Orinoquia: The Archaeology of the Orinoco River Basin

Author: Gassón R.A.

Source: Journal of World Prehistory, Volume 16, Number 3, September 2002 , pp. 237-311(75)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Orinoquia is one of the most important riverine ecosystems complexes of the world. However, it has been seldom recognized as an ecological or historical entity in general accounts of South American archaeology. This essay reviews systematically and comparatively the archaeology of Orinoquia, by discussing research done from the 1940s onwards in all the areas of the Orinoco Basin: the Andes, the plains or llanos, the Orinoco river proper, the highlands of Guayana, and the Delta. It is proposed that, in the last 20 years, there has been a sustained movement away from a traditional archaeology, concerned mostly with environmental determinism and cultural history, to new and pluralistic models that share, in spite of their diversity, a regional, long-term, and multidisciplinary approach.

Keywords: Orinoco River; South America; Venezuela; Colombia; archaeology

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Departamento de Antropología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Apartado 21827, Caracas, Venezuela 1020-A; rgasson@ivic.ve

Publication date: 2002-09-01