Koriabo: from the Caribbean Sea to the Amazon River, 2020
This chapter is about the Koriabo ceramics found in Volta Grande do rio Xingu and its style and t... more This chapter is about the Koriabo ceramics found in Volta Grande do rio Xingu and its style and technology.
Resumo: O artigo apresenta e discute a identificação e interpretação de sítios arqueológicos pré-... more Resumo: O artigo apresenta e discute a identificação e interpretação de sítios arqueológicos pré-cerâmicos a céu aberto no Sudeste da planície amazônica, a partir de pesquisas arqueológicas realizadas para o licenciamento ambiental da atual Usina Hidrelétrica de Belo Monte, no Rio Xingu, Pará, que veio a substituir, na segunda década do século XXI, com alterações de projeto, a antiga UHE Kararaô, pesquisada na década de 80 do século XX. A descoberta de sítios líticos a céu aberto no Sudeste amazônico, atribuídos a sociedades caçadoras-coletoras, se deu quando dos estudos para o projeto da antiga UHE Kararaô e foi confirmada pelas pesquisas realizada na segunda década do Século XXI. O artigo apresenta e discute os dados (incluindo datações radiocarbônicas) advindos desses estudos.
The article presents and discusses the identification and the interpretation of open-air pre-ceramic archaeological sites found in southeast Amazon plain based on archaeological research carried out for the environmental licensing process of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Xingu River, state of Pará, Brazil. Belo Monte is a redesigned version of the formerly known Kararaô project. The former replaced the latter in the second decade of the 21st century. Archaeological research carried out in the 1980's within the environmental licensing process for Kararaô project, discovered the first open-air sites in the region, presenting a lithic industry associated with hunter-gather societies. We present here results of recent archaeological research carried out for Belo Monte project that corroborates the early findings, and attest the antiquity of human occupation of the middle Xingu River.
Resumo: A riqueza e importância arqueológica da Bacia do rio Madeira é apontada há bastante tempo... more Resumo: A riqueza e importância arqueológica da Bacia do rio Madeira é apontada há bastante tempo, mas somente nas duas últimas décadas é que ocorreu aumento significativo de pesquisas sistemáticas no vasto território cortado por essa importante via hidrográfica, sobretudo ligada ao licenciamento ambiental. Essas pesquisas corro-boraram dados iniciais que indicavam grande diversidade arqueológica da região e uma ocupação humana que remonta ao início do período holocênico. Apresentamos aqui resultados de pesquisas arqueológicas na bacia do alto/médio Madeira, que têm contribuído para testar importantes modelos sobre ocupação e evolução histórico-cultural nessa ampla região ao longo de todo o Holoceno. Abstract: The Madeira River Basin archaeological richness and importance is known for quite a while; but only in the past two decades there has been a significant increase of systematic research in the vast territory, which is cut through by this important river network. This intensification is mainly due to environmental licensing projects, which have corroborated early indications of great archaeological regional diversity, and long term human occupation that dates to the early Holocene. We present here the results of archaeological research along the upper and middle Madeira River that contributes to test important evolutionary and cultural-historical models during the Holocene in this vast region.
The chemical-mineralogical properties of prehistoric ceramics found in the Amazon were investigat... more The chemical-mineralogical properties of prehistoric ceramics found in the Amazon were investigated with the aim of elucidating the production technology, the raw materials used, and the origin of these materials. For this, sherds were obtained from three archeological sites located in distinct regions of the basin. The mineralogical composition of the samples was determined by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, thermal analyses, FT-IR, and SEM-EDS, while the chemical composition was measured using ICP-OES and ICP-MS. The manufacturing process consisted of the coiling technique with the smoothing of surfaces, and the addition of organic and mineral non-plastic materials. The pots were fired at ±600°C, leading to the formation of an amorphous metakaolinite matrix in which a number of different types of non-plastic materials can be found. These non-plastic materials, together with the phosphates found in the samples, represent the principal differences in the chemical and mineralogical composition of the sherds from different sites. The raw material (clay) used for the production of the ceramic sherds from the Da Mata and Jabuti sites had the same geological origin, and were distinct from those of Monte Dourado 1 in relation to the intensive use of crushed rock. Cariapé was found throughout the region, and the shells reflect the proximity of the Jabuti site to the ocean. The phosphates found in the matrix probably formed during the use of the pots to prepare food, and could not have been part of the raw material, given that they would not have resisted the firing temperature. The evidence indicates that the potters used the materials available locally for the production of ceramics. The use of cariapé at all the sites confirmed that this practice was widespread in the region, representing an important cultural trait of the production of ceramics in the prehistoric Amazon.
