**3. The animal myths in ceramics**

These pottery utensils formed an information channel of the social and ideological structure among the members of the society. As regards to their form and decoration, these vessels reflect mythical themes and/or were used in rituals [15]. Archaeologists agree that the ceramics reflect the culture of a society and that the main social changes affect the production and types of vessels [16]. So, the ceramics are vehicles of expression of ideological content. The most likely evidence of this is that they were painted, decorated, incised, modelled, with plastic decoration, aiming to reflect mythical or ideological themes.

Therefore, the art interpretations are cultural and in this sense adhere to rigid systems of social conviviality. In prehistory, its main material vehicles are smallscale art that is moveable (mobiliary art), such as decorated figurines and pottery and feather art; the graphic art, with parietal art and rock graphics and body painting, the latter very important, because, in general, it demonstrates the status of the individual, as in the case of chiefs and other leaders who had a high social position [17]. Indigenous art is therefore the result of the identity relationship [18] and social conviviality between the indigenous groups [19].

Animal forms are recurring in the art of the Stilt Houses, being the most persistently various birds, but especially owls. The monkey and the jaguar are mostly illustrated Mammals, but also Amphibians (especially frogs) and reptiles (mainly snakes) are common. These animals form the appliques and figurines and are associated with indigenous myths some of which have been described by the missionary chroniclers of the 16th and 17th centuries and by anthropologists when working among indigenous Amazonian communities from the 19th century onward.

The ethnographic analogy shows that myths associating the snake to the creation, such as the canoe-snake, mother of the fish, for example, are recurring in Amazonian cosmologies [20]. Whereas the king vulture is mentioned in Amazonian ethnography as a bird belonging to the realm of the dead.

Anaconda is a shamanic animal in the Amazon. Some peculiar ecological characteristics of these snakes could have attracted the attention of the indigenous people, as the specimens can reach up to 10 m in length and weigh more than 200 kg, is the heaviest animal in the Amazon. Also, the Anaconda has pale skin with black drawings served as an iconographic orientation, efficient camouflage, speed of attack in the water and lethargy on land, active at night, sensitive tongue for predate [21], powerful teeth and muscles and the females are larger and more aggressive than the males, predator of large mammals such as jaguars, deer and tapirs [22].

The indigenous peoples we mentioned in this text are the Tukano of the Tukano linguistic family who lives in the northwest of the Amazon; the Pano family Shipino who live between the Amazon and the Ucayali river in Peru; the Tupi peoples who have a wide dispersion in the lowlands of South America and countries like Bolivia, Uruguay and Argentina; the Waujá who live in the Xingu and belong to the Arawak family; the Panare and Timbira that are groups of the Jê family of Central Brazil and the already extinct groups of which we only have archaeological material such as the beautiful ceramic pots Tapajó and Konduri from the Lower Amazon in Brazil. Finally, there are the Warao who still live on stilts in Venezuela.

Regarding the cosmological aspects, the characteristics described above could contribute to the association of this powerful animal with the creation myths of the world and humanity. Among the Tukano, Hugh-Jones [23] the songs intoned by the shamans allude to the Amazon River as the terrestrial Anaconda and the Milky Way, the supernatural and creative Anaconda. Many Amazonian peoples compare the supernatural milk of the creative Anaconda with the milky-coloured sap of hallucinogenic plants of the genus *Banisteriopsis*, whose tree trunk is the metaphor of the body of the creative Great Anaconda [24].

In the polychrome ceramic material of the stilt villages, the principal iconographic element that stands out is the presence of curvy black or hook-shaped designs that fit together (**Figure 2**). The rim of these polychrome vessels is painted red. This iconography is recurrent in almost all the sites of this river. Although abstract, the iconography has a reading order in horizontal bands, filling the entire internal space of the vessel. The predominance of black colour could corroborate the suggestion that these images correspond to the black spots that the anaconda snake (*Eunectes murinus*) has on its back, as Roosevelt also interpreted in his study of anacondas and women-shamans in Marajo island.

