Sanna Saunaluoma’s research while affiliated with University of Turku and other places

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Publications (13)


Figure 1. Location of the Acre state, Llanos de Mojos, Upper Xingu region, and major southern tributaries of the Amazon River mentioned in the text.
Fig. 2 -B/W online, B/W in print
Fig. 3 -B/W online, B/W in print
Fig. 5 -B/W online, B/W in print
Fig. 6 -B/W online, B/W in print

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Patterned Villagescapes and Road Networks in Ancient Southwestern Amazonia
  • Article
  • Full-text available

December 2020

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650 Reads

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19 Citations

Latin American Antiquity

Sanna Saunaluoma

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Eduardo G Neves

Our recent data, collected using remotely sensed imagery and unmanned aerial vehicle surveys, reveal the extremely well-defined patterning of archaeological plaza villages in the Brazilian Acre state in terms of size, layout, chronology, and material culture. The villages comprise various earthen mounds arranged around central plazas and roads that radiate outward from, or converge on, the sites. The roads connected the villages situated 2–10 km from each other in eastern Acre. Our study attests to the existence of large, sedentary, interfluvial populations sharing the same sociocultural identities, as well as structured patterns of movement and spatial planning in relation to operative road networks during the late precolonial period. The plaza villages of Acre show similarity with the well-documented communities organized by road networks in the regions of the Upper Xingu and Llanos de Mojos. Taking into consideration ethnohistorical and ethnographic evidence, as well as the presence of comparable archaeological sites and earthwork features along the southern margin of Amazonia, we suggest that the plaza villages of Acre were linked by an interregional road network to other neighboring territories situated along the southern Amazonian rim and that movement along roads was the primary mode of human transport in Amazonian interfluves.

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UAV survey at archaeological earthwork sites in the Brazilian state of Acre, southwestern Amazonia

August 2019

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99 Reads

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8 Citations

Archaeological Prospection

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used for many scientific applications, including archaeological surveys. We test the suitability and practicability of UAV surveying in the tropical lowlands of Brazil and techniques for visualizing the resulting digital elevation models, specifically the Red Relief Image Map (RRIM). We present the results of UAV surveys conducted at four diverse archaeological earthwork sites situated in interfluvial southwestern Amazonia, in the state of Acre. The elevation models produced from UAV derived point clouds display clear patterns in the site layouts and reveal subtle intra‐site earthwork features that are not easily discernible on the ground. Our study demonstrates that UAVs are cost efficient and give highly detailed results for topographic mapping and visualization of archaeological features when vegetation cover is sufficiently low and sparse. The rapid data capture and lack of spatial sampling bias of the UAV data collection is a significant advantage compared to conventional mapping methods. Furthermore, UAV surveying and UAV derived data processing do not require expensive technologies or specialized user expertise, since open‐source software and easy‐to‐use toolkits are readily available.


Diversity of Pre-colonial Earthworks in the Brazilian State of Acre, Southwestern Amazonia

July 2018

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255 Reads

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30 Citations

Journal of Field Archaeology

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 archaeological earthwork sites, geoglyphs, mound sites, and walled enclosures situated in the interfluves of the Purus River in the Brazilian state of Acre and propose a type definition for these sites. The abundant anthropogenic landscape features and their associated material culture indicate considerable human-induced environmental alterations and diverse earthworking traditions that are characteristic of the region of eastern Acre from at least ca. 2000 b.p. onwards.




Figura 1 -As áreas de pesquisa, no sudoeste da Amazônia, e os sítios arqueológicos estudados.
Figura 2 -As valetas do sítio Tumichucua.
Figura 3 -Sítios com estruturas de terra na região de Riberalta.
Figura 5 -Um vaso carenado com flanges labiais e decoração incisa, coletado do montículo artificial no sítio Fazenda Atlântica.
Os sítios pré-colombianos com estruturas de terra na região de fronteira entre o Acre, Brasil, e Riberalta, Bolívia, Amazônia sul-ocidental

June 2017

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64 Reads

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1 Citation

Revista de Arqueologia

Este artigo visa apresentar uma síntese das pesquisas arqueológicas realizadas nos sítios com estruturas de terra em Riberalta e no estado do Acre, na Amazônia Sul-Ocidental. Os sítios nas duas regiões vizinhas foram comparados discutindo seus paralelos e diferenças. Os sítios bolivianos, sendo estruturalmente menos complexos, são interpretados como assentamentos permanentes, enquanto no Acre as estruturas de terra foram construídas principalmente para fins cerimoniais. A prática da engenharia de terra prevaleceu em Riberalta de 200 a.C. até o Período Colonial. No Acre, a tradição começou mais cedo, ca. 1200 a.C. As populações formativas que ocuparam estes sítios demonstram um sedentarismo emergente e desenvolvimento organizacional. No contexto do Acre os povos foram unidos por um sistema ideológico materializado na arquitetura das estruturas de terra geométricas.