The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussi... more The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussions about the tempo and mode of human dispersal in the Americas, owing to the high density of late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene sites and hundreds of human skeletons recovered from the local rockshelters. In this chapter we highlight the importance of the Lagoa Santa region by 1) briely reviewing the two centuries of research history in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological afinities with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
Abstract During an excavation in the 1970s, a disarticulated female human skeleton, later nicknam... more Abstract During an excavation in the 1970s, a disarticulated female human skeleton, later nicknamed Luzia, was discovered at 12m depth at Lapa Vermelha rockshelter in central Brazil. Radiocarbon dating of associated charcoal suggested an age of 11.4-16.4 ka for the skeleton. The scattering of the skeletal parts, some uncertainty about the exact provenience of the skeleton, and evidence of pervasive insect turbation in the archaeological layers have raised doubts about the accuracy of the age. Luminescence dates for the depositional ...
Most investigations regarding the First Americans have primarily focused on four themes: when the... more Most investigations regarding the First Americans have primarily focused on four themes: when the New World was settled by humans; where they came from; how many migrations or colonization pulses from elsewhere were involved in the process; and what kinds of subsistence patterns and material culture they developed during the first millennia of colonization. Little is known, however, about the symbolic world of the first humans who settled the New World, because artistic manifestations either as rock-art, ornaments, and portable art objects dated to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition are exceedingly rare in the Americas.
Latin American Antiquity, vol. 23, no. 4, pgs 533-550., Dec 2012
Lagoa Santa, a karstic area in eastern Central Brazil, has been subject to research on human pale... more Lagoa Santa, a karstic area in eastern Central Brazil, has been subject to research on human paleontology and archaeology for 175 years. Almost 300 Paleoindian human skeletons have been found since Danish naturalist Peter Lund's pioneering work. Even so, some critical issues such as the role of rockshelters in settlement systems, and the possible paleoclimatic implications of the peopling of the region have yet to be addressed. We present some results obtained from recent excavations at four rockshelters and two open-air sites, new dates for human Paleoindian skeletons, and a model to explain the cultural patterns observed so far. It is also argued that the Paleoindian subsistence system at Lagoa Santa was similar to other locations in South America: generalized small-game hunting complemented by fruits, seed, and root gathering.
We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls fr... more We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls from Cerca Grande. The site is in the Lagoa Santa karst in Central Brazil, a key area for understanding the peopling of the Americas. The region has several archaeological sites with excellent preservation of late Pleistocene and early Holocene material culture and human skeletal remains. Stratigraphic association and direct dating of the Cerca Grande humans keletons place them definitely in the Early Holocene( c. 9000 BP uncalibrated) Principal component analysis and Mahalanobis distances reveal that these skeletons have no morphological affinities with present-day Native Americans or East Asians. These results agree with other studies and suggest that the skeletons may derive from a wave of migrants that entered the New World before the characteristic 'M ongoloid' morphology spread throughout East Asia.
The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussi... more The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussions about the tempo and mode of human dispersal in the Americas, owing to the high density of late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene sites and hundreds of human skeletons recovered from the local rockshelters. In this chapter we highlight the importance of the Lagoa Santa region by 1) briely reviewing the two centuries of research history in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological afinities with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
In this work we present and discuss the results of a novel and timely GPR-2D and GPR-3D survey pe... more In this work we present and discuss the results of a novel and timely GPR-2D and GPR-3D survey performed at an archaeological rock shelter site, Lapa do Santo, localized in the karstic region of Lagoa Santa, central Brazil. A total of 113 ground-penetrating radar profiles were acquired with 200 MHz and 400 MHz shielded antennas aiming in identifying geological and archaeological anomalies in order to assist archaeologists in an excavation program. The GPR results indicated clear geophysical anomalies characterized by hyperbolic reflections and areas with high amplitude sub-horizontal electromagnetic waves. The anomalies observed by GPR were confirmed by the excavation of test units, allowing the identification anthropogenic features such as a fire-hearth structure and wooden artifact, and natural features, such as, tree roots and rocky bodies such as speleothems, boulders and bedrock. The results showed the efficiency of GPR method in identifying potential buried archaeological targets in cave sites within a karstic area, and they oriented to archaeological excavations, reducing costs and increasing the probability of finding archaeological targets in the initial stages of a project.
