Xingu peoples Xingu peoples Xingu peoples are indigenous peoples of Brazil living near the Xingu River. They have many cultural similarities despite their different ethnologies. Xingu people represent fifteen tribes and all four of Brazil's indigenous language groups, but they share similar belief systems, rituals and ceremonies. The Upper Xingu region was heavily populated prior to European and African contact. Densely populated settlements developed from 1200 to 1600 CE. Ancient roads and bridges linked communities that were often surrounded by ditches or moats. The villages were pre-planned and featured circular plazas. Archaeologists have unearthed 19 villages so far. Kuikuro oral history says
Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests ecoregion rises into the Carajás Mountains, where it becomes interspersed with areas of seasonal forest and cerrado. Population centers include São Félix do Xingu on the Xingu, Porto de Moz, Oeiras do Pará and Gurupá on the Amazon, and Marabá on the Tocantins. The Marajó várzea at the mouth of the Amazon lies to the north. To the west, on the other side of the Xingu River, is the Tapajós-Xingu moist forests. To the northeast is the Tocantins/Pindare moist forests. To the southeast and south the ecoregion blends into the Mato Grosso seasonal forests ecoregion, and in some places directly