The settlement pattern: size, duration, and distribution

TL;DRAbstract

In Chapter 1 the point was made that it is a mistake to characterize the indigenous societies of the Guianas in terms of what they lack. Even so, it is true to say that the absence of any formal social groupings that could act as pegs on which to hang a description makes the problem of presentation that much more difficult. The closest one can get to identifying a social group that has any sort of corporate existence is the inhabitants of a single settlement. Even this is not entirely satisfactory, for these groups have only a transitory presence. Settlements are short-lived, and even within their lifetime their populations, and thus the composition of the group, undergo continual change as people come and go. But, ephemeral as settlements are, to focus on them is an approach that allows an initial glimpse of fleeting stability in a fluid and relative world. It is in the formation, composition, and dispersion of settlements, apparently so chaotic, that it is possible to observe the ran

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