This  module focuses on a critical reassessment of the various competing  theories and hypotheses advanced to explain the development and character of ancient (archaeology) and historic (ethnography) societies that inhabit(ed) the tropical lowlands, particularly the Amazon basin.  The module focuses on the fundamental questions of how and in what ways did humans relate to (adaptation, contested 'negotiations') the complex and changing environments/landscapes of the tropical lowlands; and how and why these relations changed over time.  Cultural ecological, cultural evolutionary, historical ecological and neo-Darwinian evolutionary approaches are discussed through an examination of the archaeological evidence pertaining to a mosaic of subsistence patterns (from hunter-gatherers to farmers) and modes of socio-political and economic organisation.

Module description
This module provides a broad overview of some the key archaeological topics that define the time-deep human history of the planet’s largest rainforest biome: Amazonia. Many of key issues revolve around five major questions: (1) Who were the ancestors of present-day indigenous peoples of Amazonia? (2) When and what kinds of societies developed in ancient Amazonia? (3) To what extent did these populations modify/shape the landscape and environment of this so-called pristine environment? (4) Did societies become (or not) sedentary?
When, how, why, and to what extent? What role did plant cultivation/agriculture play (if any) in supporting population growth? (5) What can we say about social complexity among ancient
Amazonians?
The module Ancient Societies of Amazonia «has been designed bearing in mind that most students will have only limited knowledge about the broader context of lowland South American archaeology, as well as of Amazonia as a biome. Therefore, as much as teaching is centred on how archaeology and allied fields permit reconstructing ancient cultural diversity, the module dips freely into the region’s ethnography, linguistics, geography, and ecology - often in search of crucial insights. In many ways, this echoes the intellectual approach of most Amazonian archaeologists, who are accomplished regionalists and over time become knowledgeable about the very particular 'natural' features of this extraordinary biome (and how they themselves are crucial pieces of the region’s larger archaeological puzzle). Contents covered in the module’s teaching, in addition, provide a critical glimpse into a growing stream of research that adopts a reflexive and politically-committed position as complex links develop between archaeological research and the broader political context of conservation, deforestation, and the future of contemporary Amazonian peoples.
Module Aims
• To introduce students to key arguments about the historical development of ancient societies of Amazonia, including their theoretical foundation in cultural evolutionary, environmental determinist, and historical ecological models
• To map the broader variability of Amazonian “archaeological systematics” (lithic and ceramic typologies, settlement types, environmental data) and teach students to evaluate interpretations of Amazonian history based on this evidence.
• To showcase and discuss the role of archaeology and allied disciplines (including palaeoenvironmental studies) in understanding the history of human modification of the Amazonian rainforest, as well as some of its broader conservation implications.
• To showcase and discuss the role of archaeology within the broader politic of Amazonian affecting the inhabitants of Amazonia, especially indigenous peoples and forest peasants.
• To showcase case studies and methodological approaches that can be expanded or emulated by students when undertaking their own research (e.g. BA dissertations).
• To familiarise students with Amazonian models that can be of comparative values regarding ancient societies of other humid tropical regions of the world. 