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 many smaller blackwater rivers including the Pacajá and Anapu tributaries of the Amazon River, the Bacajá and Fresco tributaries of the Xingu, and the Parauapebas and Catete tributaries of the Tocantins. The ecoregion is in the neotropic ecozone and the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome. The Köppen climate classification is "Am": equatorial, monsoonal. Temperatures are fairly steady throughout the year, slightly higher in April and slightly lower in July. Average temperatures range from , with a mean of . The region is drier than the ecoregions further to the west. In the middle Xingu annual rainfall is .