Teso dos Bichos (archeological site)
Brazil · Americas
About
Teso dos Bichos is an embankment that forms an artificial mound, located at the archaeological site of Camutins on the island of Marajó in Brazil, a place where one of the most elaborate civilizations of the pre-Columbian Amazon existed (the indigenous Marajoara), occupying 2.5 hectares. A teso is an elevated piece of land built with embankment, for protection in periods of flooding of the rivers (high tide), which flooded for several months in some areas of the island of Marajó. The tesos were erected by the Marajoara, a society of indigenous potters and fish farmers who inhabited the region approximately between the years 500 and 1300 (before Portuguese colonization). They understood the climatic and topographical situation of the region and knew how to use natural resources for survival. At the archaeological site of Camutins, which extends for 10 km along the Amazon River, about 30 tesos have been identified, the "Teso dos Bichos" being one of the best known examples of this type of mound.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.