Ethnoarchaeology of a ceremonial house and the tembetá rite of passage: Materiality, Ritual, and Cosmology among the Paī Tavyterã (Paraguay)

Large rectangular, oval, and sub-oval communal houses are a widespread architectural form in Amazonia and across the lowlands of South America, where they are central to diverse ritual practices. Among Guaraní-speaking peoples, one such practice is the male initiation rite kunumi pepy, in which the lower lip is pierced with a tembetá (labret) as a marker of social adulthood. This article examines the óga guasu, a monumental communal house constructed by the Paĩ Tavyterã of eastern Paraguay specifically for this ritual. It analyses its embedded cosmological geography and potential archaeological visibility. The óga guasu operates simultaneously as a ritual stage and as a material expression of social and cosmological order. Detailed ethnographic documentation of the kunumi pepy—including dietary restrictions, seclusion, ceremonial objects, and symbolic dimensions—demonstrates the intertwining of materiality, cosmology, and social reproduction. Beyond its ethnoarchaeological value, the analysis highlights how ritual architecture informs archaeological record and illustrates how materiality, cosmology, and social reproduction intersect in the life of Indigenous societies in lowlands.

Tembetá. Guaraní. Communal architecture. Initiation ritual. Lip piercing. Social reproduction. Cosmology. Ritual materiality.