We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls fr... more We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls from Cerca Grande. The site is in the Lagoa Santa karst in Central Brazil, a key area for understanding the peopling of the Americas. The region has several archaeological sites with excellent ...
The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussi... more The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussions about the tempo and mode of human dispersal in the Americas, owing to the high density of late-Pleistocene/earlyHolocene sites and hundreds of human skeletons recovered from the local rockshelters. In this chapter we highlight the importance of the Lagoa Santa region by 1) briefly reviewing the two centuries of research history
in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological
characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological affinities
with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these
biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of
past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa
Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native
Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no
consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
The paleoethnobotanical analysis of archaeological remains from two sites in central
Brazil provi... more The paleoethnobotanical analysis of archaeological remains from two sites in central Brazil provides chronological data for the introduction of domesticated plants to the region. The sites of Lapa dos Bichos and Lapa Pintada, located in the northern portion of the state of Minas Gerais, are within rock shelters in limestone rock outcroppings. The dry conditions at the sites preserved both burnt and unburnt organic materials, including the seeds and fruits that were analyzed in this study. The chronological documentation for the introduction of domesticated plants is based on relative chronology from excavation stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating. The domesticated plants found include maize (Zea mays), manioc (cf. Manihot esculenta), cotton (cf. Gossypium barbadense), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and squash (Cucurbita spp.). Central Brazil is not documented as the region of origin for these species and as such is a periphery where they were introduced. Maize and manioc are found in the strata dated between 750 and 2000 BP at Lapa dos Bichos and c. 1200 BP at Lapa Pintada; bottle gourd occurs in earlier strata (2000 to 4250 BP at Lapa dos Bichos). In addition to domesticated plants, numerous native plant foods were identified in the archaeological assemblage, such as palm nuts (Syagrus oleracea), passion fruit (Passiflora spp.), jatobá (Hymenaea spp.), umbu (Spondias tuberosa), and pequi (Caryocar brasiliensis). At the site of Lapa dos Bichos human habitation is known to span the entirety of the Holocene. Based on the archaeological macroscopic plant remains, the introduction of domesticated plants to central Brazil was a gradual process.
Page 1. O Uso do Habitat por Mamíferos Terrestres do Cerrado de Lagoa Santa Helbert Medeiros Prad... more Page 1. O Uso do Habitat por Mamíferos Terrestres do Cerrado de Lagoa Santa Helbert Medeiros Prado1 , Marcos César Bissaro Júnior2, Renato Kipnis2, Mogens Trolle3 1 Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Biociências ...
Koriabo: from the Caribbean Sea to the Amazon River, 2020
This chapter is about the Koriabo ceramics found in Volta Grande do rio Xingu and its style and t... more This chapter is about the Koriabo ceramics found in Volta Grande do rio Xingu and its style and technology.
Resumo: O artigo apresenta e discute a identificação e interpretação de sítios arqueológicos pré-... more Resumo: O artigo apresenta e discute a identificação e interpretação de sítios arqueológicos pré-cerâmicos a céu aberto no Sudeste da planície amazônica, a partir de pesquisas arqueológicas realizadas para o licenciamento ambiental da atual Usina Hidrelétrica de Belo Monte, no Rio Xingu, Pará, que veio a substituir, na segunda década do século XXI, com alterações de projeto, a antiga UHE Kararaô, pesquisada na década de 80 do século XX. A descoberta de sítios líticos a céu aberto no Sudeste amazônico, atribuídos a sociedades caçadoras-coletoras, se deu quando dos estudos para o projeto da antiga UHE Kararaô e foi confirmada pelas pesquisas realizada na segunda década do Século XXI. O artigo apresenta e discute os dados (incluindo datações radiocarbônicas) advindos desses estudos.
