﻿ABORIGINAL 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  CULTURE 
  — 
  COOPER 
  443 
  

  

  region, 
  but 
  the 
  evidence 
  is 
  far 
  from 
  decisive. 
  As 
  regards 
  one 
  minor 
  

   and 
  two 
  major 
  diffusions 
  of 
  Silval 
  culture, 
  we 
  are 
  on 
  more 
  secure 
  

   ground. 
  

  

  A 
  minor 
  drift 
  or 
  drifts 
  brought 
  into 
  the 
  Chaco 
  certain 
  Silval 
  

   elements 
  such 
  as 
  manioc 
  horticulture, 
  the 
  manioc 
  grater, 
  wooden 
  

   stools, 
  hammocks, 
  and 
  the 
  rubber 
  ball 
  for 
  games. 
  23 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  major 
  diffusions 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Arawakan 
  

   peoples 
  into 
  practically 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  probably 
  some 
  

   centuries 
  before 
  the 
  coming 
  of 
  the 
  Spaniard, 
  and 
  later 
  the 
  invasion, 
  

   still 
  under 
  way 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  discovery, 
  of 
  the 
  Caribs 
  across 
  the 
  

   Lesser 
  Antilles 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  nearer 
  Greater 
  Antilles 
  islands. 
  

   Whether 
  or 
  not 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  typical 
  South 
  American 
  Silval 
  culture 
  

   in 
  southern 
  Middle 
  America 
  represents 
  migration 
  or 
  cultural 
  intrusion 
  

   into 
  the 
  area 
  from 
  South 
  America 
  cannot 
  at 
  present 
  be 
  decided. 
  At 
  

   any 
  rate, 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  Middle 
  America 
  where 
  culture 
  similar 
  

   to 
  the 
  South 
  American 
  Silval 
  culture 
  is 
  found 
  is, 
  like 
  the 
  latter's 
  area 
  

   of 
  distribution, 
  rain 
  forest. 
  

  

  The 
  original 
  centers 
  of 
  dispersion 
  of 
  the 
  Arawak 
  and 
  Carib 
  peoples 
  

   cannot 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  state 
  of 
  our 
  evidence 
  be 
  determined. 
  With 
  only 
  

   rare 
  exceptions 
  the 
  areas 
  over 
  which 
  they 
  have 
  spread 
  are 
  areas 
  of 
  

   tropical 
  rain 
  forest. 
  They 
  have, 
  it 
  is 
  true, 
  occupied 
  the 
  smaller 
  lower- 
  

   Amazon 
  savannas 
  and 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Brazilian 
  highland 
  savanna, 
  but 
  

   not, 
  except 
  in 
  part, 
  the 
  more 
  extensive 
  savannas 
  of 
  the 
  middle 
  Orinoco, 
  

   where 
  in 
  historic 
  times 
  at 
  least 
  have 
  dwelt 
  peoples 
  of 
  other 
  linguistic 
  

   stocks, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  Otomac, 
  Guahibo, 
  Saliva, 
  and 
  the 
  very 
  primitive 
  

   Yaruro. 
  The 
  Arawaks 
  and 
  the 
  Caribs 
  appear, 
  in 
  other 
  words, 
  to 
  have 
  

   shunned 
  the 
  open 
  country 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  kept 
  in 
  the 
  main 
  to 
  the 
  deep 
  

   forests. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  spread 
  of 
  Arawak 
  and 
  Carib 
  culture 
  within 
  the 
  

   forested 
  area 
  is 
  pretty 
  clearly 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  relatively 
  recent 
  genera- 
  

   tions 
  — 
  as 
  e. 
  g. 
  ? 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Schiriana 
  and 
  Waika, 
  if 
  we 
  can 
  rely 
  

   on 
  Koch-Griinberg. 
  24 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  Arawak 
  and 
  Carib 
  spread 
  must, 
  on 
  

   the 
  other 
  hand, 
  go 
  back 
  to 
  relatively 
  remote 
  prehistoric 
  times. 
  

  

  The 
  Tupi, 
  like 
  the 
  Arawak 
  and 
  Carib, 
  have 
  also 
  kept 
  pretty 
  con- 
  

   sistently 
  to 
  the 
  forests. 
  The 
  earliest 
  determinable 
  center 
  of 
  dispersion 
  

   seems 
  more 
  probably, 
  since 
  Metraux' 
  studies, 
  and 
  Klimek 
  and 
  Milke's 
  

   statistical 
  analysis, 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  Amazon 
  basin. 
  Then 
  well 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  

   coming 
  of 
  the 
  European 
  they 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  drifted 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  

   Paraguay-Parana 
  and 
  southern 
  Brazilian 
  region, 
  the 
  historic 
  home 
  

   of 
  the 
  Tupi-Guarani. 
  At 
  least 
  it 
  is 
  mostly 
  from 
  these 
  two 
  centers 
  on 
  

   the 
  Amazon 
  and 
  the 
  Paraguay-Parana 
  that 
  the 
  Tupi 
  spread 
  out 
  along 
  

   the 
  southern 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Amazon, 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  Brazilian 
  coast 
  

   with 
  almost 
  no 
  break 
  from 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Amazon 
  to 
  the 
  extreme 
  

  

  23 
  Nordenskiold, 
  1919, 
  pp. 
  252-255 
  ; 
  1920, 
  pp. 
  208-213. 
  

  

  24 
  Koch-Griinberg, 
  1923, 
  pp. 
  284-319 
  ; 
  cf. 
  M. 
  Schmidt, 
  1917. 
  

  

  