This magical world is enhanced by music and dance. According to Barcelos [25], the snakes are part of a myth-musical repertoire among the Wauja, in which *Kamalu Hai* stands out, "the gigantic snake-canoe that carries on its back a long series of singing pots". These ceramic cookwares are of different sizes and have a varied polyphony according to their function. In this sense, the snake-canoe could imply the origin of the ceramic activity among the Wauja, a pristine myth, therefore.

In the Amazon, the anaconda is associated with both the male universe, among the Tukano, as well as the female. Anaconda's association with a shaman woman

**151**

*Ecology as Cosmology: Animal Myths of Amazonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94177*

anaconda is a woman shaman [26].

**Figure 2.**

transformations of aquatic life and the water world.

and creative deity are common in oral traditions in the Amazon, as among the Shipibo, according to Roosevelt [22]. Indigenous peoples conceive of Anaconda as a dangerous ancestral spirit to the present day. She would be a master who governs the feminine part of the cosmos, which is the aquatic underworld. To Shipibo the

*Vessels with Anaconda skin iconographic pattern. Photograph: Fábio Matta.*

According to Roosevelt [22], many Amazonian peoples associate the Amazon River with Anaconda because these snakes dominate the aquatic landscape and because the meanders of the rivers imitate the movement of these reptiles. Thus, it is common for Anacondas drawings to be represented in community houses among the Tukano. Roe [27] in his classic book *The Cosmic Zygote* reported among the Shipibo the mythological association of the creation of the world with the Anacondas, is also associated with the rituals of healing, divination, ceremonial dances and the creation of musical instruments. Among other groups, such as the Tupi-Gavião and Panare, Anaconda is a giant animal associated with the rainbow [28] or a celestial phenomenon among the Timbira in which the reptiles ends rest in the mouths of two anacondas [29]. The rainbow would be a symbol of disease [30] and for Weiss [31] it would represent "something demonic, repulsive and detestable, as well as the anaconda". Anaconda, therefore, inhabits a very large number of Amazonian myths, having as main characteristic the shamanic activities which include cosmological creation, under celestial aspects, and cultural properties associated with natural

The ceramic figurines indicate the presence of ritual [32]. They are characterised by the representation of animals, especially the owl, the monkey, the turtle and the frog. Some of them are anthropomorphic or zoomorphic design, the zoomorphic being the most recurring. Many of them have a sculptural standard: the legs are open in the shape of a half-moon and some of them possess the feminine genitalia

*Ecology as Cosmology: Animal Myths of Amazonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94177*

*Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia*

Animal forms are recurring in the art of the Stilt Houses, being the most persistently various birds, but especially owls. The monkey and the jaguar are mostly illustrated Mammals, but also Amphibians (especially frogs) and reptiles (mainly snakes) are common. These animals form the appliques and figurines and are associated with indigenous myths some of which have been described by the missionary chroniclers of the 16th and 17th centuries and by anthropologists when working among indigenous Amazonian communities from the 19th century onward. The ethnographic analogy shows that myths associating the snake to the creation, such as the canoe-snake, mother of the fish, for example, are recurring in Amazonian cosmologies [20]. Whereas the king vulture is mentioned in Amazonian

Anaconda is a shamanic animal in the Amazon. Some peculiar ecological characteristics of these snakes could have attracted the attention of the indigenous people, as the specimens can reach up to 10 m in length and weigh more than 200 kg, is the heaviest animal in the Amazon. Also, the Anaconda has pale skin with black drawings served as an iconographic orientation, efficient camouflage, speed of attack in the water and lethargy on land, active at night, sensitive tongue for predate [21], powerful teeth and muscles and the females are larger and more aggressive than the

The indigenous peoples we mentioned in this text are the Tukano of the Tukano linguistic family who lives in the northwest of the Amazon; the Pano family Shipino who live between the Amazon and the Ucayali river in Peru; the Tupi peoples who have a wide dispersion in the lowlands of South America and countries like Bolivia, Uruguay and Argentina; the Waujá who live in the Xingu and belong to the Arawak family; the Panare and Timbira that are groups of the Jê family of Central Brazil and the already extinct groups of which we only have archaeological material such as the beautiful ceramic pots Tapajó and Konduri from the Lower Amazon in Brazil.

