The Western Margins of Amazonia from the Early Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The aboriginal populations of the western fringe of the Amazon Basin live in close proximity to one of the most spectacular breaks in natural features in the continent. The populations of this western fringe of the Amazon Basin are just as varied linguistically and ethnically as the environments in which they have developed. The ethnographic landscape of the western margins of the Amazon region at the dawn of the Spanish conquest was very different from that of today. The colonial history of the western Amazon implied an overall trend toward increased cultural homogeneity, a breakdown of macrosystems and regional networks to the benefit of intermediate or purely local levels of organization, and a growing spatial, sociological, and symbolic distancing between upland and lowland societies. The characteristic feature of the end of the colonial era was a marked shrinkage of the colonization front. The central selva, united by the Juan Santos uprising, remained solidly closed to non-Amazonians.