Captions for Images of Baures Fish Weirs:
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01 Fish weirs and forest islands from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
02 Fish weirs and fish ponds (circular features surrounded by palms) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
03 A large artificial pond (green in center) used to store fish and other aquatic resources during the dry season. [© Clark L. Erickson]
04 Fish weirs, ponds, and forest island (top) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
05 Fish weir covered with small and large palms during the dry season. [© Clark L. Erickson]
06 Fish weir opening (funnel-like) where fish traps of basketry or net would have been placed. In addition, these structures, probably lined with logs were used as portals to move canoes through the fish weirs. [© Clark L. Erickson]
07 Savanna that has been invaded by palms (Mauritia flexuosa). This phenomena has occurred in areas of Baures where anthropogenic burning of the savanna has been discontinued (due to depopulation after the Spanish conquest and lack of present day use). The darker green areas (top and bottom) are old forest islands. The lighter green is continuous canopy of palms. A pre-Columbian causeway (raised roadway) crosses the forest from upper left to lower right. The vegetation growing on the drier surface of the causeway is distinct from the palms found on either side. [© Clark L. Erickson]
08 Fish weirs, ponds (surrounded by rings of palms) and forest island (upper right) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
09 Fish weirs, ponds, and forest island (top) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
10 Network of fish weirs and ponds from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
11 Fish weir and 2 ponds from the air. The straight line is a prehispanic canoe path. The irregular lines are animal paths in the savanna. [© Clark L. Erickson]
12 A network of fish weirs from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
13 Fish weirs (left and bottom), causeways/canals (straight lines) and forest island (top) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
14 Fish weirs, pond (bottom center), canoe paths (straight dark lines, and causeway (upper right) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
16 Fish weir and two ponds surrounded by palms (light green upper right) forest islands from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
17 Fish weir and pond/stand of palms (lower center) the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
18 Palm covered causeway (roadway) [upper left to lower center], fish weir [upper left to lower center], several ponds (lighter green circular features), and forest island (bottom center) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
19 Fish weir crossing the savanna from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
20 Fish weirs crossing the savanna from the air. A well-preserved fish weir (upper right to lower center) and numerous poorly preserved fish weirs can be seen in this image. The dark area in the lower right is receding floodwater on the savanna at the end of the wet season [© Clark L. Erickson]
21 Fish weir connecting two forest islands (upper left and lower right) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
22 A long fish weir (top center to bottom center), ponds (light green circles) and forest island (top center) from the air. Traces of other fish weirs can be seen in the upper left of the image. [© Clark L. Erickson]
23 Eroded fish weirs (center), radial causeways (upper center) and forest island (top) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
24 A network of fish weirs crossing the savanna from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
25 Two fish weirs (center and left) and a causeway (road) (left) connecting two forest islands (top and bottom) from the air. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b01 Archaeological excavation in a raised earthen causeway (top) and canal (bottom). The trench provides a cross-section of the earthwork for determining the original form, building stages, and at times, material for dating the construction and use. A radiocarbon sample (burned charcoal) from the base of the earthwork was dated to AD 1615. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b02 The San Joaquin river, floodplain, and forest island (background), Baures, Bolivia. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b03 The San Joaquin river, gallery forest, and savanna (light green), Baures, Bolivia. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b04 The Mamore river and gallery forest. The Mamore river drains much of the Llanos de Mojos (Department of the Beni) and eventually flows into the Amazon River in Brazil. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b05 Pre-Columbian raised fields (lighter green) and canals (darker green) on the savanna near Santa Ana de Yacuma, Bolivia. Raised fields are elevated planting platforms built for farming the seasonally inundated savannas of the Llanos de Mojos, Bolivia. The canals beside the raised fields provided soil for the platforms, water for irrigation, nutrients for the fields (in the form of aquatic vegetation and organic sediments), and fish during the wet season. The farmers who built and used raised fields probably grew manioc (yucca) , sweet potatoes, and other Amazonian crops. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b06 Apple snails (Pomacea sp.) that are found beside the old fish weirs and artificial ponds of Baures. These meat of these snails were an important food for the Baure peoples during the Colonial period and probably were raised in the weirs and ponds during the pre-Columbian period.
b07 The savanna of Baures, Bolivia. Savannas like these are maintained by annual burning during the dry season. The burn removes the dead grasses and prevents trees from encroaching on the savanna. The new grasses that appear after the burns attract the game that native people hunt. Fire was used as an ecological management tool. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b08 The Agro-Archaeological Project of the Beni: (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Direction of Archaeology and Anthropology of Bolivia); project archaeologists are Dr. Alexei Vranich (first from left), Bolivian archaelogist Wilma Winkler (project co-director; second from left), Bolivian archaeologist Dante Angelo (second from right), Dr. Clark Erickson (first on right) and Dr. John Walker (front). [© Clark L. Erickson]
b09 Archaeological excavation of a raised field and canal in the Llanos de Mojos, Bolivia. Bolivian Archaeology Dante Angelo is pointing out broken pottery and charcoal in the sediments that filled the old canal. The charcoal was dated and demonstrated that the field was built and used 1500 years ago. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b10 Mojos Indians during the historical period (image from Alcides D Orbigny 1835-1847 Voyage dans l’Amerique Meridionale. Paris).
b11 Painting from historical period of indigenous peoples of Baures, Bolivia. Both are dressed in the traditional clothing of the region (made of native cotton). The man holds a traditional basket fish trap and pole holding hundreds of buchere (an armored catfish) The buchere is important food for the Baure today and is common in the artificial ponds associated with the fish weirs of Baures (the painting is by Bolivian artist Melchor Maria Mercado, mid 1850s).
b12 Archaeological excavations of raised fields and canals in the Llanos de Mojos. [© Clark L. Erickson]
B13 Palma real (Mauritia flexuosa) growing on a pre-Columbian causeway, Baures, Bolivia. This palm is important to native peoples throughout the Amazon basin. The leaves provide thatch for roofing and basketry, the trunk is used for construction material, the heart is eaten, and the fruits (rich in protein and starch) are an important food for humans. The fruit is also eaten by game animals that they hunt and the fish that they fish. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b14 Mojos dancers during the festival of San Ignacio, San Ignacio de Moxos, Bolivia. The dance is called the Macheteros (the machete wielders). The clothes are made of native cotton. The headdress is made of scarlet macaw and blue and gold macaw feathers. [© Clark L. Erickson]
b15 Travel by dugout canoe in an pre-Columbian canal, Baures, Bolivia. The canoe is an important means of transportation for native peoples of the Llanos de Mojos and throughout Amazonia. Many of the earthworks in Baures was built to improve conditions for canoe travel (causeways/dikes to hold water on the savanna, canals, etc.). [© Clark L. Erickson]
Additional Images (artist’s reconstruction)
Additional Images (figures in Nature article)