Announcing the Defense of Charlotte Robinson for the Degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology
Recent archaeological studies show that pre-Columbian communities began modifying Southwestern Amazonia approximately 3,500 years ago. In lowland Bolivia, a recently mapped network of fish weirs in West Central Llanos de Mojos (WCM) demonstrates how ancient Mojeño groups built artificial earthworks to harness seasonal flooding and catch fish. Previous research within the region has focused on the fields and forest islands that pre-Columbian populations built to elevate themselves and their crops from the floodwaters that consume the landscape. However, water is still necessary for life, and the dry season beginning in early summer leaves the landscape in another extreme hydrological state. This begs the question, were inhabitants also participating in large-scale environmental transformations to domesticate wetlands and increase their duration and scale? This proceeds from the assumption that weirs were not only interacting with water to catch fish but controlling its flow and accumulation for broader purposes. Using a combination of spatial data and statistical analysis, this study defines potential wetlands within the region, distinguished by two unique patterns of fish weirs, stacks and networks.
Committee Members: John H. Walker (Chair), Neil A. Duncan, Scott Branting
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