Comparative Arawakan Histories: Rethinking Language Family and Culture Area in Amazonia

8. A New Model of the Northern Arawakan Expansion

8 A New Model of the Northern Arawakan Expansion alberta zucchi When we observe the number of languages that belong to the northern Maipuran groups and their wide distribution in SouthAmerica,several questions arise regarding the location of ancestral areas, the characteristics and causes of this population dispersal, the processes of linguistic and ethnic differentiation, and the archaeological evidence of these processes and their antiquity. During the last three decades archaeologists have proposed models that tried to answer some of these questions (Lathrap 1970b; Meggers 1987, 151–74; Rouse 1985, 9–21; Oliver 1989; Zucchi 1991a, 113–38, 1991b, 1–33, 1991c, 202–20,1991d,368–79,1992,223–52),using archaeological materials from the Amazon and Orinoco areas. As a result, the process of dispersal of this population has been associated with six different ceramic traditions: zoned incised and Barrancoid (Lathrap 1970b; Meggers 1987, 151–74; Rouse 1985, 9– 21), ancient Amazonian polychrome, macro Tocuyanoid, and macro Ronquinoid (Oliver 1989),and the incised parallel line (Zucchi 1991a,113–38,1991c, 202–20). In 1970, Lathrap provided the groundwork for the first model of Arawakan expansion, explaining the conditions in which demographic increments arose in the Middle Amazon and how they related to domestication and improvements of the most important crop: manioc. In a later work (Lathrap 1977, 713–50) he proposed that the revolution of floodplain and estuarine agriculture provided the conditions for expansion and colonization of similar eco-niches. Although the later models were strongly influenced by Lathrap’s ideas, most of them failed to provide new details of this impressive process of population dispersal. In this chapter I present recent data related to the following aspects of the Arawakan expansion: ancestral home08 .197-222/H&S 6/4/02, 10:12 AM 199 200 alberta zucchi lands; exploratory travels,permanent migrations,and the occupation of new territories; and the archaeology of the Upper Orinoco–Lower Ventuari– Atabapo and Upper Negro–Guainía–Casiquiare subareas. The Ancestral Homelands Historical linguistics is a powerful tool for reconstructing ancient population movements and past demographic processes and for explaining questions of origins and cultural change. Noble (1965) carried out the only comprehensive application of lexicostatistical methods for historical purposes in the Arawak language family.Another important breakthrough in Arawakan studies came a few years after the publication of Noble’s monograph in studies of the major branches of the Arawakan family. These works followed the lexicostatistical method and produced chronological estimates. Although these estimates cannot be taken as absolute values, they provide a useful indication on the time span involved (Lathrap 1970b, 72). According to Noble (1965),Proto-Arawak diverged from Proto-Equatorial around 4,000 to 3,500 years b.p. A second surge of divergence, which Noble reconstructed as Proto -Maipuran, took place between 3,000 and 2,500 years b.p. Out of this second surge further separations developed, and Proto–Northern Maipuran evolved into a group of languages and dialects. When the focus is narrowed to include only northwestern Amazonia, it reveals a different variant of this overall chronology.Nimuendajú (1927/1950, 125–83) hypothesized a three-stage occupation of the northwest Amazon. According to this author, the most ancient inhabitants of the region were several groups of seminomadic hunters and gatherers generically known as Makú.Various Arawak and Tukano groups,who migrated into the area from regional centers,represented the second occupational stratum:Arawak from the Upper Orinoco–Guainía area in Venezuela and the Tukano from the eastern part of the continent. The third stratum was represented by a hybrid culture that was formed as a consequence of the encounter between Arawaks, Tukanos,and Europeans.TheArawakan invasion was supposed to have taken place in successive waves; the major Arawakan groups settled in the Negro Basin as follows: the Baré along the Middle and Upper Rio Negro and its tributaries; the Warekena on the Xié and Lower Isana; and the Baniwa on the Isana andVaupés,particularly in the upriver region around the Querari River. The Tariana arrived at the Isana after the Baniwa had settled there but later migrated through the Upper Aiary to the Vaupés, finally settling along its banks around the Juareté and Papurí rivers. Oral traditions of several northern Arawakan groups support some of 08.197-222/H&S 6/4/02, 10:12 AM 200 Northern Arawakan Expansion 201 Nimuendajú’s ideas but also provide additional information.Several groups of the Isana,Vaupés, and...