ABSTRACT
In the beginning of the Common Era, new settlements appeared on the river bluffs along floodplains and lakeshores throughout the Amazon River basin. There is no evidence of a Paleoindian occupation of the island by hunter-gatherers. It seems that the first inhabitants were previously settled populations which relied on shellfish and other aquatic resources. As vague as they might be, ethnohistorical sources about the central and upper Amazon River basin may stimulate hypotheses to be tested in the archaeological record. During the rainy season, which lasts for up to six months, rainwater accumulates in the deepest center of the 'plate'. This situation is particularly critical at river headwaters, which depend on occasional rains to maintain a minimal flow. In 2007 and 2008, author conducted a survey of all mounds in the upper Goiapi River region. Mounds found at the former. The ceramic evidence indicates a Formiga phase occupation earlier in the area.
