Conference | Workshop
The Population History of the Bolivian Tropical Lowlands: Towards a multidisciplinary synthesis
- Date
- Monday 20 January 2025 - Tuesday 21 January 2025
- Location
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 2.12 and 2.11 (20/01), and 2.27 (21/01)
About
The tropical lowlands of Bolivia are among the most linguistically diverse areas in the world, with an especially high number of language families and isolates represented there. We know very little about the sociohistorical dynamics that have given rise to the present situation. Nevertheless, the archaeological literature suggests that this area played a very central and important role in connecting people across the continent and was home to (sometimes considerable) human presence. Southwest Amazonia may well have been the fifth early Holocene center of plant domestication (Lombardo et al. 2020), there is considerable evidence of anthropogenic landscapes going back some 2500 years (Erickson 2006), and a history of considerable population densities going back to well before the European arrival, not just along the rivers, but also inland (Prümers et al. 2022, Iriarte et al. 2020).
We cannot know to what extent the linguistic diversity in Bolivia’s tropical lowlands reaches back in time, but the presence of many different cultures in terms of landscape management and material culture (Walker 2008, Prümers & Jaimes Betancourt 2014) suggests that cultural diversity has been part and parcel of the area for a long time, on a par with the ecological diversity of the area. Genetic (Sandoval et al. 2023), archaeological (Eriksen 2011), ethnohistorical (Levi-Strauss 1948, Eriksen 2011), and linguistic evidence (Crevels & Van der Voort 2008) furthermore suggests complex interplays of intensive interactions coupled with identity preservation reminiscent of the northwest Amazon (e.g. Epps 2020). Add to this the central position of the Llanos de Mojos in connecting large areas of South America through trade routes (Walker 2008, Eriksen 2011) and the fact that several incursions of expanding families like Arawak and Tupí took place, and it becomes abundantly clear that this has for a long time been a culturally complex, highly dynamic, and continentally important area.
In order to know more about this fascinating area, we are convening specialists from several different disciplines to present their perspectives on the human past of the tropical lowlands of present-day Bolivia, in order to assemble a maximally complete reconstruction of the historical dynamics of the area. In this workshop, we focus on two main questions, with several possible subquestions:
- What can we say about the historical social dynamics of the area?
- To what extent do we see evidence of historical interactions between groups (e.g. in linguistics, material/immaterial culture, genetics)?
- To what extent does the observed linguistic diversity correlate or correspond to the ecological diversity found in the area?
- What can we say about the expansions of large language families into the area (timing, mode of expansion) and what can we say about how this influenced the dynamics of the area?
- What was the role of riverine and terrestrial movement in the dynamics of the area?
- What can we say about the presence of language groups at the time of European contact?
- What can we say about historical phases of occupation, demographic fluctuations, changes in climatic circumstances, etc.?
- What can we say about the historical role of the Bolivian lowlands (and the Llanos de Mojos in particular) as a hub in continent-wide trade relations?
- What evidence is available of long-distance connections (material culture, borrowed lexicon, genetic connections) and with which areas? Can we date some of these connections?
- What was the nature and the extent of relation between the nearby zones with other dominant cultures, such as the Chaco and Chiquitanía, the Andean foothills, Rondônia and central Amazonia, Madre de Dios?
- How far back can we trace this central role of the Llanos de Mojos?
- What can we say about the radius (and mode) of movement of the groups in the area?