The article presents and discusses the identification and the interpretation of open-air pre-ceramic archaeological sites found in southeast Amazon plain based on archaeological research carried out for the environmental licensing process of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Xingu River, state of Pará, Brazil. Belo Monte is a redesigned version of the formerly known Kararaô project. The former replaced the latter in the second decade of the 21st century. Archaeological research carried out in the 1980's within the environmental licensing process for Kararaô project, discovered the first open-air sites in the region, presenting a lithic industry associated with hunter-gather societies. We present here results of recent archaeological research carried out for Belo Monte project that corroborates the early findings, and attest the antiquity of human occupation of the middle Xingu River.
Resumo: A riqueza e importância arqueológica da Bacia do rio Madeira é apontada há bastante tempo... more Resumo: A riqueza e importância arqueológica da Bacia do rio Madeira é apontada há bastante tempo, mas somente nas duas últimas décadas é que ocorreu aumento significativo de pesquisas sistemáticas no vasto território cortado por essa importante via hidrográfica, sobretudo ligada ao licenciamento ambiental. Essas pesquisas corro-boraram dados iniciais que indicavam grande diversidade arqueológica da região e uma ocupação humana que remonta ao início do período holocênico. Apresentamos aqui resultados de pesquisas arqueológicas na bacia do alto/médio Madeira, que têm contribuído para testar importantes modelos sobre ocupação e evolução histórico-cultural nessa ampla região ao longo de todo o Holoceno. Abstract: The Madeira River Basin archaeological richness and importance is known for quite a while; but only in the past two decades there has been a significant increase of systematic research in the vast territory, which is cut through by this important river network. This intensification is mainly due to environmental licensing projects, which have corroborated early indications of great archaeological regional diversity, and long term human occupation that dates to the early Holocene. We present here the results of archaeological research along the upper and middle Madeira River that contributes to test important evolutionary and cultural-historical models during the Holocene in this vast region.
The chemical-mineralogical properties of prehistoric ceramics found in the Amazon were investigat... more The chemical-mineralogical properties of prehistoric ceramics found in the Amazon were investigated with the aim of elucidating the production technology, the raw materials used, and the origin of these materials. For this, sherds were obtained from three archeological sites located in distinct regions of the basin. The mineralogical composition of the samples was determined by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, thermal analyses, FT-IR, and SEM-EDS, while the chemical composition was measured using ICP-OES and ICP-MS. The manufacturing process consisted of the coiling technique with the smoothing of surfaces, and the addition of organic and mineral non-plastic materials. The pots were fired at ±600°C, leading to the formation of an amorphous metakaolinite matrix in which a number of different types of non-plastic materials can be found. These non-plastic materials, together with the phosphates found in the samples, represent the principal differences in the chemical and mineralogical composition of the sherds from different sites. The raw material (clay) used for the production of the ceramic sherds from the Da Mata and Jabuti sites had the same geological origin, and were distinct from those of Monte Dourado 1 in relation to the intensive use of crushed rock. Cariapé was found throughout the region, and the shells reflect the proximity of the Jabuti site to the ocean. The phosphates found in the matrix probably formed during the use of the pots to prepare food, and could not have been part of the raw material, given that they would not have resisted the firing temperature. The evidence indicates that the potters used the materials available locally for the production of ceramics. The use of cariapé at all the sites confirmed that this practice was widespread in the region, representing an important cultural trait of the production of ceramics in the prehistoric Amazon.
The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussi... more The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussions about the tempo and mode of human dispersal in the Americas, owing to the high density of late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene sites and hundreds of human skeletons recovered from the local rockshelters. In this chapter we highlight the importance of the Lagoa Santa region by 1) briely reviewing the two centuries of research history in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological afinities with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
Abstract During an excavation in the 1970s, a disarticulated female human skeleton, later nicknam... more Abstract During an excavation in the 1970s, a disarticulated female human skeleton, later nicknamed Luzia, was discovered at 12m depth at Lapa Vermelha rockshelter in central Brazil. Radiocarbon dating of associated charcoal suggested an age of 11.4-16.4 ka for the skeleton. The scattering of the skeletal parts, some uncertainty about the exact provenience of the skeleton, and evidence of pervasive insect turbation in the archaeological layers have raised doubts about the accuracy of the age. Luminescence dates for the depositional ...
