South America
BOTOCUDO, CAMACAN, PURI
DISPLAY CASE 33
The Botocudo, Camacan and Purí, now long extinct, lived in central-eastern Brazil. The Botocudo Indians were thus named by the Portuguese because of the wooden disc (batoque) that they inserted into the enlarged holes of the ear lobes and lower lip. The Botocudo lived in hunter-gatherer groups and began to practice agriculture after they came into contact with Europeans. Their material culture was rather essential, made up mostly of objects that were easily transported in their frequent moves.
1. Bag for carrying provisions
Plant fiber
Botocudo Indians
De Agostini Collection, 1875
2. Water container
Bamboo
Botocudo Indians
De Agostini Collection, 1875
3. Lip discs
Botocudo Indians
De Agostini Collection, 1875
4. Bow and arrows
Camacan and Puris Indians
De Agostini Collection, 1875
5. Rattle
Camacan Indians
De Agostini Collection, 1875
ALTO RIO NEGRO
DISPLAY CASE 34
The indigenous peoples of the Alto Rio Negro, in the Amazon basin, use for hunting a long wooden blowgun that shoots darts poisoned with curare, a plant product that looks similar to pitch. Curare progressively paralyzes the muscular system of the prey, whose flesh remains nevertheless edible because the poison is almost harmless through the digestive system.
1. Blowgun
Alto Rio Negro region
De Agostini Collection, 1875
2. Tapir skin shield
Alto Rio Negro region
De Agostini Collection, 1875
3. Quiver and bundle of darts poisoned with curare
Alto Rio Negro region
De Agostini Collection, 1875
4. Arrows
The example with the rounded point was used for hunting small fowl
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
5. Curare-poisoned darts
Alto Rio Negro region
De Agostini Collection, 1875
6. Pendant
Quartz with toucan feather decorations
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
7. Palm splinter comb
Plant fiber pendants, japu feathers, toucan feathers and beetle elytra
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
8. Plant fiber bag
Alto Rio Negro region
De Agostini Collection, 1875
9. Arrow tip
Alto Rio Negro region
De Agostini Collection, 1875
DISPLAY CASE 35
10. Tiara
Feathers
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
11. Belt
Beads, feathers and quills
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
12-13. Tiaras
Toucan feathers
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
14. Tanga (loincloth)
Beads inserted in a weave of plant fibers. Fringes made respectively o feathers and tufts of red cotton
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquistion 1879
15. Head bands
Palm fibers and scarlet macaw feathers. The two cords secure the band at the nape of the neck and hang down the back
Alto Rio Negro region
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
FEATHERWORK
DISPLAY CASE 38
Feather ornaments indicated the relevant social characteristics of the individual wearing them and had a specific symbolic value in the cultural sphere in which they were produced. Using the feathers of numerous birds – from parrots to toucans, herons and flacons – the indigenous peoples of the Amazon created wide variety of ornamentations: necklaces, shoulder bag bandoliers, cloaks, belts, loincloths and arm and leg bands. Head ornaments, such as tiaras or hats, are particularly well known for their beauty.
1-2 Ceremonial hats
Cap of white cotton, quills and feathers of blue-and-yellow macaws, scarlet macaws and red-billed curassows
Munduruku People
Bompani Collection, 1845
Acquisition 1879
3. Bracelets and kneepads
Supports of woven cotton, dark-winged trumpeter, macaw and red-billed curassow feathers
Munduruku People
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
4. Pendants
Supports of woven cotton, dark-winged trumpeter, macaw and red-billed curassow feathers
Munduruku People
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquistion 1879
I MUNDURUKU
DISPLAY CASE 36
The Munduruku were once famous warriors. Their war expeditions had the essential purpose of conquering trophy heads, which were kept in the “men’s house”, not only as a sign of the value of individuals, but also because they were considered the foundation of the fertility of the animal world and therefore connected to hunting, another masculine activity.
Brain matter was extracted from the severed head and the empty space was filled with treated plants. The skin was dried by repeatedly immersing it in boiling water and putting it near a flame. In the eye sockets, which were emptied and filled with plant resin, the incisors of a small Amazonian mammal, the agouti, were placed.