Registration
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Register now!Programme
| 09:00 - 09:30 | Welcome coffee/tea |
| 09:30 - 10:00 | Introduction |
| 10:00 - 11:00 |
Tábita Hünemeyer (Institut de Biología Evolutiva, CSIC, UPF) Genomic Diversity and Population Dynamics in Indigenous Latin American Populations |
| 11:00 - 11:30 | Coffee pause |
| 11:30 - 12:30 |
Carla Jaimes Betancourt (University of Bonn) Cultural Dynamics in Southwestern Amazonia in the Light of the Archaeological Record |
| 12:30 - 13:45 | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 15:00 |
Heiko Prümers (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut) |
| 15:00 - 15:30 | Coffee pause |
| 15:30 - 16:30 |
Umberto Lombardo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) From Plant Domestication to Agriculture in Southwestern Amazonia |
| 16:30 - 17:30 |
Kate Dudgeon (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) Detecting the origins of cultural diversity in the Bolivian Amazon |
| 09:00 - 10:00 |
Mickaël Brohan (Université Paris Nanterre); talk given in Spanish |
| 10:00 - 11:00 |
Vincent Hirtzel and Isabelle Daillant (CNRS, Laboratoire d'ethnologie et de sociologie comparative) |
| 11:00 - 11:30 | Coffee pause |
| 11:30 - 12:30 |
Nick Emlen (University of Groningen), Rik van Gijn (Leiden University), Alba Hermida Rodríguez (Leiden University) and Matheus Azevedo (Radboud University) |
| 12:30 - 13:45 | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 15:00 |
Mily Crevels (Leiden University) Linguistic diversity in the Moxos region: in search of explanations for its existence and decline |
| 15:00 - 16:00 |
Bernat Bardagil (Ghent University) What voices and sounds can tell us about the highly diverse population history of lowland Bolivia |
| 16:00 - 16:30 | Coffee pause |
| 16:30 - 17:30 | General discussion |
Abstracts
Genomic diversity in Indigenous American populations remains underexplored, with only a few dozen genomes available for study. To address this gap, we generated 128 high-coverage Indigenous genomes from 45 ethnic groups representing 28 language families across eight Latin American countries. Among these, 24 individuals are from Indigenous Bolivian populations, encompassing eight groups: Cayuaba, Yuracaré, Chiquitano, Tsimané, Movima, Guarayo, Sirionó, and Ayoreo. The genetic variation of these populations is partially explained by an isolation-by-distance model, as indicated by correlations between pairwise genetic and geographic distances. However, more complex spatial relationships are evident. Effective migration surface (EEMS) models identify regions of higher genetic differentiation, notably southeastern Peru, northern Bolivia, and southwestern Amazon. Other regions with lower migration rates include Aridoamerica (northern Mexico), northern Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon, Chaco, and eastern South America, particularly along the northern margin of the Amazon River. A higher-than-average migration rate is inferred between Mesoamerica and South America. Population-wise analysis suggests that there is especially low genetic diversity in Bolivia and southern Peru, contrasting with high genetic diversity in Mesoamerica. No significant correlations were found between genomic diversity values and latitude, longitude, or distance from Alaska, challenging the hypothesis of a north-to-south gradient of genetic diversity. However, southeastern Peru, northern Bolivia, and southwestern Amazon consistently show lower diversity, suggesting that subsequent dispersals, European colonization, and admixture influenced genetic diversity patterns from the initial peopling. From a multidisciplinary perspective, we are integrating linguistic, geographic, and genomic data to generate correlations at both continental and regional scales, offering new insights into the historical and demographic factors that have shaped the genomic diversity of Indigenous populations.
Amazonian archaeology is currently addressing significant paradigm shifts. As evidence of monumentality and sophisticated natural resource management continues to grow, a remarkable diversity of cultural contexts and landscape transformation patterns is emerging. While the historical and social processes behind these transformations in the Amazonian cultural landscape remain debated, many of these changes are often linked to the dispersal of the Arawak linguistic family. This paper compares the archaeological record from distinct cultural regions of the Llanos de Moxos with existing models that explain the process of 'Arawakisation' across the Amazon. In the Llanos de Moxos, multiple local cultural developments unfolded simultaneously within multi-ethnic, potentially multilingual settings, leading to societies shaped by, yet distinctive from, Arawak influences. Examining these local cultural dynamics during the Middle Holocene is essential for understanding the following complex occupational histories.
When the DAI project began in the Casarabe region in 1999, the “Casarabe culture” did not yet exist in the relevant literature, but was regarded only as a part of the “Mojos culture”. This is just one of many generalizations that have led to a distorted and incomplete picture of local history. The conference paper will present the latest findings regarding the Casarabe culture, questioning “preconceived ideas” and - where possible and justified - refuting them. These include the assumption that the complexity of pre-Hispanic societies in the Llanos de Mojos was linked to equally complex agricultural systems (ridged fields, etc.). References to the neighboring regions of the Casarabe culture will also illustrate how little is known to date of other pre-Hispanic cultures in the Llanos de Mojos.
