A debate that has received much attention in recent years is the nature and scale of pre-Columbian impact in the Amazon lowlands. While the notion that Amazonia is a “pristine wilderness" has long been debunked, several papers have proposed that human impact in western regions was more sporadic and on a smaller scale than impacts in central and eastern regions, and that western Amazonia supported sparse pre-Columbian populations. The discovery of over 400 geometrically-patterned earthworks (geoglyphs) in the western Brazilian Amazon, which until recently lay under in-tact tropical forest, has raised important questions about the kind of societies that built them and the impact that they had on the terra firme upland landscapes. This study represents the very first investigations into human-environment interactions in the geoglyph region. By analysing phytoliths, charcoal and stable carbon isotopes from a series of soil profiles in the vicinities of two well-dated and excavated geoglyph sites, this study aims to discern the nature of the environment before, during and after the construction and use of the sites, and the spatial and temporal scales of landscape transformations that were effected by the geoglyph cultures. The data call for a re-appraisal of what is meant by “scales" of human impact in Amazonia, and propose that an understanding of the diversity of human-environment interactions must be considered through studies that closely combine regionally-sensitive archaeological and palaeoecological data.

Estudo sistemático de sítios com estruturas de terra em vala (mais conhecidos por \"geoglifos\") na calha direita do médio rio Guaporé, entre as cidades de São Francisco do Guaporé e Costa Marques, estado de Rondônia. Nesta região - nos limites sudoeste da floresta tropical que recobre a maior parte da bacia Amazônica - o conhecimento prévio de tais estruturas levou à prospecção e, com efeito, identificação de novos sítios a partir da análise de imagens aéreas disponibilizadas pelo programa Google Earth 5.1. Posteriormente, a recuperação de uma série de dados sobre estes sítios foi analisada de forma comparada aos demais sítios arqueológicos com estruturas de terra similares conhecidos no sudoeste da bacia Amazônica através de um SIG (Sistema de Informações Geográficas) criado com o auxílio do programa ArcGIS 10.1. Além dos dados desse levantamento e da análise cruzada entre os atributos físicos e formais dos sítios levantados (tanto através da bibliografia consultada quanto através dos novos levantamentos remotos) esta dissertação apresenta também pequeno histórico de pesquisas sobre o tema, os conceitos teóricos que norteiam o seu estudo bem como a metodologia empregada durante seu levantamento e análise. / This work presents the general survey for new archaeological sites with anthropogenic ditched earthworks (also known as \"geoglyphs\" in Brazil) founded at the right margin of the middle Guaporé river, estate of Rondonia, Brazil. In this region - at the limits of the southwestern boarder of the Tropical Rain Forest in the Amazon river basin - the preview knowledge of structures like the ones cited above lead to the discovery of new sites out of the satellite imagery recovered from Google Earth software. After the discovery of these sites, their physical and formal attributes were analyzed comparatively with similar archaeological sites founded in western amazon with the help of an GIS (Geographical Information System) created in the ArcGIS ArcGIS 10.1 software platform. Beside the data from this survey and the comparative analysis made of them, this work also presents a little summary of the research focused on the theme, the theoretical concepts and the methodology used in the survey and analysis of these archaeological sites.

This article summarizes and discusses the results of our recent archaeological research in the middle valley of Chincha duringthe Late Paracas period (circa 400 BC-100 BC). We present archaeological data (architecture, geoglyphs, ceramics, textiles, etc.)recovered from research on sites in the middle valley in the area including to Cerro del Gentil and the El Mono archaeologicalcomplex. These data, along with previous work by colleagues in the last two generations, allow us to propose new perspectives about development of social complexity in this southern Peruvian coastal valley. / En este artículo, se sintetizan y discuten los resultados de las recientes investigaciones arqueológicas realizadas en el valle mediode Chincha durante el Período Paracas Tardío (circa 400 a.C.-100 a.C.). En especial, se presentan los datos arqueológicos (ar-quitectura, geoglifos, cerámica y textiles, etc.) recuperados en la investigación de los sitios del valle medio, ubicados en el área queincluye a Cerro del Gentil y el complejo arqueológico de El Mono. Estos datos, junto con el trabajo previo de otros colegas de lasdos últimas generaciones, permiten proponer nuevas perspectivas sobre el desarrollo de la complejidad social en este valle de la costa sur del Perú.

