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 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 Using historical documents as well as field experience of this region, we explore in this article the different historical and geographical aspects conveyed by this question.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.