1. Tanga (loincloth)
Cotton and japu quills
Parintintín People
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
2. Parintintín trophy head prepared by the Munduruku
Pendants made of feathers from blue-and-yellow macaws, scarlet macaws and red-billed curassows
Munduruku People
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
3. Belt
Support of woven cotton, tufts of scarlet macaw feathers and blue-and-yellow macaw quills
Munduruku People
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
DISPLAY CASE 37
4. Bandolier
Made from wreaths of scarlet macaw and red-billed curassow feathers
Munduruku People
Bompani Collection, circa 1845
Acquisition 1879
YANOMAMI
DISPLAY CASE 39
The Yanomami are one of the most numerous tribes in South America that still lives in relative isolation today. They live in an area of the Amazon rainforest on the border between Brazil and Venezuela. Up until thirty years ago, they were one of the few indigenous ethnic groups that remained largely isolated from contact with the outside world. Starting in 1987, planned and systematic invasions into their territory have demographically and culturally disrupted the life of this people, thrusting them into a rapid and traumatic assimilation into the national society.
The Yanomami collection of the Archeological Ethnological Civic Museum of Modena is a recent acquisition. Acquired in 2001, the collection consists of around 180 pieces including artifacts and naturalistic finds, and was gathered by Loretta Emiri over the course of long stays in Yanomami lands for humanitarian purposes between 1977 and 1986.
1. Head ornaments
The support is made with woven strips of plant fiber. Quills and feathers of toucan, cujubim (blue-throated piping guan), jacamin (dark-winged trumpeter), arara (macaw) and mutum (red-billed curassow) are tied to the support with cords of pineapple or cotton
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
2. Head ornaments
The support is made with woven strips of plant fiber. Quills and feathers of toucan, macaw and red-billed curassow are tied to the support with cords of pineapple or cotton
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
3. Earrings
Feathers and quills of toucan, red-billed curassow, macaw and cujubim, attached to stems or sticks using plant fiber cords
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
DISPLAY CASE 40
4. Arm ornaments
Macaw, red-billed curassow and cujubim feathers tied to a stick with plant fiber cord
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
5. Necklaces
From left: pineapple cord and dried tubers; pineapple cord and jaguar teeth; pineapple cord and tortoise bones; cotton cord with miniscule bone fragments, dried tubers and wooden pendants, used by hunters as an animal decoy; cotton cord and shells
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
6. Bracelets
Made with a long cotton cord on the ends of which are hung pendants made of parts of various birds. The cotton cord is wrapped around the arm
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
7. Dueling weapon
Palm wood
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
8. Quiver and poison darts
Bamboo quiver with boar skin top
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
9. The quiver also contained: two elongated arrowheads, two harpoon arrowheads, a sharpened fragment of monkey bone, a pair of awls, an agouti tooth and a bundle of leaves containing a powder attributed with magical power, to bring favor to the hunt
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
10. Spindle with spun cotton and wheel
The wheel is made of tortoise shell
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
11. Flute
Deer bone
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
12. Terracotta pot
Yanomami People
Emiri Collection, 1977-1986
GUARANI’ E MOCOVI’
DISPLAY CASES 41 - 42
The indigenous Guaraní and Mocoví peoples, located in southern Mato Grosso and the Argentine Gran Chaco region, respectively, now live in a situation of semi-economic integration into the national society. Many artifacts of the Mocoví and Guaraní, permeated by European influences, underscore the drastic cultural changes that these populations have had to adapt to in order to survive and continue to exist as an ethnic group.
1. Protective vest
Plant fiber
Mocoví People
Casari Collection, 1889
2. Containers
Armadillo shell
Mocoví People
Casari Collection, 1889
3. Stone axe
Mocoví People
Casari Collection, 1889
4. Flute
Wood
Mocoví People
Casari Collection, 1889
5. Combs, spurs and mouthpieces
Wood
Mocoví People
Casari Collection, 1889
6. Necklaces
Seeds and shells
Mocoví People
Casari Collection, 1889
7. Small bag
Plant fiber
Guaraní People
De Agostini Collection, 1875
8. Tanga
Plant fiber
Guaraní People
Bompani 1879
9. Hammock
Plant fiber
Guaraní People
De Agostini Collection, 1889
10. Arrows with bone tips and spears
Guaraní People
Casari Collection, 1889
11. Decorated gourd containers
Guaraní People
Casari Collection, 1889
12. Gourd for mate with straws
Silver and reed straws
Guaraní People
Casari Collection, 1889
13. Harpoon
Bone
Guaraní People
Casari Collection, 1889
14. Flute
Wood
Guaraní People
De Agostini Collection, 1875
15. Baskets
Plant fiber
Guaraní People
Casari Collection, 1889