Most investigations regarding the First Americans have primarily focused on four themes: when the... more Most investigations regarding the First Americans have primarily focused on four themes: when the New World was settled by humans; where they came from; how many migrations or colonization pulses from elsewhere were involved in the process; and what kinds of subsistence patterns and material culture they developed during the first millennia of colonization. Little is known, however, about the symbolic world of the first humans who settled the New World, because artistic manifestations either as rock-art, ornaments, and portable art objects dated to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition are exceedingly rare in the Americas.
Latin American Antiquity, vol. 23, no. 4, pgs 533-550., Dec 2012
Lagoa Santa, a karstic area in eastern Central Brazil, has been subject to research on human pale... more Lagoa Santa, a karstic area in eastern Central Brazil, has been subject to research on human paleontology and archaeology for 175 years. Almost 300 Paleoindian human skeletons have been found since Danish naturalist Peter Lund's pioneering work. Even so, some critical issues such as the role of rockshelters in settlement systems, and the possible paleoclimatic implications of the peopling of the region have yet to be addressed. We present some results obtained from recent excavations at four rockshelters and two open-air sites, new dates for human Paleoindian skeletons, and a model to explain the cultural patterns observed so far. It is also argued that the Paleoindian subsistence system at Lagoa Santa was similar to other locations in South America: generalized small-game hunting complemented by fruits, seed, and root gathering.
We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls fr... more We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls from Cerca Grande. The site is in the Lagoa Santa karst in Central Brazil, a key area for understanding the peopling of the Americas. The region has several archaeological sites with excellent preservation of late Pleistocene and early Holocene material culture and human skeletal remains. Stratigraphic association and direct dating of the Cerca Grande humans keletons place them definitely in the Early Holocene( c. 9000 BP uncalibrated) Principal component analysis and Mahalanobis distances reveal that these skeletons have no morphological affinities with present-day Native Americans or East Asians. These results agree with other studies and suggest that the skeletons may derive from a wave of migrants that entered the New World before the characteristic 'M ongoloid' morphology spread throughout East Asia.
The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussi... more The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussions about the tempo and mode of human dispersal in the Americas, owing to the high density of late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene sites and hundreds of human skeletons recovered from the local rockshelters. In this chapter we highlight the importance of the Lagoa Santa region by 1) briely reviewing the two centuries of research history in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological afinities with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
In this work we present and discuss the results of a novel and timely GPR-2D and GPR-3D survey pe... more In this work we present and discuss the results of a novel and timely GPR-2D and GPR-3D survey performed at an archaeological rock shelter site, Lapa do Santo, localized in the karstic region of Lagoa Santa, central Brazil. A total of 113 ground-penetrating radar profiles were acquired with 200 MHz and 400 MHz shielded antennas aiming in identifying geological and archaeological anomalies in order to assist archaeologists in an excavation program. The GPR results indicated clear geophysical anomalies characterized by hyperbolic reflections and areas with high amplitude sub-horizontal electromagnetic waves. The anomalies observed by GPR were confirmed by the excavation of test units, allowing the identification anthropogenic features such as a fire-hearth structure and wooden artifact, and natural features, such as, tree roots and rocky bodies such as speleothems, boulders and bedrock. The results showed the efficiency of GPR method in identifying potential buried archaeological targets in cave sites within a karstic area, and they oriented to archaeological excavations, reducing costs and increasing the probability of finding archaeological targets in the initial stages of a project.
We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls fr... more We present the results of comparative multivariate morphological analyses based on nine skulls from Cerca Grande. The site is in the Lagoa Santa karst in Central Brazil, a key area for understanding the peopling of the Americas. The region has several archaeological sites with excellent ...
