Venezuela’s great cultural diversity seems to consolidate during the Mesoindian or Specialized Hunting, Gathering and Fishing Period, equivalent to the Archaic. The Mesoindian Period is dated between 7000-5000 years BP to about 1000 BC. During this time there occurred a transition from the bands of great mammal hunters to the tribal socio-economic formation (Sanoja and Vargas 1995). The transition was prompted, at least in part, by environment.
The Early Holocene environmental changes strongly modified Venezuelan societies. Global temperatures rose; megafauna was extinguished; water level inundated large land extensions previously occupied; vegetal coverage retracted in inter-tropical areas; new ecological niches emerged; and the inlands and mountain chains diversified. Human groups were forced to move to other territories, to interact with new environments, and to modify their productive strategies and social organization. All this represented a challenge because they needed new exploitive means to subsist but, at the same time, the new scenario offered new and more diverse resources. People specialized in new productive strategies, diversified their technologies, and generated differentiated cultural productions regionally (Sanoja and Vargas 1995).
During this period, hunting, gathering, and fishing activities prevailed, but probably with a more substantial special emphasis than earlier. These diverse economic and sociocultural strategies can be grouped into seven productive, ecological, geographical and technological variants as follows (here and hereafter, principal sites mentioned in the text are found in Figure 23.3).
1. Sea shore and deep water fishermen and sea shell gatherers along the eastern Venezuelan coast. They dominated navigation techniques and also occupied islands surrounding the Sucre coast (Margarita, Cubagua, Manicuare, Trinidad and Tobago), and the Lesser Antilles. Sites—all of them characterized by huge midden concentrations of consumed shell—formed the Manicuaroid series (Cruxent and Rouse 1982). This series represents a transitional sequence of technological increase and diversification from shell instruments up to the appearance of pottery during the tribal formation. Manicuaroid’s first complex, Cubagua, around 2325 BC, comprises lithic flakes, elaborated harpoons, lithic choppers used to open shells, two-pointed polished stone artifacts, shell and bone projectile points, hooks, and disks. The second, Manicuare, 1730-1190 BC, includes shell (Strombus gigas) gougers for manufacturing boats; shell, polished stone and bone beads and pendants; and stone net weights. Punta Gorda and Carupano, in addition to the previous artifacts, contain scarce pottery, which evidences an early relationship with tribal Neoindians from inland (Fundacion Polar 1988).
2. Large shell middens along the Venezuelan coast produced by coastal sea shell gatherers and fishermen. Sites such as La Pitia (Zulia State) and Maurica or
Figure 23.3. Location of sites mentioned in the text. (Courtesy: Juan Carlos Rincon)
Pedro Garcia (Anzoategui State) were occupied. Lithic instruments elaborated by percussion to open shells are diagnostic (Cruxent and Rouse 1982; Fundacion Polar 1988).
3.
The gathering of endemic species in the Sucre coast mangroves (Sanoja and Vargas 1995). Sites include No Carlos, Remigio, Las Varas and Guayana. Mangroves were fundamental for the sedentarization process for ancient gatherers between 5000-2000 BC, involving subsistence resources and materials such as wood, resins, fibers, pigments, etc., as well as an exceptional protein source obtained from mollusks, fish, reptiles, and birds. They are related to shell middens combined with evidence of small mammals and birds, including flakes to open shells, hooks, knives, shell and bone needles for textile and net manufacturing, net weights, and proto-agricultural artifacts such as grinding stones (Fundacion Polar 1988; Sanoja and Vargas 1995).
4.
Fishermen and hunters related to eastern Venezuelan coast gatherers. Sites include El Conchero and El Penon (Sucre State). They contain informal multifunctional flakes and scrapers for hunting and gathering activities.
A similar way of life in the central-western Venezuelan coast in small shell middens. Sites include El Heneal, Iguanas (Falcon State) and Cabo Blanco (Vargas State), with informal multi-functional flakes. They also had polished stone tools— metates and grinding stones—showing proto-agricultural practices.
6. An occupation experimenting with protoagriculture. This was defined at the Michelena site (Carabobo State). Besides hunting and lake fishing in the Valencia Lake basin, they developed some seed agriculture practices manifested by polished stone artifacts, metates, grinding stones and typical conical grinders (Fundacion Polar 1988).
7. Inland small mammal hunters. They are present at the Canaima and Tupuken sites (Bolivar State) and in the Orinoco and Caroni rivers, between 7000-5000 BP, characterized by the combined use of percussion and polished jasper or quartz instruments—flakes, sharpeners, scrapers, knives, and projectile points and peduncular points (Barse 1990; Sanoja and Vargas 1995). Preliminary Mes-oindian evidence from Capacho (Tachira) consists of lithic artifacts, probably related to hunter and gatherer bands (Wagner 1999).
World History
