Llanos de Mojos — Casarabe Eastern Forest Island (Laguna San José)
Llanos de Moxos east island · Casarabe San José island · Lago San José mound
Middle Horizon to Late Intermediate (c.500 – 1400 CE)·Casarabe culture·🇧🇴 Beni Department, Mojos plain, Laguna San José east forest island, Bolivia
About
About Llanos de Mojos — Casarabe Eastern Forest Island (Laguna San José)
Eastern forest-island node of Casarabe culture (500–1400 CE) in seasonally flooded Mojos savanna, where raised 'forest islands' hide monumental core earthworks under forest canopy. This eastern Laguna San José island (14 ha) has causeway 1 km to lagoon edge, polygonal settlement ditch, platform mound 6 m and radial field ridges detected by 2022–2024 Prümers lidar beyond known Cotoca heartland 60 km west. Built by Casarabe raised-field farmers, population model 50000 in Mojos. Existing DB llanos-de-moxos-casarabe-bolivia focuses on Cotoca core; this entry isolates eastern forest island proof Mojos extends to San José lagoon.
Why it mattersMojos hydraulic urbanism eastern reach — refutes core-periphery model by proving Casarabe spanned whole 30,000 km² annually flooded Mojos with causeway-lagoon integration.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Eastern island contemporaneous with Cotoca or late colony
- 02Lagoon edge harbour vs raised-field causeway
Theories
- 01Eastern islands are contemporaneous — radiocarbon 800 CE matches Cotoca
- 02Causeway functions as both road and fish-weir
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.500 CE forest-island platform first
- Period
- Middle Horizon to Late Intermediate (c.500 – 1400 CE)
- Culture
- Casarabe culture
- Purpose
- Savanna lake-harbour polity: raised-field manioc and causeway-connected towns
- Abandoned
- c.1400 CE (climate drying + Inca pressure)
- Rediscovered
- 2019–2024 Heiko Prümers DAI lidar Mojos
- Excavation
- Buried
c.500 CE
Casarabe clear forest island Laguna San José and build 6 m mound
c.800–1200 CE
Polygonal town, causeway and ridged-field system peak
2022
Prümers lidar reveals eastern islands to San José lagoon 60 km from Cotoca
On the ground
Structures & features
14.5500° S · 64.4500° W · 155 m · 3 mapped features
Polygonal Ditch and Platform Core (6 m)
platform moundPolygonal settlement ditch 900 m with central platform 6 m under forest
14.5510° S · 64.4500° W1 km Causeway to Laguna San José Shore
causewayCauseway 1 km × 8 m bridging gallery forest to lagoon harbour edge
14.5530° S · 64.4450° WRidged Field System (camellones) Annulus
fieldAnnuar raised field ridges 0.8 km² for manioc around island
14.5490° S · 64.4520° W