The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussi... more The karstic region of Lagoa Santa (eastern central Brazil) has been highly important for discussions about the tempo and mode of human dispersal in the Americas, owing to the high density of late-Pleistocene/earlyHolocene sites and hundreds of human skeletons recovered from the local rockshelters. In this chapter we highlight the importance of the Lagoa Santa region by 1) briefly reviewing the two centuries of research history
in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological
characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological affinities
with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these
biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of
past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa
Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native
Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no
consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
The paleoethnobotanical analysis of archaeological remains from two sites in central
Brazil provi... more The paleoethnobotanical analysis of archaeological remains from two sites in central Brazil provides chronological data for the introduction of domesticated plants to the region. The sites of Lapa dos Bichos and Lapa Pintada, located in the northern portion of the state of Minas Gerais, are within rock shelters in limestone rock outcroppings. The dry conditions at the sites preserved both burnt and unburnt organic materials, including the seeds and fruits that were analyzed in this study. The chronological documentation for the introduction of domesticated plants is based on relative chronology from excavation stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating. The domesticated plants found include maize (Zea mays), manioc (cf. Manihot esculenta), cotton (cf. Gossypium barbadense), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and squash (Cucurbita spp.). Central Brazil is not documented as the region of origin for these species and as such is a periphery where they were introduced. Maize and manioc are found in the strata dated between 750 and 2000 BP at Lapa dos Bichos and c. 1200 BP at Lapa Pintada; bottle gourd occurs in earlier strata (2000 to 4250 BP at Lapa dos Bichos). In addition to domesticated plants, numerous native plant foods were identified in the archaeological assemblage, such as palm nuts (Syagrus oleracea), passion fruit (Passiflora spp.), jatobá (Hymenaea spp.), umbu (Spondias tuberosa), and pequi (Caryocar brasiliensis). At the site of Lapa dos Bichos human habitation is known to span the entirety of the Holocene. Based on the archaeological macroscopic plant remains, the introduction of domesticated plants to central Brazil was a gradual process.
Page 1. O Uso do Habitat por Mamíferos Terrestres do Cerrado de Lagoa Santa Helbert Medeiros Prad... more Page 1. O Uso do Habitat por Mamíferos Terrestres do Cerrado de Lagoa Santa Helbert Medeiros Prado1 , Marcos César Bissaro Júnior2, Renato Kipnis2, Mogens Trolle3 1 Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Biociências ...
a) Sítios arqueológicos são locais onde se acumularam, em maior ou menor quantidade, vestígios ma... more a) Sítios arqueológicos são locais onde se acumularam, em maior ou menor quantidade, vestígios materiais de atividades humanas pretéritas, os quais constituem o mais privilegiado meio de informação sobre essas atividades. b) Sítios arqueológicos correspondem, portanto, seja a locais onde foram realizadas atividades de longa duração (uma aldeia, por exemplo), seja atividades de curta duração (um acampamento durante uma excursão de caça ou de procura de matéria-prima, por exemplo), seja atividades limitadas (voltadas, por exemplo, à exploração de matéria-prima; à confecção de artefatos -sítios-oficina; ao preparo de caça abatida etc.; ao plantio de alimentos -roças etc.). c) Sítio arqueológicos jamais são isolados -a não ser em situações excepcionais (defensivas, por exemplo), mas se articulam em sistemas socioculturais, interpretáveis pelo arqueólogo a partir do estudo das inter-relações entre os sítios de uma mesma região.
O trabalho apresenta evidências da ocupação do Rio Xingu por caçadores-coletores pré-cerâmicos, p... more O trabalho apresenta evidências da ocupação do Rio Xingu por caçadores-coletores pré-cerâmicos, produtores de uma indústria lítica confeccionada pela técnica do lascamento, ampliando a área reconhecidamente ocupada por populações pré-ceramistas na Amazônia e apresentando as datações obtidas inserção cronológica dessa ocupação.
