Kuhikugu — Eastern Plaza Cluster K10 at Seki Lake East (Xingu East)
Kuhikugu K10 East · Xingu East Plaza · Seki Lake K10
Late Pre-Columbian (800–1600 CE)·Upper Xingu / ancestral Kuikuro Arawak·🇧🇷 Mato Grosso, Upper Xingu, Kuikuro Indigenous Territory, Seki Lake eastern shore K10, Brazil
About
About Kuhikugu — Eastern Plaza Cluster K10 at Seki Lake East (Xingu East)
2 km causeway to K11 excavated by Michael Heckenberger and Kuikuro custodians. Distinct from the western plaza K9 and lake X11 cores in wave-6, this K10 eastern plaza shows late cluster expansion c. 1250 CE with terra preta (egepe) anthrosol 60 cm thick, manioc pollen and palisade post-moulds at 345 m altitude in ecotone forest. Causeway curving to K11 connects to Kuhikugu main plaza via 4 km inter-village road documented by satellite and coring. Plaza village housed ~1000 residents with central shaman's house.
Why it mattersK10 proves eastward Kuhikugu cluster growth; egepe and ditch date Xingu plaza urbanism and Kuikuro continuity; largest eastern plaza completes 20-village network.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether K10 ditch is defensive or water management
- 02Attribution of K10 expansion to drought 1250 CE?
Theories
- 01K10–K11 causeway marks eastern polity boundary
- 02Egepe maintenance enabled 2500-person cluster sustainability
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 900 CE initial Kuhikugu cluster; K10 1250 CE eastern expansion
- Period
- Late Pre-Columbian (800–1600 CE)
- Culture
- Upper Xingu / ancestral Kuikuro Arawak
- Builders
- Ancestral Kuikuro (Arawak)
- Purpose
- Plaza village for manioc agriculture and shamanic ceremony on egepe soils
- Abandoned
- c. 1600 CE European disease and village relocation
- Rediscovered
- 2003 Heckenberger-Kuikuro mapping; K10 2015 satellite survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 900 CE
Kuhikugu cluster founded on egepe soils
c. 1250 CE
K10 eastern 12 ha plaza and ditch, causeway to K11 built
2003–2015
Heckenberger and Kuikuro map K10 via satellite and auger
On the ground
Structures & features
12.5450° S · 53.0950° W · 345 m · 3 mapped features
Plaza Core (150×120 m)
plazaCentral plaza 150×120 m with shaman's house post-moulds
12.5455° S · 53.0955° WPerimeter Ditch (20 m wide, 12 ha)
ditch20 m ditch enclosing 12 ha village
12.5450° S · 53.0950° WCauseway to K11 (1.2 km×8 m)
causewayCauseway 1.2 km curving to K11 settlement
12.5445° S · 53.0945° W