Fishermen in the Brazilian Amazon Discover Enormous Funerary Urns Beneath a Toppled Tree
The ceramic vessels contained the bones of pre-Columbian Indigenous people, as well as fish, frog and turtle remains
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Beneath the roots of a fallen tree in the Brazilian Amazon, local fishermen recently uncovered seven oversized ceramic urns, some of which were filled with the bones of humans, fish, frogs and turtles. The area’s pre-Columbian inhabitants likely created the vessels—the largest of which measures nearly three feet in diameter and weighs around 770 pounds—for funerary practices associated with rituals and food, notes Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in a statement.
The fishermen found the urns on an artificial island in the floodplains of the Middle Solimões region. Known as Lago do Cochila, the site is one of at least 70 built by Indigenous people in flood-prone areas along the Amazon River some 2,000 years ago. Using a mix of earth and broken ceramics, these communities transformed their landscape to build homes and engage in social activities, even during seasonal floods.
“These were people who chose to live permanently in the floodplain, and they made it happen,” Márcio Amaral, an archaeologist at the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development (IDSM) who co-led the excavation, tells Brazil Reports’ Thiago Alves. “They developed technologies and construction engineering to do so.”
Did you know? The Amazon’s Indigenous inhabitants
Humans have resided in the Amazon basin, which is twice the size of India, for thousands of years. Today, an estimated 100 uncontacted groups continue to live in the region.
Unlike other funerary urns previously found in the region, none of the vessels had ceramic lids. The researchers suggest they may have been sealed with organic materials that have since decomposed.
The containers’ form and decorations don’t clearly match any of the established Amazonian ceramic traditions, such as the Polychrome, Borda Incisa or Pocó-Açutuba styles, reports National Geographic’s Meghie Rodrigues. Some fragments feature red bands and engobes (finishes often made with liquid clay), while others were sculpted with a rare greenish clay. “This is a type we haven’t got records of yet,” Amaral tells National Geographic.
As archaeologist and excavation co-leader Geórgea Layla Holanda, also with the IDSM, explains to Brazil Reports, the urns’ size and form may mimic “a body designed to receive another body.” Previous research indicates that pre-Columbian people in the area followed a multistep process when interring their dead.
“The body was left in a basket in the river so that fish would consume the soft tissues, or it was buried in the ground,” Holanda tells Live Science’s Lobato Felizola. “Afterward, the disarticulated bones were cremated and placed inside funerary urns, which symbolized a new body, a new skin. Finally, many Amazonian cultures buried these pots beneath their homes.”
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The fishermen who unearthed the urns made the find in October 2024. They shared the discovery with local leader Walfredo Cerqueira, who recognized the vessels’ potential importance. Cerqueira alerted a local priest, who in turn contacted Amaral. In coordination with locals, scientists from the IDSM launched a research expedition to the site in January. “This was a community-driven demand, which understood the historical importance of these objects,” Amaral tells Live Science.
Reaching the urns, however, was no easy task. The team embarked on a 24-hour journey by boat to reach the community, then canoed another 11 miles before hiking to the site on a makeshift trail. Upon arriving at the fallen tree, the archaeologists built a raised platform out of wood and vines, which they used to access and excavate the centuries-old urns.
The vessels are now undergoing analysis at the IDSM’s lab in Tefé. The researchers hope that further study will reveal more about the people who created the urns—and the worldview reflected in their burial practices. As Karen Marinho, an archaeologist at the Federal University of the West Pará who did not take part in the excavation, tells National Geographic, “Given how little we know about [the past of] this region and how difficult it is to get there, this is really an unprecedented find.”