Lagoa Santa Karst: Brazil’s Iconic Karst Region, 2020
Lagoa Santa recorded 12,500 years of non-continuous human occupation in cavities and open air sit... more Lagoa Santa recorded 12,500 years of non-continuous human occupation in cavities and open air sites. For the early-and middle Holocene occupations, lithic technology , zooarchaeology, osteological markers and multi-isotopic analyses indicate groups of foragers with low mobility and a subsistence strategy focused on gathering plant foods and hunting small and mid-sized animals but no megafauna. A high frequency of caries is observed among women. Lithics include small flakes and cores of quartz. Artefacts like projectile points and axe blades occur marginally. Funerary rituals included primary burials (10.3–10.6 cal kyBP), reduction of the body followed by secondary burial (9.4–9.6 cal kyBP) and pits filled with disarticulated and fragmented bones of a single individual (8.2–8.6 cal kyBP). Rock art abounds, including the oldest securely dated case of South America (10.5 cal kyBP). Representations include animals, filiform anthropomorphs, geometric motifs, manioc’s tubers and semi-lunar axes. Similar styles are found over a large area of Brazil. Ancient DNA extracted from several early Holocene skeletons indicates they are entirely nested within past and present Native American genetic diversity. Pottery arrives during the late Holocene with undecorated vessels of varying sizes (0.2–417 L), tubular pipes, spindle whorls, highly polished axes and ritual semi-lunar axes (Aratu-Sapucaí-Una Tradition). In the site ‘Vereda III’, more than 3,000 in situ sherds indicate repeated use for ritual feasts centred on fermented beverages: (maize?). Polychrome pottery occurring in low frequency testify to the late presence of Tupi-speaking groups. During the colonial period, Lagoa Santa housed large haciendas for cattle and agriculture, resulting in the formation of large farms with thousands of enslaved people. Stub-stemmed earthenware pipes from the nineteenth century, an important element of African diasporic identities, were produced in the region.
We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World
(Burial 26),... more We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7–12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1–9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26’s isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo’s inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death.
Com uma população estimada em mais de sete milhões de habitantes espalhados por uma área de 1.247... more Com uma população estimada em mais de sete milhões de habitantes espalhados por uma área de 1.247.689,515 km², o Pará é o segundo maior estado do Brasil, possuindo a maior bacia hidrográfica do planeta, reservas minerais importantes, uma formação cultural miscigenada, uma grande área de florestas e uma economia em intenso crescimento.
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Papers by Renato Kipnis
The article presents and discusses the identification and the interpretation of open-air pre-ceramic archaeological sites found in southeast Amazon plain based on archaeological research carried out for the environmental licensing process of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Xingu River, state of Pará, Brazil. Belo Monte is a redesigned version of the formerly known Kararaô project. The former replaced the latter in the second decade of the 21st century. Archaeological research carried out in the 1980's within the environmental licensing process for Kararaô project, discovered the first open-air sites in the region, presenting a lithic industry associated with hunter-gather societies. We present here results of recent archaeological research carried out for Belo Monte project that corroborates the early findings, and attest the antiquity of human occupation of the middle Xingu River.
of late Pleistocene and early Holocene material culture and human skeletal remains. Stratigraphic association and direct dating of the Cerca Grande humans keletons place them definitely in the Early Holocene( c. 9000 BP uncalibrated) Principal component analysis and Mahalanobis distances reveal
that these skeletons have no morphological affinities with present-day Native Americans or East Asians. These results agree with other studies and suggest that the skeletons may derive from a wave of migrants that entered the New World before the characteristic 'M ongoloid' morphology spread
throughout East Asia.
in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological
characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological affinities
with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these
biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of
past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa
Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native
Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no
consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
Brazil provides chronological data for the introduction of domesticated plants to
the region. The sites of Lapa dos Bichos and Lapa Pintada, located in the northern
portion of the state of Minas Gerais, are within rock shelters in limestone rock
outcroppings. The dry conditions at the sites preserved both burnt and unburnt
organic materials, including the seeds and fruits that were analyzed in this study. The
chronological documentation for the introduction of domesticated plants is based
on relative chronology from excavation stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating. The
domesticated plants found include maize (Zea mays), manioc (cf. Manihot esculenta),
cotton (cf. Gossypium barbadense), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), common bean (Phaseolus
vulgaris), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and squash (Cucurbita spp.). Central Brazil is
not documented as the region of origin for these species and as such is a periphery
where they were introduced. Maize and manioc are found in the strata dated
between 750 and 2000 BP at Lapa dos Bichos and c. 1200 BP at Lapa Pintada;
bottle gourd occurs in earlier strata (2000 to 4250 BP at Lapa dos Bichos). In
addition to domesticated plants, numerous native plant foods were identified in the
archaeological assemblage, such as palm nuts (Syagrus oleracea), passion fruit (Passiflora
spp.), jatobá (Hymenaea spp.), umbu (Spondias tuberosa), and pequi (Caryocar brasiliensis).