Subsistence practices among earthwork builders: Phytolith evidence from archaeological sites in the southwest Amazonian interfluves

October 2015

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448 Reads

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58 Citations

Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

The history of human-environment interactions and the role of agriculture among pre-Columbian populations of Amazonia has been a long-standing topic of debate, usually backed by scattered data. Although most archaeologists agree that Amazonia was inhabited by demographically dense and socio-politically complex societies during the millennium that preceded the European conquest, the vast forests of the terra firme (uplands) interfluves have only recently been studied for human impacts. In this article, we present the results of phytolith analyses from samples recovered from archaeological sites situated in the interfluves of Southwestern Amazonia, and discuss their implications for subsistence systems among terra firme populations in areas devoid of anthropogenic dark earths (ADEs). We conclude that a subsistence strategy based on a mixture of domesticated and wild plants was widespread in the region, and that maize, squash, and palms were particularly important resources.



Geometric Earthworks in the State of Acre, Brazil: Excavations at the Fazenda Atlântica and Quinauá Sites

December 2012

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193 Reads

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36 Citations

Latin American Antiquity

Geometric earthworks located in the interfluvial zone of the Upper Purús and Madeira river tributaries in the southwestern Amazon are formed by ditches of varying shapes and sizes along with contiguous exterior embankments and roads terraced with low backfill banks. The earthworks in the Brazilian state of Acre were used from 1200 B.C. to the fourteenth century A.D., indicating a continuous, collective cultural institution, a generalized regional phenomenon characterized by local variants and alterations and probably not exclusively restricted to a specified ethnic group. The carefully planned position of the earthworks in the landscape and the recurring geometric forms represented in this earthwork architecture suggest functions that were part of a tradition of shared ideology related to rituals and/or the sociopolitical activities of ancient Amazonian peoples. Recent archaeological fieldwork on two composite earthwork sites, Fazenda Atlântica and Quinauá, situated in the core location of the geometric earthworks, provides further evidence for the predominantly ceremonial use of these constructions.


New radiometric dates for preColumbian (2000–700 B.P.) earthworks in western Amazonia, Brazil

May 2012

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903 Reads

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84 Citations

Journal of Field Archaeology

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Sanna Saunaluoma

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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 have shown that the few existing cultural materials are concentrated on the slopes and in the bottoms of the ditches, as well as on small mounds that were likely remains of houses, whereas the central, flat enclosed areas lack major archaeological features. New radiocarbon dates place the initial stage of earthwork construction as early as ca. 2000 B.P. We suggest that the building of these geometric earthworks may have been a regionally shared phenomenon, especially among the Arawak and the Tacana peoples, who used them for special gatherings, religious activities, and, in some cases, as village sites.


Citations (12)


... The sudden emergence of mound village culture appears to have been dramatic; however, the proximity of many mound sites to older ceremonial centers suggests that they may have retained some significance in community life. Mound sites were utilized for well over 500 years (Iriarte et al. 2021;Saunaluoma et al. 2021), yet their small size and geographically limited distribution may suggest a population decline, or at the very least, a considerable reduction in the visible traces of their presence. We do not fully understand these aspects at the moment, and they need to be studied carefully in the future. ...

Reference:

Geography of ancient geometric earthworks and their builders in southwestern Amazonia
Patterned Villagescapes and Road Networks in Ancient Southwestern Amazonia

Latin American Antiquity

... If so, it could potentially alter the perception of a specific core density zone only in the central parts of our study area. A UAV-LIDAR system could help to validate this assumption by mapping archaeological landforms under vegetation (Saunaluoma et al. 2019;Iriarte et al. 2020;Prümers et al. 2022;Rostain et al. 2024). LIDAR could also reveal whether there were more earthworks in the forests west of the study area towards Peru and the Andes, possibly indicating an active Andean-Amazonian land use corridor (Loughin et al. 2018). ...

UAV survey at archaeological earthwork sites in the Brazilian state of Acre, southwestern Amazonia
  • Citing Article
  • August 2019

Archaeological Prospection

... Estancita, Santa Maria, and San Francisco forest islands all have circular earthworks, although these features are not visible on air photos and satellite imagery (Walker, 2008b). Ring ditches place this location within a pan-Amazonian pattern of circular ditches (De Souza et al., 2018;Saunaluoma et al., 2018), and suggest that many forest islands conceal earthworks, as demonstrated by recent LiDAR surveys (Prümers et al., 2022). Forest island habitation is not coterminous with the boundaries of the forest islands and includes distinctions between within-and outside-ring ditch habitation. ...

Diversity of Pre-colonial Earthworks in the Brazilian State of Acre, Southwestern Amazonia
  • Citing Article
  • July 2018

Journal of Field Archaeology

... No entanto, evidências paleoecológicas indicam que essas estruturas foram construídas em florestas antropogênicas, que já eram manejadas em sistemas agroflorestais há pelo menos um milênio das primeiras construções (Watling et al., 2017). A grandiosidade dessas obras sugere uma organização regional dos povos indígenas construtores, sendo interpretadas como centros cerimoniais (Saunaluoma;Schaan, 2012). ...

Os sítios pré-colombianos com estruturas de terra na região de fronteira entre o Acre, Brasil, e Riberalta, Bolívia, Amazônia sul-ocidental

Revista de Arqueologia

... Furthermore, the presence of diverse more-than-human beings is apparent in the other forms of arts and craftwork that shape important social dimensions of the kyynyry and interactions with and in more-than-human worlds. Among other ways, participants adorn themselves with various geometric designs (Virtanen and Saunaluoma 2017). In the Lower Purus River, the geometric designs are made on the sãpurantã headdresses (a sort of tiara) made of jutaí bark (Hymenaea parvifolia), and each male participant prepares their own design. ...

Visualization and Movement as Configurations of Human-Nonhuman Engagements: Precolonial Geometric Earthwork Landscapes of the Upper Purus, Brazil: Visualization and Movement as Configurations of Human-Nonhuman Engagements

American Anthropologist

... Recent developments in archaeobotany have, however, presented evidence for domesticated and managed species since the early Holocene [5][6][7][8] . Domesticates such as manioc, squash, sweet potatoes and yams appear throughout the Amazon Basin between ~8000 and 5000 bce, while maize shows a later introduction ~4500 bce but a nearly ubiquitous presence from ~1000 bce [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] . Moreover, surveys, remote sensing and Indigenous traditional knowledge have highlighted the size of pre-colonial Indigenous populations, their impact on soils (Amazonian Dark Earths) and forest species [23][24][25] , and their organization into low-density urban societies [26][27][28] . ...

Subsistence practices among earthwork builders: Phytolith evidence from archaeological sites in the southwest Amazonian interfluves

Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

... This leads us to think about the importance that this society gave to roads and paths as a facilitator of movement and communication in the region. In the tropical lowlands of Bolivia, where comparable archaeological sites have been documented, 7,4,8 the use of footpaths and canals for canoe traffic has established an efficient and sophisticated means of transport move in the region, possibly even serving as artificial markers within and between communities, also exercising important political and ritual functions. 9 The study of these ancient means of communication is fundamental not only to understand social development, but also because it is evidence that allows the reconstruction of multiple aspects related to cultural, political, and economic interaction. ...

Pre-Columbian Earthworks in the Riberalta Region of the Bolivian Amazon
  • Citing Article
  • July 2010

Amazônica - Revista de Antropologia

... Data from excavations show that the interiors of the structures are characterized by a very low density of archaeological material while inside the ditches themselves, close to the entrances, features composed of whole and decorated vessels are found. These data, together with their architectural forms (circles, squares, and their combinations), point to a public/ceremonial, rather than domestic, use for these sites, where different social groups would gather around special occasions Virtanen, 2015). ...

Variable Models for Social Organization of Monumental Earthworks in Upper Purus, Southwestern Amazonia: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives

... 2,500 BP to 1,050 BP, and, in some cases, the earthworks constructed in the first millennium were used until the 14th century (Ranzi et al. 2007;Pärssinen 2021). Ceramic residues, macrofossils, and diagnostic phytoliths offer further insights into early cultures (e.g., Pärssinen et al. 2003;Dias 2006;Saunaluoma 2012;Watling et al. 2015;. Pottery remains are often present in deposits, yet their quantity is typically small, except for sites like Tequinho, which yielded nearly 40,000 shards during excavations (Pärssinen 2021). ...

Geometrically patterned ancient earthworks in the rio branco region of acre, Brazil: New evidence of ancient chiefdom formations in amazonian interfluvial terra firme environment

... A partir dos anos 2000, estudos arqueológicos demonstraram que a maioria dos geoglifos foram construídos e ocupados ao longo do primeiro milênio EC, mas que alguns possuem datações de até 1.000 cal. AEC (Parsinnen et al., 2009;Schaan et al., 2012). Dados de escavações mostram que os interiores das estruturas se caracterizam por baixa densidade de material arqueológico, enquanto dentro das valas em si, próximo às entradas, encontram-se feições compostas por vasilhas inteiras e decoradas. ...

New radiometric dates for preColumbian (2000–700 B.P.) earthworks in western Amazonia, Brazil

Journal of Field Archaeology