The beginning of plant cultivation is one of the most important cultural transitions in human history. Southwestern Amazonia has previously been proposed as an early center of plant domestication, based on the presence of wild plants very close to domesticated plants. The history of early human occupation and plant cultivation in southwestern Amazonia is still in a very early phase. In my talk, I will report on the cultivation of squashes (Cucurbita sp.) and cassava (Manihot sp.) more than 10,000 years ago, and maize (Zea mays) around 7,000 years ago, in the Llanos de Moxos, in the Bolivian Amazon. Interestingly, despite the early start of plant cultivation and domestication, it was not until about 2,000 years ago that agricultural societies emerged in the region. When agriculture appeared in the Bolivian Amazon, it substantially transformed the landscape through the construction of thousands of hectares of agricultural fields. These fields are distinct in various places in the plains, each representing a specific adaptation to the edaphic conditions. In addition, I will provide an overview on my current ERC_CoG grant which focuses on reconstructing the demography of the llanos de Moxos from 11.000 to 2.000 yrs BP and unveiling the drivers of demographic changes.
The modern Bolivian Amazon is a hotspot of cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity, evident since Pre-Colombian societies dating back 1000-1500 years and demonstrated by a variety of settlement patterns, subsistence strategies and material culture. However, the origins of cultural diversity and subsequent societal trajectories remain relatively unknown. Current research suggests humans have inhabited the Llanos de Moxos region (LdM) for ~11,000 years. Human presence is documented in Forest Island archaeological sites, where accumulations of anthropogenic material have created slightly elevated mounds, enabling patches of trees to grow in the otherwise seasonally flooded savanna. However, to date, little is known about the lifeways of the people who formed the islands. This paper therefore synthesises data from archaeological excavations of Forest Islands in the LdM, spanning the Holocene, and combines it with new data from sediment cores sampled as part of the DEMODRIVERS-ERC project, to provide new insights into the origins of cultural diversity in the LdM. Evidence discussed includes settlement patterns, material culture, human burials and human-plant-animal interactions, situated within a new chronological framework. This paper also showcases the important contribution of environmental archaeology to better understand cultural diversity through time.
Los historiadores, antropólogos y lingüistas que han estudiado la cuenca entre los ríos Beni y Madre de Dios de la actual Bolivia coinciden en que, entre principios del siglo XVI y finales del XIX, la región fue ocupada por grupos indígenas takana-hablantes y, en menor medida, pano-hablantes, con la excepción de los aguachile (arawak) y los leco (que hablan una lengua aislada) del piedemonte. Sin embargo, un examen cuidadoso de las fuentes tempranas, complementado por nuestros propios datos etnográficos, nos lleva a matizar esa conclusión; no sólo reevaluando la extensión de la presencia arawak en la zona, sino también demostrando que los grupos de esta familia mantuvieron estrechos vínculos sociopolíticos con los de habla takana. La exposición se centrará en tres de esos grupos arawak hoy desaparecidos y olvidados: los magíana, al este del río Beni, que junto con otros muchos grupos participaron en la etnogénesis jesuítica de los maropa o reyesanos, takana-hablantes de las sabanas; los iñapari, al noroeste del Madre de Dios, antiguos vecinos de los araona, cuyo etnónimo es de origen takana; y, sobre todo, los diversos pueblos poco conocidos del piedemonte en la zona del Tuichi, emparentados con los aguachile, los cuales, en épocas coloniales, formaron confederaciones multiétnicas junto con diversos grupos takana.
This paper proposes a synthetic vision of the Indigenous linguistic and social landscape as it can be reconstituted from 16th and 17th century sources for a territory encompassing the forested slopes of the Andes (from the Alto Beni River to the headwaters of the Ichilo River) and, to the north, the plains inhabited by the Arawak-speaking groups historically known as “mojos”. In this area, there are currently five different ethnolinguistic groups: the Mosetenes and Chimanes (who constitute a linguistic microfamily), the Mojeños (Arawaks), the Yurakares (isolated) and the Yukis (Tupi-Guarani). Four hundred years ago, the social and linguistic landscape of this area was different, more complex and more diverse. This paper will focus on specifying the characteristics of the area, with a focus on the “moços” and the “amos” or “raches”, two groups that have disappeared today, as well as the Arawak polity of the Mamoré and its plains.
