Cultural Evolution and Indigenous Areas of Venezuela

Cultural Evolution of Indigenous Peoples in Venezuela

While the indigenous peoples located in what is now the territory of Venezuela may not have attained the same degree of development as other American cultures like the Mayas, Aztecs, or Incas, their evolution is still evident. Aboriginal communities in Venezuela experienced a gradual development through the exchange of techniques between different groups.

Stages of Cultural Development

Agricultural Training

This stage, between 1500 and 1000 BC, consisted of small communities of hunters, fishermen, and gatherers of wild fruit and seashells.

Beginning of Agricultural Activity

Around 1000 BC, communities began combining hunting, fishing, and gathering with the rudimentary cultivation of wild fruits, such as bitter cassava. These communities were formed by tribes.

Intermediate Agricultural Training

Between 1000 BC and the arrival of the Spanish, communities practiced the cultivation of family smallholdings, where they permanently planted corn, beans, cotton, tobacco, and other fruits.

Advanced Agricultural Training

From 1000 to 1500 AD, communities practiced irrigated agriculture, constructing terraces, canals, ponds, and stone warehouses to store surplus food.

Indo-Hispanic Training

From 1500 AD onwards, communities made contact with European culture and incorporated European techniques into their lifestyles and customs.

Indigenous Cultural Areas of Venezuela

According to historians and anthropologists, the Venezuelan indigenous population in the 15th century was distributed across ten areas based on cultural similarities.

• Coastal Areas of the Caribbean: Farmers and fishermen who spread from the Orinoco to the Portuguesa state and Lara; including the Otomacos, and partly the Taparitos and Yarusor.
• Area of Ceparicotor: Tribes of Caribbean origin located on the east coast of Falcon.
• The Arawaks Western Area: Located in the central-western states in the current Falcon, Lara, and Yaracuy, to the east coast of Lake Maracaibo.
• Area of Jirajaras and Ayamanes: Tribes of collectors, hunters, and fishermen from the central plains and mountains of Nirgua in Yaracuy.
• Area of Guajira: Tribes of collectors, hunters, and fishermen located in the Guajira peninsula and the west coast of Lake Maracaibo.
• Area of Western Caribbean: Tribal hunters and fishermen farmers located between the Sierra de Perija and south of Lake Maracaibo.
• Area of Venezuelan Andes: Highly developed agricultural tribes that settled in the Andean region. They came from Colombia, and their most important representatives were the Cuicas.
• Area of Fishermen, Hunters, and Collectors: Various independent tribes that spread from the Orinoco delta to the plains of Apure.
• Area of Otomacos: Tribes related to Central American cultures that were located in the low plains of Apure on the banks of the Orinoco River.
• Area of Guayana: Tribes of Caribbean origin located south of the Orinoco River in what is now the Amazonas state.