At the site of Lapa dos Bichos human habitation is known to span the entirety of
the Holocene. Based on the archaeological macroscopic plant remains, the
introduction of domesticated plants to central Brazil was a gradual process.
The article presents and discusses the identification and the interpretation of open-air pre-ceramic archaeological sites found in southeast Amazon plain based on archaeological research carried out for the environmental licensing process of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Xingu River, state of Pará, Brazil. Belo Monte is a redesigned version of the formerly known Kararaô project. The former replaced the latter in the second decade of the 21st century. Archaeological research carried out in the 1980's within the environmental licensing process for Kararaô project, discovered the first open-air sites in the region, presenting a lithic industry associated with hunter-gather societies. We present here results of recent archaeological research carried out for Belo Monte project that corroborates the early findings, and attest the antiquity of human occupation of the middle Xingu River.
of late Pleistocene and early Holocene material culture and human skeletal remains. Stratigraphic association and direct dating of the Cerca Grande humans keletons place them definitely in the Early Holocene( c. 9000 BP uncalibrated) Principal component analysis and Mahalanobis distances reveal
that these skeletons have no morphological affinities with present-day Native Americans or East Asians. These results agree with other studies and suggest that the skeletons may derive from a wave of migrants that entered the New World before the characteristic 'M ongoloid' morphology spread
throughout East Asia.
in the region, including the work conducted by our team in the past 15 years; 2) discussing the biological
characteristics of the Lagoa Santa population, via multivariate analyses of its cranial morphological affinities
with a series representing modern human morphological diversity worldwide; and 3) discussing how these
biological characteristics have been used to contribute to the discussion of origins of biological diversity of
past and present Native American groups. Our analyses support previous results that members of the Lagoa
Santa populations shared a distinct morphological pattern from the one observed among most modern Native
Americans, indicating a high diachronic morphological diversity across the continent. However, there is still no
consensus on how this diversity originated with different models that have been proposed in the past decade.
Brazil provides chronological data for the introduction of domesticated plants to
the region. The sites of Lapa dos Bichos and Lapa Pintada, located in the northern
portion of the state of Minas Gerais, are within rock shelters in limestone rock
outcroppings. The dry conditions at the sites preserved both burnt and unburnt
organic materials, including the seeds and fruits that were analyzed in this study. The
chronological documentation for the introduction of domesticated plants is based
on relative chronology from excavation stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating. The
domesticated plants found include maize (Zea mays), manioc (cf. Manihot esculenta),
cotton (cf. Gossypium barbadense), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), common bean (Phaseolus
vulgaris), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and squash (Cucurbita spp.). Central Brazil is
not documented as the region of origin for these species and as such is a periphery
where they were introduced. Maize and manioc are found in the strata dated
between 750 and 2000 BP at Lapa dos Bichos and c. 1200 BP at Lapa Pintada;
bottle gourd occurs in earlier strata (2000 to 4250 BP at Lapa dos Bichos). In
addition to domesticated plants, numerous native plant foods were identified in the
archaeological assemblage, such as palm nuts (Syagrus oleracea), passion fruit (Passiflora
spp.), jatobá (Hymenaea spp.), umbu (Spondias tuberosa), and pequi (Caryocar brasiliensis).
At the site of Lapa dos Bichos human habitation is known to span the entirety of
the Holocene. Based on the archaeological macroscopic plant remains, the
introduction of domesticated plants to central Brazil was a gradual process.
(Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological
site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human
occupation dating as far back as 11.7–12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS
age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1–9.4 cal
kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium,
mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed
in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the
left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated
and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead.
Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26’s isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa
do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized
decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals
among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent
absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo’s inhabitants seemed
to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death.