Best Amazonia
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Eduardo Viveiros de Castro is a Brazilian anthropologist and a leading figure in contemporary Amazonian ethnology. He is best known for developing the theory of 'Amerindian perspectivism,' which argues that many Indigenous peoples of the Americas view the world from the perspective of non-human anim...
These illustrations tackle the sheer, overwhelming biodiversity of the Amazon. They are characterized by a sense of lush density and overwhelming life. While sometimes sacrificing individual clarity for the sake of depicting the ecosystem's richness, they are vital for understanding tropical rainfor...
Stephen Hugh-Jones is a British social anthropologist associated with the University of Cambridge who conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork among the Barasana and other Tukanoan-speaking peoples of the Northwest Amazon in Colombia. His research, conducted within the structuralist tradition infl...
David Maybury-Lewis was an anthropologist recognized for his extensive ethnographic fieldwork among Indigenous peoples of Central Brazil, particularly the Xavante society. He held a long-standing academic position at Harvard University, where he contributed to structuralist studies of kinship and my...
Joanna Overing is an American anthropologist recognized for her extensive ethnographic fieldwork among the Piaroa people of Venezuela. Her research has significantly advanced the anthropological understanding of Amazonian societies, particularly through her explorations of indigenous morality, aesth...
Betty Meggers (1921–2012) was an American archaeologist who worked extensively with the Smithsonian Institution, specializing in the prehistory of South America. She is best known for her fieldwork in the Amazon basin, particularly her excavations at Marajó Island in Brazil, where she studied the Ma...
Terence Turner is an American anthropologist known for his decades-long ethnographic fieldwork with the Kayapó people of the Brazilian Amazon, beginning in the 1960s. His research has focused on Kayapó social organization, cosmology, and history, as well as their engagement with Brazilian national s...
Neil Whitehead (1956-2012) was a British anthropologist who served as a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focused on indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin and Caribbean, particularly examining historical accounts of violence, shamanism, and colonial encounters. Whitehea...
Jonathan D. Hill is an American cultural anthropologist whose research centers on Indigenous peoples of the northwestern Amazon, especially the Wakuénai of Venezuela. His ethnographic work examines how music, ritual speech, oral history, and place-naming preserve collective memory and shape politica...
Clifford Evans was an American archaeologist whose research concentrated on South American prehistory, particularly the archaeology of Amazonia and neighboring regions. Working closely with archaeologist Betty Meggers, he developed ceramic classifications and chronological sequences based on excavat...
Peter Rivière is a British social anthropologist associated with the University of Oxford and the study of Indigenous societies in lowland South America. His ethnographic research among the Trio of Suriname examined social organization, marriage, kinship, settlement, and political relations. He also...
Christine Hugh-Jones is a British anthropologist recognized for her ethnographic research in the Colombian Amazon. She, along with her husband Stephen Hugh-Jones, conducted long-term fieldwork among the Barasana people. Her academic work focuses on topics such as kinship, social structure, ritual, a...
American anthropologist (1938–2019) known for decades of fieldwork among Venezuela's Yanomami, whose controversial portrayal as a 'fierce people' generated lasting scholarly debate.
