Prof. Dr. Carla Jaimes Betancourt

Heritage and SAD: Indigenous Strategies for Resilience in the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia

This research project focuses on the Llanos de Moxos in Bolivia, a biodiversity and cultural hotspot with a 10,000-year history. This region, covering 110,000 square kilometers, includes 14 protected areas, 18 indigenous territories, and three Ramsar sites. It contains the Amazon's most monumental archaeological sites and intricate water infrastructures. The region's agricultural practices, land use changes, and early low-density urbanism illustrate different forms and levels of dependency. Since the 1960s, indigenous communities in the Llanos de Moxos have advocated for the recognition of their territories as politically, socially, and culturally significant. They emphasize the intrinsic cultural value of their lands, despite the challenges posed by fragmented historical memory. In this context, the project aims to rethink heritage paradigms beyond Eurocentric and material frameworks, emphasizing the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge and sustainable practices.

This project aims to explore the complex relationship between heritage and dependency from an indigenous perspective, focusing on the Llanos de Moxos region. By fostering strong alliances among these communities and promoting decolonial archaeology through collaborative and participatory methods, it seeks to strengthen the adaptive resilience of indigenous communities – preserving cultural identity, traditional knowledge, and sustainable practices amidst the challenges of globalization. 

2010
PhD in Archaeology, University of Bonn, Germany

1997–2004  
Licentiate in Archaeology, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia

since 2022
Professor of Cultural Heritage, University of Bonn, Germany

2020–2021
Deputy Professor, Department of Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2018
Invited Professor, Department of Archaeology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru

2016–2022
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology of  the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2016
Postdoctoral Research Assistant, German Archaeological Institute (KAAK-DAI), Bonn, Germany

2015–2016
Invited Professor, Department of Anthropology/Archaeology, Universidad Mayor de San Andres, La Paz, Bolivia

2013
Invited Professor, Department of Anthropology/Archaeology, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Quito, Ecuador

2011–2014
Postdoctoral Fellow, German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Bonn

2010
Postdoctoral Fellow, Commission of Archaeology of Non-European Cultures of the German Archaeological Institute (KAAK/DAI), Bonn

• Collaborative and indigenous archaeology
• Museums and collections
• Historical Ecology 
• Heritage
• Archaeology and anthropology with a focus on the Amazon region
• Material culture

since 2021
RIDAP (Red de Información y Discusión sobre Arqueología y Patrimonio)

since 2020
Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA)

since 2019
Corresponding Member, German Archaeological Institute

since 2019
Advisory Committee Member, Shanghai Archaeology Forum (SAF)

• 2024. With M. L. Endere and Z. Lehm. "Procesos participativos para la protección del patrimonio arqueológico en el Municipio de Trinidad, Bolivia." In Arqueología 30(2): 1–23.
• 2023. With I. Podgorny and N. Richard. "El redescubrimiento de la arqueología de las tierras bajas bolivianas en los repositorios del Museo de la Plata. Algunos resultados del Proyecto Scicomove." In Boletín de la Sociedad Chilena de Arqueología 55: 32–52. 
• 2023. With K. Noack. "Indigene Gesellschaften." In Einführung in die Lateinamerikastudien, edited by M. Brander, 45–71. Erich Schmidt Verlag.
• 2022. With H. Prümers, J. Iriarte, M. Robinson, and M. Schaich. "Lidar Reveals Pre-Hispanic Low-Density Urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon." In Nature 606: 325–328.
• 2022. With Y. Maezumi, S. Elliot, M. Robinson, J.G. de Souza, D. Alves, M. Grosvenor, L. Hilbert, D.H. Urrego, W.D. Gosling, and J. Iriarte. "Legacies of Indigenous Land Use and Cultural Burning in the Bolivian Amazon Rainforest Ecotone." In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 377(1849).
• 2022. With B. Pellegrini. "Present with a Taste of the Past: Chicha chiquitana, its Recipes and its Materiality." In Heft 'Food Lokal/Global', edited by S. Schütze and K. Noack, 123–141. Berliner Blätter 86. Humboldt-Universität.
• 2021. With E. Neves, L. Furquim, C. Levis, B. Rocha, J. Watling, F. Ozorio de Almeida, A. Junqueira, C. Moraes, G. Morcote, M. Shock, and E. Tamanaha. "Peoples of the Amazon before European Colonizati." In The Amazon We Want, edited by Science Panel of the Amazon, 8.1–8.39.
• 2021. "Erland Nordenskiöld: Pionero de la antropología y arqueología." In Fotografías Etnológicas y Arqueológicas de Erland Nordenskiöld. Misiones de Trabajo de Campo 1901 a 1927, edited by Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore, 15–24. Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia.
• 2021. With T. Tagliati. "Koriabo Complex from the Maicuru River in the BASA Museum." In Koriabo: From the Caribbean Sea to the Amazon River, edited by C. Barreto, H. Lima, S. Rostain, and C. Hoffman, 163–181. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi.
• 2020. With D. Ballestero. "The Absence of 13000 Years of Amazonian Cultural History in European Museum." In Indiana 37(2): 25–46.
• 2020. With M. Robinson, S. Elliott, Y. Maezumi, L. Hilbert, D. Alves, J, de Souza and J. Iriarte. "Anthropogenic Soil and Settlement Organisation in the Bolivian Amazon." In Geoarchaeology: 1–16.
• 2018. With H. Prümers. "A la sombra de los Andes. Arquitectura monumental en los Llanos de Mojos." In La cooperación científica francesa en latinoamérica. Avances recientes en datación y arqueometría en los Andes, edited by I. Ghezzi and L.E. Salcedo, 253–273. Actes et Mémoires 45. IFEA. 
• 2018. "Reflexiones sobre la filiación arawak de dos áreas culturales en los Llanos de Mojos de Bolivia." In Interpretando Huellas. Arqueología, Etnohistoria y Etnografía de los Andes y sus Tierras Bajas, edited by M. Muñoz, 89–106. Grupo Editorial Kipus.
• 2017. "Diferencias cronológicas, funcionales y culturales en la cerámica de los Llanos de Mojos, Beni –Boliv." In Arqueología de la vertiente oriental Surandina: interacción macro-regional, materialidades, economía y ritualidad, edited by B. Ventura, G. Ortiz, and B. Cremonte, 25–50. Sociedad Argentina de Antropología.
• 2015. El poder de las plumas. La colección de arte plumario del Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore, según la cadena de producción. MUSEF.