Martti Parssinen

University of Helsinki | HY · Department of World Cultures

Geometric earthworks are evidence of ancient human activity in western Brazilian Amazonia. We used a review of existing and new data to map earthworks across 27,569 km² of deforested areas in southwestern Amazonia using satellite imagery. We developed a conceptual basis for the classification of earthworks based on their structural characteristics...

Th e extent to which the Inca empire was built on knowledge, experiences, and ideology inherited from one or both of its Middle Horizon predecessors-the Tiwanaku and the Wari states-is a long-debated topic in Andean studies. In this article, we review the relevant discussions regarding ceramics, architectural styles, iconographical patterns, radioc...

In Amazonian archaeological discussion the concept of tradition presupposes a keen connection between pottery styles and specific language groups. Multicultural traditions or transcultural adaptions are often pushed aside. Denise Schaan returned to the concept of horizon in order to explain a number of archaeological phenomena from a wide geographi...

Hypotheses concerning climatic change during the Amazonian Holocene often assume that the presence of ancient charcoal from forest fires indicates periods of drier climate in the past. These theories, however, neglect the possibility that such charcoal may result from early human activity. This article presents new evidence of anthropogenic ash and...

Evidence from several earthwork-building societies has recently been discovered in Amazonia that challenges existing theories about precolonial, human-environment interactions. Combining data obtained by plant macrofossil analyses, archaeological excavations, historical sources, and indigenous oral histories, we focus on the pre-colonial sources of...

Amazonian earthworks, which are an important testimony to ancient anthropogenic landscape modifications, have a significant variety of structures and sizes, and are found in different geographical and ecological locations that indicate separate time periods, distinct cultural affiliations, and diverse purposes. We introduce data from diverse archae...

Diferenças ecológicas entre os ambientes de várzea e terra firme (terra para agricultura, acesso aos recursos ribeirinhos e navegação) têm apoiado interpretações dos povos de terra firme como horticultores de coivara semi-sedentários, que nunca desenvolveram complexas instituições sociais ou cultura material elaborada. Esse artigo desafia essa posi...

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. The combination of land cleared of its rainforest for grazing and satellite survey have revealed a sophisticated pre-Columbian monument-building society in the upper Amazon Basin on the east side of the Andes. This hitherto unknown people constructed earthworks of precise geometric plan connected by stra...

In this paper we present new data on the precolumbian geometric ditched enclosures identified in Acre State, western Amazonia, Brazil. Remote sensing and ground survey have revealed 281 earthworks, located mainly on the edges of high plateaus overlooking the river valleys drained by the southeastern tributaries of the Upper Purus River. Excavations...

Early historical sources mention Paria as one of the most important provincial settlements in the Inka State. Being such an important settlement, the first Spanish village in southern part of former Tawantinsuyu, was decided to establish in Paria. The foundation was ordered by Diego Almagro in 1535. Nevertheless, it has been somewhat of mystery for...

Diferenças ecológicas entre os ambientes de várzea e terra firme (terra paraagricultura, acesso aos recursos ribeirinhos e navegação) têm apoiado interpretações dos povos de terra firme como horticultores de coivara semi-sedentários, que nunca desenvolveram complexas instituições sociais ou cultura material elaborada. Esse artigo desafia essa posiç...

We are delighted that G. Urton and C. J. Brezine have discovered concrete examples of khipus indicating the existence of an accounting hierarchy similar to those previously postulated (“Khipu accounting in ancient Peru,” Reports, 12 Aug., p. 1065). Nevertheless, we would like to amplify various

O artigo discute e põe à prova a idéia corrente de que os guaranis não teriam penetrado a área de fronteira Inca, na Bolívia, antes dos séculos XV ou XVI. Examinando a documentação histórica e baseado em datações radiocarbônicas obtidas em sítios na Bolívia oriental, com presença de cerâmica corrugada e ungulada, o autor conclui que os primeiros gr...

In this article, the authors describe several tradicional ways to build chullpas inside the historical area of Pakasa. They prove that it really exists a strong correspondence among the architectonic styles of the funerary towers and the territories of some etnic groups in the prehispanic bolivian plateau. It seems to be that when the chullparian t...

Los cuatro suyus del Tawantinsuyu estuvieron divididos en varias provincias administrativas llamadas guamaníes; pero, existieron también algunas confederaciones interprovinciales y otras divisiones administrativas interétnicas dentro del Estado Inca, entre las que destacaron Colesuyu, Collao, Charcas, etc. A pesar de la poca información sobre el te...

Este artículo presenta un análisis, con dos fechados radiocarbónicos, de la cerámica de la época Tiwanaku IV de Nazacara, una localidad situada a unos 45 kilómetros al sur de Tiwanaku. Al parecer, los primeros indicios de la cultura Tiwanaku aparecieron en Nazacara aproximadamente a partir de 400 d.C. No obstante, esta primera subfase no presenta c...

[English] In this article the widely accepted proposition of a direct correlation between the historically attested Inka expansion during the fifteenth century and the archaeologically recorded appearance of Inka-style ceramics is tested. Excavation of an Inka-type house in Caquiaviri, once a provincial capital of the Inka state in the southern Lak...