Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

Ancient village in Amazon possibly based on Pleiades star cluster

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Art Newspaper
  • 14 Aug 2023 14:49
  • 3 Shares
4 Min Read

The Brazilian village was used for around 500 years, until the 10th century.

  • x
  • A bowl from Formoso that possibly had a ritual or ceremonial function (Alexandre Guida Navarro/The Art Newspaper)
    A bowl from Formoso that possibly had a ritual or ceremonial function (Alexandre Guida Navarro/The Art Newspaper)

It is possible that a prehistoric town in Brazil served as a site for ritual or ceremonial gatherings with a Pleiades star cluster as its inspiration. Following a survey of the pre-Hispanic stilt houses in northeastern Brazil's estuaries of the Maranho River, archaeologists came across the discovery. Formoso was one of the settlements examined, and it stood out due to its distinctive layout, elaborate pottery, size, and duration of use.

In the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, archaeologist Christopher Davis of McHenry County College in Illinois published the research with archaeologist Alexandre Guida Navarro of the Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Brazil, and said it looks to them "that the Formoso site may have been an elite ritual meeting site where sacred knowledge (like astronomy) was shared."

In Formoso, the crew investigated and found clusters of stilts that originally held larger structures than would be expected for residences, as well as unusually ornate ceramics with a fusion of local and foreign forms. 

Formoso, one of the several stilt villages examined, also demonstrated the longest period of continuous use; radiocarbon data showed that it was founded as early as 441CE and was sustained for around 500 years -- a marker of its significance.

Intriguingly, Navarro observed that the clusters of stilts that supported Formoso's buildings didn't follow the typical rectangular or circular patterns of Amazonian stilt towns or villages on land. The result was an odd design for Formoso. 

"We then considered other possible construction patterns (for defense, as fishing weirs, to reduce drag resistance of water currents or wind) and those scenarios didn’t fit either," Davis says.

Related News

Israeli bill uses archaeology as cover to usurp more Palestinian land

51,000-year old cave painting oldest evidence of storytelling

The two researchers didn't notice Formoso's striking resemblance to the Pleiades, a star cluster that was very important to Lower Amazonian tribes, until they started looking at constellation patterns.

"Finding a resemblance to a constellation was a bit of a surprise, but it was not surprising that the star cluster was the Pleiades," Davis says. "If any astronomy marker were used, it makes sense that it would have been the Pleiades."

According to Davis, the Pleiades' emergence in the Lower Amazon signaled the start of the dry season, a period during which residents repaired structural damage to their homes, restored and relocated fishing weirs and dams, and prepared their fields for the upcoming growing season.

It was also the time of year when some civilizations staged rites of passage ceremonies, and it was the most advantageous for individuals to travel great distances for business or to visit loved ones. The star cluster itself was interpreted as a beehive, a honeycomb, a valuable trade good, or a bundle of fire sticks for clearing the fields.

"It was very challenging to find ways to test whether or not the similarity to the Pleiades was just by chance," Davis says. "We had to learn and calculate several statistical correlation tests and probability to demonstrate that the resemblance is greater than 95% confidence—the standard level of confidence for scientific significance."

Together, the evidence from Formoso gives a suggestion that the village was a seasonal ceremonial or ritual center, where people from various locations gathered, and that its arrangement was a homage to the Pleiades as a changing seasons' herald.

Formoso's similarity to the Pleiades is now unmatched among the Amazonian stilt settlements, and it may continue to be so even with more study. 

  • archeology
  • ancient civilization
  • Hispanic
  • Brazil
  • star cluster
  • Archaeologists
  • Formoso
  • Amazon

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS