Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la Guyane
Generations of explorers have been fascinated by The Tumuc Humac mounts, or montanhas Tumucumaque in Portuguese. The real geographical nature of such “mounts”, however, is rather dubious since if they correspond to real-life experiences for some, other consider that they do not even exist. They seem...
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2017-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/confins/12476 |
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| author | François-Michel Le Tourneau |
| author_facet | François-Michel Le Tourneau |
| author_sort | François-Michel Le Tourneau |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Generations of explorers have been fascinated by The Tumuc Humac mounts, or montanhas Tumucumaque in Portuguese. The real geographical nature of such “mounts”, however, is rather dubious since if they correspond to real-life experiences for some, other consider that they do not even exist. They seem to correspond more to a myth, carrying several levels of interpretation at the same time. Given this context, what does “crossing the Tumuc Humac” mean? Using historical documents as well as field experience of this region, we explore in this article the different historical and geographical aspects conveyed by this question. We first expose the historical context in which the Tumuc Humac appear in the scientific literature. Then we describe how they were turned in a controlled-access area, and the difficulty for such control to be efficient. Last, we reflect on the topographical configuration of this region and its implication in terms of expeditions. For it is possible to cross the Tumuc Humac, finding the right way being the real difficulty. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0db7293147d8420d97e5d80dc3b21cc7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1958-9212 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Confins |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Confins |
| spelling | doaj-art-0db7293147d8420d97e5d80dc3b21cc72025-01-13T15:56:00ZengConfinsConfins1958-92122017-12-013310.4000/confins.12476Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la GuyaneFrançois-Michel Le TourneauGenerations of explorers have been fascinated by The Tumuc Humac mounts, or montanhas Tumucumaque in Portuguese. The real geographical nature of such “mounts”, however, is rather dubious since if they correspond to real-life experiences for some, other consider that they do not even exist. They seem to correspond more to a myth, carrying several levels of interpretation at the same time. Given this context, what does “crossing the Tumuc Humac” mean? Using historical documents as well as field experience of this region, we explore in this article the different historical and geographical aspects conveyed by this question. We first expose the historical context in which the Tumuc Humac appear in the scientific literature. Then we describe how they were turned in a controlled-access area, and the difficulty for such control to be efficient. Last, we reflect on the topographical configuration of this region and its implication in terms of expeditions. For it is possible to cross the Tumuc Humac, finding the right way being the real difficulty.https://journals.openedition.org/confins/12476Indigenous peoplesAmazoniaFrench GuyanaexpeditionsTumuc Humac |
| spellingShingle | François-Michel Le Tourneau Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la Guyane Confins Indigenous peoples Amazonia French Guyana expeditions Tumuc Humac |
| title | Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la Guyane |
| title_full | Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la Guyane |
| title_fullStr | Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la Guyane |
| title_full_unstemmed | Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la Guyane |
| title_short | Peut-on traverser les Tumuc Humac ? Réflexions autour de la configuration historique et géographique de l’extrême sud de la Guyane |
| title_sort | peut on traverser les tumuc humac reflexions autour de la configuration historique et geographique de l extreme sud de la guyane |
| topic | Indigenous peoples Amazonia French Guyana expeditions Tumuc Humac |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/confins/12476 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT francoismichelletourneau peutontraverserlestumuchumacreflexionsautourdelaconfigurationhistoriqueetgeographiquedelextremesuddelaguyane |