The historical and ecological basis of the traditional settlement pattern of the Piaroa

Abstract

The Piaroa are a native group of the South American rainforest who, until the 1960s, inhabited an South American rainforest who until the 1960s inhabited an inter-riverine area. Most observers of the Piaroa culture have stated that this expressed that this ethnic group had little contact with Westerners and largely and largely retained their traditional or aboriginal culture until recent times. aboriginal culture until recent times. In this paper, it is proposed that an important aspect of ‘traditional’ culture, the settlement pattern, is actually a settlement pattern, is actually an adaptive socio-cultural response to adaptive socio-cultural response to environmental changes after contact with Western society. contact with Western society. The traditional settlement pattern of the Piaroa has been described as inter-riverine, small, and described as inter-riverine, small, widely dispersed and mobile. In abstract social terms, one can characterise this pattern as a product of two strong pattern as the product of two strong tendencies, towards atomism and fluidity. atomism and fluidity. A historico-ecological model of the traditional Piaroa settlement pattern is developed that consists of two interacting hypotheses: (1) the ecological effect of colonial contact among the of colonial contact among the Piaroa through depopulation and the introduction of the (2) the ecological effect of colonial contact among the Piaroa through depopulation and the introduction of steel technology,
decreased the demographic pressure on environmental resources; and (2) given this environmental resources; and (2) given this low population density, the subsistence system puts subsistence system exerts a pressure towards dispersal and independence of settlements while the and independence of settlements while other survival needs survival needs promote closeness and interdependence between settlements, while other survival needs promote closeness and interdependence between settlements. interdependence between settlements. Such conflicting tendencies of the ecological-adaptive system explain