited the same environment of an island located at the mouth of the Amazon River. It presents both archaeological and ethnographic research. The archaeological data is related to the indigenous occupation of the island, during the last millennia ce before contact (1492). The environment has changed little during the timespan between the two occupations. Both occupations had a significant impact on the landscapes. Marajo is the island of a large archipelago located at the Amazon River delta. The island's actual configuration is relatively new, as sea level fluctuations and sediments brought by the Amazon River have shaped its geomorphology throughout the Holocene. A rainy winter and a dry summer are responsible for the dramatic oscillation between flood and drought, having important implications over food resource availability, housing, transportation and the timing of human activities.