Genetic Genealogy & Ancient DNA (TITLES/ABSTRACTS)

[RCO]

A multidisciplinary overview on the Tupi-speaking people expansion
Marcos Araújo Castro e Silva, Tábita Hünemeier
First published: 22 November 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24876
Towards a biocultural synthesis of the peopling of the Americas

Abstract
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The cultural and biological diversity of South American indigenous groups represent extremes of human variability, exhibiting one of the highest linguistic diversities alongside a remarkably low within-population genetic variation and an extremely high inter-population genetic differentiation. On top of that, this region has seen some of the most dramatic demographic events in human history unleashed by the European colonization of the Americas. As a result of this process, the distribution of indigenous populations has been radically changed. In this review we focus on the Tupi, the largest and most widespread linguistic family in eastern South America. Tupi are believed to have originated in southwestern Amazon, from where some of its subfamilies expanded into other parts of the Amazon and, in the case of the Tupi-Guarani, beyond its borders. Recent evidence from archaeology, linguistics, and genetics aligns with José Brochado's Tupi Expansion model. He proposed that the gradual development of agricultural systems within the Amazon resulted in population growth and, eventually, territorial expansion. This model also supports separate Tupi Expansion branches: Tupinambá (Atlantic coast) and Guarani (south, midwest Brazil). Although being the most populous group on Brazil's Atlantic coast, which was the most affected by European colonization, the Tupi still account for roughly 20% of the country's overall indigenous population. Finally, despite its importance and more than a century of research on the Tupi and their expansion history, many key questions remain unanswered, which we attempt to summarize and explore here.

The Tupi-Guarani were socially organized into regional chiefdoms comprised of confederations of villages (Noelli, 1998). This societal structure enabled them to organize war expeditions that traversed great distances via major waterways. These expeditions had multiple objectives, including attacking enemies, annexing territories, capturing women, and, in some instances, enslaving the defeated (Santos-Granero, 2009). Central to the Tupi-Guarani culture was a strong bellicose ethos and a predatory cosmology. This found expression in practices such as anthropophagic ritual feasting, which carried significant social implications, particularly as a means of acquiring status, a practice that endured until colonial times (Fausto, 2012). Therefore, this expansionist ethos, deeply rooted in their culture and societal structure, likely propelled the Tupi-Guarani to undertake territorial expansion, engage in conflict, and extend their influence across vast territories. This illustrates how the social and cultural characteristics of the Tupi likely played a role in driving the vast territorial expansion of the group.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.24876