Denise Schaan. Universidade Federal do Pará, Brasil
E-mail address: denise@marajoara.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2578-0061

Abstract: By the 5th century, an economy based on intensive gathering of aquatic resources emerges on Marajó Island.  This economy empowered kinship groups, who controlled, in their communities, access to basic resources. This situation was justified by a ritualistic and religious system that sought support on true and mythical ancestors. The study of decorative styles and ceramic iconography has allowed defining boundaries between social groups and better understand social organization and relations between chiefdoms up to the 14th century.

Keywords: Chiefdom; Amazonian Archaeology; Aquatic Resources; Marajo Island; Symbolim; Ceramics.

Received 6 May 2007, Accept 21 July 2007, Available online 30 September 2007.

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