﻿ABORIGINAL 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  CULTURE 
  — 
  COOPER 
  445 
  

  

  Silval 
  culture, 
  approximately 
  where 
  it 
  Las 
  been 
  in 
  recent 
  times, 
  in 
  the 
  

   Amazon-Orinoco 
  watershed; 
  the 
  Marginal 
  culture, 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  

   continent 
  to 
  the 
  east, 
  southeast, 
  and 
  south. 
  In 
  case, 
  however, 
  the 
  Ge 
  

   should 
  turn 
  out 
  to 
  be 
  partly 
  retrogressed 
  Silvals, 
  the 
  dividing 
  line 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  the 
  Silval 
  and 
  Marginal 
  cultures 
  would 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  drawn 
  far- 
  

   ther 
  to 
  the 
  southeast 
  than 
  we 
  have 
  drawn 
  it 
  in 
  figure 
  2. 
  

  

  3. 
  Aboriginal 
  Diffusion 
  and 
  Sequence 
  : 
  Before 
  Circa 
  A. 
  D. 
  1000 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  so 
  far 
  blocked 
  out 
  certain 
  important 
  temporal 
  sequences 
  

   that 
  have 
  occurred 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  millennium. 
  How 
  far 
  can 
  we 
  get 
  

   toward 
  determining 
  such 
  sequences 
  prior 
  to 
  our 
  date 
  of 
  circa 
  A. 
  D. 
  

   1000 
  ? 
  It 
  is 
  recognized 
  of 
  course 
  that 
  any 
  such 
  historic 
  reconstruction 
  

   on 
  a 
  continental 
  scale 
  must 
  rest 
  on 
  probabilities 
  rather 
  than 
  on 
  cer- 
  

   tainties. 
  But 
  at 
  least 
  it 
  seems 
  worth 
  while 
  to 
  assemble 
  and 
  appraise 
  

   such 
  evidence 
  as 
  we 
  have. 
  We 
  shall 
  take 
  up 
  first 
  the 
  temporal 
  relations 
  

   of 
  the 
  Sierral 
  to 
  the 
  Silval 
  and 
  Marginal, 
  and 
  after 
  that 
  the 
  relations 
  

   of 
  the 
  Silval 
  to 
  the 
  Marginal. 
  

  

  a. 
  Sierral 
  versus 
  Silval 
  and 
  Marginal. 
  — 
  That 
  the 
  higher 
  pre-Inca 
  

   culture 
  or 
  cultures 
  of 
  the 
  Sierral 
  region 
  developed 
  at 
  a 
  date 
  later 
  than 
  

   did 
  the 
  Silval 
  culture 
  appears 
  to 
  rest 
  on 
  fairly 
  solid 
  ethnological 
  and 
  

   archeological 
  evidence. 
  Ethnologically 
  these 
  civilizations 
  presuppose 
  

   and 
  are 
  built 
  upon 
  well-advanced 
  horticulture. 
  And 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  good 
  

   ground 
  for 
  assuming 
  that 
  horticulture 
  developed 
  in 
  the 
  Silval 
  area 
  

   prior 
  to 
  or 
  at 
  least 
  appreciably 
  prior 
  to 
  its 
  development 
  in 
  the 
  Andean 
  

   area. 
  A 
  plausible 
  case 
  can 
  even 
  be 
  made 
  for 
  the 
  Sierral 
  region 
  as 
  the 
  

   birthplace 
  or 
  earliest 
  area 
  of 
  origin 
  of 
  agriculture 
  on 
  the 
  continent, 
  

   although 
  the 
  claim 
  may 
  be 
  disputed 
  by 
  Middle 
  America 
  or 
  perhaps 
  by 
  

   the 
  Silval 
  region. 
  28 
  While 
  archeologically 
  the 
  earlier 
  Andean 
  pre- 
  

   Inca 
  civilizations 
  cannot, 
  over 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  area, 
  be 
  shown 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  preceded 
  by 
  simple 
  cultures 
  of 
  the 
  Silval 
  level, 
  at 
  two 
  points 
  at 
  

   least 
  in 
  the 
  area, 
  Taltal 
  and 
  Arica, 
  early 
  and 
  perhaps 
  the 
  earliest 
  

   archeological 
  horizons 
  seem 
  to 
  show 
  an 
  even 
  simpler 
  one 
  comparable 
  

   to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  nonhorticultural 
  Marginal 
  peoples. 
  29 
  

  

  b. 
  Silval 
  versus 
  Marginal 
  — 
  As 
  regards 
  the 
  temporal 
  relations 
  of 
  

   the 
  Silval 
  and 
  Marginal 
  cultures 
  the 
  evidence 
  calls 
  for 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  

   in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  discussion. 
  Theoretically 
  the 
  Marginal 
  belt 
  might 
  con- 
  

   ceivably 
  represent 
  a 
  retrogressive 
  break-down 
  and 
  offshoot 
  of 
  the 
  Silval 
  

   culture. 
  Actually, 
  the 
  evidence 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  accumulating 
  that 
  the 
  

   Marginal 
  culture 
  is 
  in 
  reality 
  a 
  tarriant 
  culture, 
  earlier 
  in 
  point 
  of 
  

   time 
  on 
  the 
  continent 
  than 
  the 
  Silval. 
  The 
  evidence 
  for 
  this 
  inference 
  

   we 
  shall 
  now 
  summarize 
  and 
  discuss 
  — 
  first 
  and 
  chiefly 
  the 
  cultural 
  

  

  18 
  Cook, 
  1925 
  ; 
  Mangelsdorf 
  and 
  Reeves, 
  1939 
  ; 
  Sauer, 
  1939 
  ; 
  Thompson. 
  1936, 
  pp. 
  13-14. 
  

   29 
  Summary 
  from 
  earlier 
  sources, 
  in 
  Cooper, 
  1924, 
  p. 
  413 
  ; 
  important 
  recent 
  excavations, 
  

   in 
  Bird, 
  1943. 
  

  

  