Traditionally, the manufacture of large found drawings on desert plains and hill slopes of the Peruvian south coast was at-tributed to the Nasca society. However, since the 1980s, it is known that this cultural manifestation is a tradition that wouldhave begun towards the 750 BC during the early part of the development of the Paracas culture. Paracas geoglyphs have beenreported from Pisco to the Rio Grande Basin of Nasca, particularly in the area of Palpa where the where they have identifiedmany of these geoglyphs. In this paper, we present groups of figures at Cerro Lechuza, Paracas, and Cerro Pico, Ica Valley, whichs how stylistic features of several phases of Paracas. / Tradicionalmente, la manufactura de figuras de grandes dimensiones en llanuras y laderas desérticas de la costa sur era atribuidaa la sociedad nazca (200 a.C. – 750 d.C.). Sin embargo, a partir de la década de los años 1980, se sabe que esta manifestacióncultural es una tradición que se habría iniciado hacia los 750 a.C. durante la parte temprana del desarrollo de la denominadacultura Paracas. Geoglifos paracas han sido registrados desde Pisco hasta la cuenca del Río Grande de Nasca, particularmente, enla zona de Palpa, en la que se han identificado numerosos. Aquí, presentamos grupos de figuras paracas de Cerro Lechuza, Pisco,y de Cerro Pico en el valle del río Ica, los cuales muestran rasgos estilísticos de varias fases de Paracas.

Estudo sistemático de sítios com estruturas de terra em vala (mais conhecidos por \"geoglifos\") na calha direita do médio rio Guaporé, entre as cidades de São Francisco do Guaporé e Costa Marques, estado de Rondônia. Nesta região - nos limites sudoeste da floresta tropical que recobre a maior parte da bacia Amazônica - o conhecimento prévio de tais estruturas levou à prospecção e, com efeito, identificação de novos sítios a partir da análise de imagens aéreas disponibilizadas pelo programa Google Earth 5.1. Posteriormente, a recuperação de uma série de dados sobre estes sítios foi analisada de forma comparada aos demais sítios arqueológicos com estruturas de terra similares conhecidos no sudoeste da bacia Amazônica através de um SIG (Sistema de Informações Geográficas) criado com o auxílio do programa ArcGIS 10.1. Além dos dados desse levantamento e da análise cruzada entre os atributos físicos e formais dos sítios levantados (tanto através da bibliografia consultada quanto através dos novos levantamentos remotos) esta dissertação apresenta também pequeno histórico de pesquisas sobre o tema, os conceitos teóricos que norteiam o seu estudo bem como a metodologia empregada durante seu levantamento e análise. / This work presents the general survey for new archaeological sites with anthropogenic ditched earthworks (also known as \"geoglyphs\" in Brazil) founded at the right margin of the middle Guaporé river, estate of Rondonia, Brazil. In this region - at the limits of the southwestern boarder of the Tropical Rain Forest in the Amazon river basin - the preview knowledge of structures like the ones cited above lead to the discovery of new sites out of the satellite imagery recovered from Google Earth software. After the discovery of these sites, their physical and formal attributes were analyzed comparatively with similar archaeological sites founded in western amazon with the help of an GIS (Geographical Information System) created in the ArcGIS ArcGIS 10.1 software platform. Beside the data from this survey and the comparative analysis made of them, this work also presents a little summary of the research focused on the theme, the theoretical concepts and the methodology used in the survey and analysis of these archaeological sites.

After the pioneering work of Julio C. Tello, Frédéric Engel and John H. Rowe on the Formative and Preceramic periods, few advances have been made in the investigation of early cultural developments on the south coast of Perú. This is especially true for the Río Grande de Nasca drainage, where there is a lack of data regarding early human occupation. The Nasca-Palpa Archaeological Project aims to reconstruct the human occupation of the Palpa valleys during all Prehispanic periods. In this article we present a summary of the evidence for the Paracas culture by presenting data recovered over the past ten years from several sites inthe Palpa valleys for the Initial Period and the Archaic period. We describe the settlement patterns, architecture, and funerary practices, as well as other cultural manifestations of the early periods, for instance, petroglyphs, geoglyphs, ceramics and other types of artifacts. We also carry out a preliminary reconstruction of the prehispanic settlement history of the Palpa valleys, beginning with the Middle Archaic period (ca. 3800 BC) and ending with the Inka period. More than 150 radiocarbon dates are used to establish a chronology of the different periods of human settlement in the Palpa valleys. / Después de los trabajos pioneros de Julio C. Tello, Frédéric Engel y John H. Rowe sobre el Periodo Formativo y Precerámico, no se han dado muchos avances en la investigación de los desarrollos tempranos en la costa sur del Perú. Para la cuenca del río Grande de Nasca, en especial, existen pocos datos sobre la ocupación humana en los periodos tempranos. El Proyecto Arqueológico Nasca-Palpa tiene como objetivo investigar este desarrollo en los valles de Palpa durante todas las etapas de la época prehispánica. En este artículo se presenta un resumen de las evidencias sobre la época Paracas, el Periodo Inicial y el Periodo Arcaico recuperadas en esa región en los últimos 10 años. Se describen patrones de asentamiento, rasgos arquitectónicos y patrones funerarios, así como otras manifestaciones culturales, como petroglifos, geoglifos, cerámica, entre otros tipos de hallazgos. Hasta el momento se ha podido reconstruir la historia ocupacional de los valles de Palpa desde el Periodo Arcaico Medio (aproximadamente 3800 a.C.) hasta el periodo inka. Más de 150 fechados de radiocarbono permiten respaldar la cronología de los diferentes momentos de ocupación de los valles de Palpa con fechas calendáricas.