Regarding the cosmological aspects, the characteristics described above could contribute to the association of this powerful animal with the creation myths of the world and humanity. Among the Tukano, Hugh-Jones [23] the songs intoned by the shamans allude to the Amazon River as the terrestrial Anaconda and the Milky Way, the supernatural and creative Anaconda. Many Amazonian peoples compare the supernatural milk of the creative Anaconda with the milky-coloured sap of hallucinogenic plants of the genus *Banisteriopsis*, whose tree trunk is the metaphor of the

In the polychrome ceramic material of the stilt villages, the principal iconographic element that stands out is the presence of curvy black or hook-shaped designs that fit together (**Figure 2**). The rim of these polychrome vessels is painted red. This iconography is recurrent in almost all the sites of this river. Although abstract, the iconography has a reading order in horizontal bands, filling the entire internal space of the vessel. The predominance of black colour could corroborate the suggestion that these images correspond to the black spots that the anaconda snake (*Eunectes murinus*) has on its back, as Roosevelt also interpreted in his study

This magical world is enhanced by music and dance. According to Barcelos [25], the snakes are part of a myth-musical repertoire among the Wauja, in which *Kamalu Hai* stands out, "the gigantic snake-canoe that carries on its back a long series of singing pots". These ceramic cookwares are of different sizes and have a varied polyphony according to their function. In this sense, the snake-canoe could imply the origin of the ceramic activity among the Wauja, a pristine myth, therefore.

In the Amazon, the anaconda is associated with both the male universe, among the Tukano, as well as the female. Anaconda's association with a shaman woman

ethnography as a bird belonging to the realm of the dead.

males, predator of large mammals such as jaguars, deer and tapirs [22].

Finally, there are the Warao who still live on stilts in Venezuela.

body of the creative Great Anaconda [24].

of anacondas and women-shamans in Marajo island.

**150**

**Figure 2.** *Vessels with Anaconda skin iconographic pattern. Photograph: Fábio Matta.*

and creative deity are common in oral traditions in the Amazon, as among the Shipibo, according to Roosevelt [22]. Indigenous peoples conceive of Anaconda as a dangerous ancestral spirit to the present day. She would be a master who governs the feminine part of the cosmos, which is the aquatic underworld. To Shipibo the anaconda is a woman shaman [26].

According to Roosevelt [22], many Amazonian peoples associate the Amazon River with Anaconda because these snakes dominate the aquatic landscape and because the meanders of the rivers imitate the movement of these reptiles. Thus, it is common for Anacondas drawings to be represented in community houses among the Tukano.

Roe [27] in his classic book *The Cosmic Zygote* reported among the Shipibo the mythological association of the creation of the world with the Anacondas, is also associated with the rituals of healing, divination, ceremonial dances and the creation of musical instruments. Among other groups, such as the Tupi-Gavião and Panare, Anaconda is a giant animal associated with the rainbow [28] or a celestial phenomenon among the Timbira in which the reptiles ends rest in the mouths of two anacondas [29]. The rainbow would be a symbol of disease [30] and for Weiss [31] it would represent "something demonic, repulsive and detestable, as well as the anaconda". Anaconda, therefore, inhabits a very large number of Amazonian myths, having as main characteristic the shamanic activities which include cosmological creation, under celestial aspects, and cultural properties associated with natural transformations of aquatic life and the water world.

The ceramic figurines indicate the presence of ritual [32]. They are characterised by the representation of animals, especially the owl, the monkey, the turtle and the frog. Some of them are anthropomorphic or zoomorphic design, the zoomorphic being the most recurring. Many of them have a sculptural standard: the legs are open in the shape of a half-moon and some of them possess the feminine genitalia

on display. A figurine in particular, in the form of an owl, is a rattler and features a small handle that possibly had the function of being hung.

The shamanic nature of these archaeological materials is also evidenced by the production of figurines, generally female, where there are small clay balls inside, which could be a rattle, known in the lowlands of South America as *maracas*, as communication between the living and the dead. According to Zerries [33], the *maracá* has always been the most important shamanic instrument in non-Andean South American cultures, since "the noise of the little stone or *maracá* seeds inside is interpreted as the voice of the spirits". Thus, the *maracá* was considered an *idol* for the indigenous peoples of the lowlands of South America (**Figure 3**). Thus, in many cultures the owl is associated with death [34], and evil spirits [35].

These sound instruments are present in the ethnohistorical records of the colonial period such as Daniel [36], D'Abbeville [37] and D'Évreux [38] and also ethnography by anthropologists from the beginning of the 20th century. The *maracá*, therefore, is part of the shamanic paraphernalia since it can emit sound, thus, a form of communication between the different worlds in which the shaman acts. In this way, the rattle functions as a musical instrument whose sound together with the hallucinogens induce special sensations that alter their mental and psychological state. For the Warao, who still live in stilt houses in the Orinoco delta in Venezuela, the *maracás* have spiritual forces and their human forms refer to the ancestral shaman who visited heaven and was gifted with this instrument the Great Spirit of these water peoples [39].

The ceramic figurines were important products of the indigenous art in the Stilt Houses. Sometimes, they represented mainly hand-shaped geometrical figures. Often those represented also animals such as amphibians, fish, mammals and birds, which were similar to those among the Tapajó and Konduri peoples [40]. These animals were represented in a naturalistic style, thus preserving the identifiable traces of the species. A good example is the squirrel monkey (*Saimiri collinsi*) figurine, in which we can identify its furry ears, and in another piece, the torn mouth, typical of these primates [41] (**Figure 4**).

In turn, the frogs are associated with fertility, which is most likely due to the aquatic environment in which these societies lived. Themes associated with frogs are also common in the Mesoamerica [42] and the Caribbean [43] (**Figure 5**).

#### **Figure 3.**

*Rattler-figurine in the form of an owl, a maraca whose sound communicated the living with the dead. In the photo the head of the spectacled owl (*Pulsatrix perspicillata*). Photograph: Áurea costa.*

**153**

such as snakes and owls.

or white.

**Figure 4.**

quality.

*Ecology as Cosmology: Animal Myths of Amazonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94177*

Regard to iconography, it happens through geometric lines or traces that delimit patterns within the stylistic composition of the vase: they are Greeks, zigzags or spirals taking up the interior of the pieces. We can see, that there are two opposite iconographic fields divided by one or two lines across the piece. Mostly the motifs differ in these two fields. For instance, when the square motifs were used in one artistic field, then the circular elements were selected for the opposite one. Red and black were the predominant colours, which were painted on cream engobe

*Figurine in the shape of squirrel monkey (*Saimiri collinsi*). Photograph: Fábio Matta.*

According to Prous [44], some of the motifs resemble the Tupi iconography and he associated them with the custom and practice of eating human flesh (anthropophagic) ritual, such as the representation of the intestine and the brain. However, the pottery shapes at the Stilt Houses, as well as their technologies, such as anti-plastic and quality of clay burning, are very distinct from those of the Tupi. Therefore, Stilt Houses' ceramics show better production control and technological

Perspectivism deriving from structuralism serves the most fruitful theoretical and methodological discussions that apply to the study of archaeological pottery of the stilt villages. The study of the iconographic motifs, as well as their repetition and pattern, in addition to the ethnographic bibliographical revision of the Amazon, show that the geometric motifs of the ceramics are, in general, depictions of the skin or feathers of some animals, especially those of the top of the food chain, *Ecology as Cosmology: Animal Myths of Amazonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94177*

*Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia*

Spirit of these water peoples [39].

of these primates [41] (**Figure 4**).

on display. A figurine in particular, in the form of an owl, is a rattler and features a

These sound instruments are present in the ethnohistorical records of the colonial period such as Daniel [36], D'Abbeville [37] and D'Évreux [38] and also ethnography by anthropologists from the beginning of the 20th century. The *maracá*, therefore, is part of the shamanic paraphernalia since it can emit sound, thus, a form of communication between the different worlds in which the shaman acts. In this way, the rattle functions as a musical instrument whose sound together with the hallucinogens induce special sensations that alter their mental and psychological state. For the Warao, who still live in stilt houses in the Orinoco delta in Venezuela, the *maracás* have spiritual forces and their human forms refer to the ancestral shaman who visited heaven and was gifted with this instrument the Great

The ceramic figurines were important products of the indigenous art in the Stilt Houses. Sometimes, they represented mainly hand-shaped geometrical figures. Often those represented also animals such as amphibians, fish, mammals and birds, which were similar to those among the Tapajó and Konduri peoples [40]. These animals were represented in a naturalistic style, thus preserving the identifiable traces of the species. A good example is the squirrel monkey (*Saimiri collinsi*) figurine, in which we can identify its furry ears, and in another piece, the torn mouth, typical

In turn, the frogs are associated with fertility, which is most likely due to the aquatic environment in which these societies lived. Themes associated with frogs are also common in the Mesoamerica [42] and the Caribbean [43] (**Figure 5**).

*Rattler-figurine in the form of an owl, a maraca whose sound communicated the living with the dead. In the* 

*photo the head of the spectacled owl (*Pulsatrix perspicillata*). Photograph: Áurea costa.*

The shamanic nature of these archaeological materials is also evidenced by the production of figurines, generally female, where there are small clay balls inside, which could be a rattle, known in the lowlands of South America as *maracas*, as communication between the living and the dead. According to Zerries [33], the *maracá* has always been the most important shamanic instrument in non-Andean South American cultures, since "the noise of the little stone or *maracá* seeds inside is interpreted as the voice of the spirits". Thus, the *maracá* was considered an *idol* for the indigenous peoples of the lowlands of South America (**Figure 3**). Thus, in many

small handle that possibly had the function of being hung.

cultures the owl is associated with death [34], and evil spirits [35].

**152**

**Figure 3.**

#### **Figure 4.** *Figurine in the shape of squirrel monkey (*Saimiri collinsi*). Photograph: Fábio Matta.*

Regard to iconography, it happens through geometric lines or traces that delimit patterns within the stylistic composition of the vase: they are Greeks, zigzags or spirals taking up the interior of the pieces. We can see, that there are two opposite iconographic fields divided by one or two lines across the piece. Mostly the motifs differ in these two fields. For instance, when the square motifs were used in one artistic field, then the circular elements were selected for the opposite one. Red and black were the predominant colours, which were painted on cream engobe or white.

According to Prous [44], some of the motifs resemble the Tupi iconography and he associated them with the custom and practice of eating human flesh (anthropophagic) ritual, such as the representation of the intestine and the brain. However, the pottery shapes at the Stilt Houses, as well as their technologies, such as anti-plastic and quality of clay burning, are very distinct from those of the Tupi. Therefore, Stilt Houses' ceramics show better production control and technological quality.

Perspectivism deriving from structuralism serves the most fruitful theoretical and methodological discussions that apply to the study of archaeological pottery of the stilt villages. The study of the iconographic motifs, as well as their repetition and pattern, in addition to the ethnographic bibliographical revision of the Amazon, show that the geometric motifs of the ceramics are, in general, depictions of the skin or feathers of some animals, especially those of the top of the food chain, such as snakes and owls.

**Figure 5.** *Vessel frog appliqué of the stilt villages. Photograph: Fábio Matta.*
