On further googling I see there is another location of these precolumbian fishweirs; it is not entirely clear still precisely where these features are visible.
In any case even more links for your amusement: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/fishweir/ http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cerickso/baures/baures2.htm http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/%7Ecerickso/fishweir/articles/Expedition2.htm Here's a quote that summarizes the basics: "The most impressive landscape feature in Baures are the dense networks of long causeways and canals that cross the savannas, wetlands and forested islands. A (possibly prehispanic) 15 km long causeway and canal connected the towns of Baures and Guacaraje until the 1930s when it was abandoned. Some segments of old causeways between local settlements and ranches are still used today for communication and transportation during the rainy season. The "Baures Hydraulic Complex" located between the Rio San Joaquin and the Rio San Martin to the east of the town of Baures has the densest concentration of these features. There are thousands of linear kilometers of causeways and canals in this zone. Most are remarkably straight. Many cross over one another and some connect to other causeways. There are a number of cases where 2-4 causeways run parallel to each other. On the ground, these causeways are low structures of 0.25-1.0 m in elevation, 4-6 meters wide and often 2-5 km long. Most are badly eroded and many are covered with trees and bushes, a sharp contrast to the surrounding grass covered savanna. Foot traffic would have used the raised roadways and canoe traffic would have been possible in the adjacent canals. The most basic function of these features would have been for communication and transportation between settlements, rivers, and agricultural fields, but it is possible that some of these had a hydraulic function (Lee 1995, Erickson et al. 1995). The obsession with straightness over long distances, the "overengineering" of the designs and construction, and the sheer number of these features indicates that they may have also had a ritual function, possibly associated with astronomy, calendrics, or specific ceremonies. - a On 3/6/07, Anselm Hook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Reading '1491' ... Apparently if you fly over Beni in eastern Bolivia you'll see an endless landscape of raised islands of forest, many of which are almost perfect circles. Connecting these islands are raised berms up to three miles long and perfectly straight. Digging has found that some of the islands are built up / or have some portion of fired clay shards / ceramic; as if they were refuse piles; although on a massive scale beyond what it seems would be refuse. Some people ( Clark Erickson and William Balee ) think that this might have been a dense zigzagging network of earth fish weirs; effectively fisheries. They figure that it must have taken thousands of people to maintain such a system... let alone build it over time. Here's more on on the subject: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~cerickso/fishweir/articles/Erickson1994LASA.pdf http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cerickso/applied3.html http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cerickso/index.html I can't quite see this on google maps; perhaps somebody else might be able to find it: http://www.fallingrain.com/icao/SLSA.html ( apparently near Santa Ana Del Yacuma ) http://www.aguabolivia.org/situacionaguaX/Riego/mapas/mapapol.htm http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=13%C2%B0+45%27+44S+65%C2%B0+26%27+7W&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=12&t=h&om=1 Unfortunately no high resolution data here - maybe Nasa World Wind might do a better job. Why don't archeologists ever actually supply longitude and latitude? It's always "somewhere really far away that you can't be bothered to actually go look for but quite interesting really". In any case, this challenges the idea of 'primitive' or 'natural state' indians who only made small changes to their environment. It feels like there was an advanced biotechnics that we cannot see because of our prejudice. The entire landscape may have consisted of "anthropogenic" forests; created by humans to fit their needs... and there may be no "nature" to protect. - a
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