Antonio Porro

Arte e simbolismo xamânico na Amazônia

Although known for over a century, the so-called Amazonian stone idols still represent a category of indigenous artifacts without archaeological, historical and ethnographic context. This article represents the first formal assessment of the known samples and presents hypotheses about their function and purpose. The style, symbolic patterns, and functional details of paired holes existing in all samples suggest their association to the ritual snuff of parica (yakee) and other hallucinogenic substances by ancient Amazonian shamans.

A Amazônia indígena de George Catlin: imagens e relatos de viagem desconhecidos

First presentation and Brazilian ethnohistory focused discussion of the 1852 Amazonian travels and pictures of George Catlin (1796-1872), and of their contribution to the knowledge of several Brazilian Indian tribes. The fame of Catlin in the U. S. depended on his previous North American hundreds of paintings, with no consideration of his later South American pictures and memoirs here described. Furthermore, Catlin is not even mentioned in Brazilian studies of XIXth century traveler artists. The relevant passages of his memoirs are here translated and some of his many Amazonian scenes and Indians portraits are reproduced.