At various moments throughout history, the altiplano, eastern slopes, and Amazonian lowlands of Bolivia have been in close and sustained contact. In contrast to today’s discourse of binary division between Andean and Amazonian languages, cultures, and societies, during and after the Inca period this contact took the form of a continuous multilingual network stretching from the altiplano (Aymara and Quechua), east of Lake Titicaca and down the tropical foothills (Puquina, Leko, and Aguachile), and into the Amazon plain (Takanan and Arawakan languages). This paper brings together evidence from linguistics, ethnohistory, and anthropology about the nature of this multilingual and cross-regional social network. Special attention is paid to toponyms (place names), and new methods are presented for the use of topic evidence for learning more about language histories in South America and beyond.
The first Spanish to probe into the Moxos region (today Mojos or Llanos de Mojos) in the mid-sixteenth century were “would-be” conquistadors in search of a chimerical El Dorado, also known as Gran Moxos, Gran Paitití, Isla de la Canela, Tierra de Enín, or Candire. In 1587, the Jesuits, who first arrived in Lima in 1569, were called to Santa Cruz de la Sierra by Governor Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa – mainly to evangelize the Chiriguano [tupian], in which they did not succeed. In 1595, Jerónimo de Andión was the first Jesuit to reach the Moxos region with one of the expeditions organized by Suárez de Figueroa (Tormo 1978: 293; Chávez Suárez 1986: 191). Still, it would take more than 90 years until, in 1686, the Jesuits founded Santísima Trinidad, today the capital of the department of Beni. In his 1692 report, Fr. Eguiluz counted up to 37 different “nations” in the province of Moxos. By studying and comparing their languages and bringing together all the dialects Eguiluz managed to reduce this number to 10: the Moxo [arawakan], Canichana [isolate], Movima [isolate], Cayubaba [isolate], Itonama [isolate], Moré (Iténez) and Chapakura [chapakuran], Pacaguara [panoan], Maropa [takanan], and Sirionó [tupian] (Chávez Suárez 1944: 20). This linguistic diversity was preserved well into the twentieth century but is nowadays in total decline.
Despite regular contacts between highland populations and different Moxos’ groups, linguistic and archaeological evidence seems to point at an Amazonian origin of the Moxos culture. This Amazonian culture must have been highly sophisticated if we take into account the massive prehispanic artificial earthworks and water management first reported in Denevan (1966). Block (1994: 15) observes that this would support Lathrap’s (1970) thesis that “a dynamic culture moved out of a central Amazonian hearth on the river networks.” At the time, the distribution of the different peoples of Moxos seemed to be consistent with the assumptions that followed from Lathrap’s migration theory, namely that the river fronts are occupied by dominant groups and the wetland savanna by weaker groups.
In this talk, I will try to search for possible explanations for the linguistic diversity in the Moxos region by presenting as much of the available information about pre-hispanic Moxos as possible.
To what extent can we use high-resolution comparative approaches in linguistics and ethnomusicology to open a window into human history when we lack tangible historical information? The Guaporé-Mamoré region, overlapping significant territory in the Bolivian and Brazilian lowlands, is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions in the continent. In spite of that, we know extremely little about the history of a vast majority of the languages and the indigenous nations who speak them before the 20th century.
This talk discusses the author’s ongoing interdisciplinary research that combines fine-grained linguistic and ethnomusicological comparative elements in order to triangulate historical information about the indigenous peoples of this area, with a focus on the shared patterns on the Bolivian portion of the area, exploring the following questions:
- What grammatical and musical features constitute reliable elements for comparative analysis seeking to diagnose long-term contact?
- How do the convergences and divergences resulting from a comparative ethnomusicological analysis of lowland Bolivian indigenous groups overlap with the linguistic reality of these groups?
- What contact patterns, if any, can be inferred from a comparative ethnomusico-linguistic analysis?
Questions?
Please contact Alba Hermida Rodríguez (a.h.r.hermida.rodriguez@hum.leidenuniv.nl) or Rik van Gijn (e.van.gijn@hum.leidenuniv.nl).