Abstract
This article refutes the thesis that agricultural vocation of the várzea of central Amazônia has continued harmoniously since pre-Columbian times. In a historical approach, which includes everything from the earliest contacts to the present, the different stages of the settlement of this great region are examined. We address the evolution of the environmental exploration patterns from the pre-conquest period, which is characterized by continuous settlement along the river's banks, through the inexorable decline of the native populations and their cultures during colonial period, when the government attempted to gather the Amerindians together and failed. We end with contemporary evolution. This article emphasizing the Careiro Island's region, near Manaus, shows that the aboriginal patterns were disregarded when the contemporary agricultural patterns were totally rebuilt after the rubber crisis.
