Ancient villages in Brazil may have been ritual or ceremonial centers designed to resemble the Pleiades. Archaeologists made the discovery after investigating a pre-Hispanic stilt village in the Maranhão estuary in northeastern Brazil. Among the villages surveyed, the ruins of Formoso stood out due to its unusual layout, ornate pottery, the size of the buildings, and the length of time they were in use.
Christopher Davis, an archaeologist at McHenry County College in Illinois, said, “Formoso appears to have been a gathering place for elite rituals where sacred knowledge (such as astronomy) was shared.'' Published papers such as: Research with Alexandre Guida Navarro, an archaeologist at the Federal University of Maranhão in Brazil. Journal of Archaeological Science: Report.
During their exploration of Formoso Island, the research team discovered uniquely decorated pottery that blends local and foreign styles, as well as a collection of stilts that once supported buildings larger than one would expect to be a residential home. I found the body. Of the various stilt villages surveyed, Formoso has been in continuous use for the longest time, with radiocarbon results indicating that it was founded as early as 441 AD and maintained for approximately 500 years. It became clear that it was. This is an indication of its importance.
More interestingly, Navarro noticed that the clusters of stilts supporting Formoso's buildings did not match the rectangular or circular patterns typically employed in Amazonian stilt villages and land-based villages. Ta. This gave Formoso an unusual layout. “We then considered other possible construction patterns (for protection, such as fishing weirs to reduce water flow and wind drag), but those scenarios also didn't fit,” Davis said. Masu. It wasn't until the two archaeologists looked at the constellation patterns that they discovered that Formoso was very similar to the Pleiades, a star cluster of great significance to lower Amazonian cultures.
Formoso stilt cluster. The name of the Pleiades star cluster that each cluster may represent is noted. Alexandre Guida Navarro and Christopher Davis
“It was a little surprising to find similarities with the constellation, but not surprising that the star cluster was the Pleiades,” Davis said. “If an astronomical marker was used, it stands to reason that it would be the Pleiades.”
In the lower Amazon River, the appearance of the Pleiades signals the beginning of the dry season, and people use this time to repair structural damage to their homes, repair and relocate fishing weirs and dams, and prepare for the next growing season. Davis said he prepared the field. It was also a great time for some cultures to perform rites of passage and for people to travel long distances to trade or meet family and friends. The star cluster itself was seen as a beehive or beehive, an important trade item, or a bundle of fire sticks used in preparing fields.
“It was very difficult to find a way to test whether the similarity to the Pleiades was just a coincidence,” Davis says. “He had to learn and calculate several statistical correlation tests and probabilities to prove that the similarity exceeds 95%, which is the standard confidence level of scientific significance.”
Taken together, the evidence from Formoso suggests that the village was a center for seasonal rituals and rituals, and explains its long history of use, attracting people from many different places. It has been suggested that its placement was a homage to the Pleiades star cluster, which is a herald of the changing seasons. .
So far, Formoso's resemblance to the Pleiades is unique among Amazonian stilt villages, and that may remain true even with further research. “The importance of ceremonial places in traditional culture loses its potency when it is copied. 'Copycat' copies of Stonehenge, St John's Cathedral, Mecca and even the Pentagon building are rejected if 'copied'” “It's pretty much the same thing as being done,” Davis said. . “Formoso's uniqueness is what excites us most and raises further questions about how ancient and widespread astronomical lore was taught for the purpose of tracking time.”
