Another sequence, same evidence: human presence at the end of the Pleistocene in America. The Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião, Piauí, Brazil

The site of Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião (TJBA) is situated in the calcareous massif of Antero, in the Serra da Capivara National Park, Piauí State, Brazil. The entire rockshelter is more than 150m long, with few meters deep recesses. Part of the site was extensively studied in the 1990s [1]. Our team begun a wide archaeological program in the region in 2008 [2,3], focusing on different archaeological sequences. New archaeological excavations started in TJBA in 2013, at an extremity of the Toca, without possible stratigraphic correlation with previous excavations. After 3 archaeological campaigns, the bedrock was not reached. At the time of writing this abstract (April 2016), the site presents a 1.5 m thick chrono-cultural sequence, inside of which six sedimentary layers and four archaeological levels were identified. All the four archaeological layers delivered lithic and faunal remains. The two archaeological layers at the top of the sequence are separated by a thin sterile sediment layer, but present a cultural homogeneity, and both can be attributed to the Itaparica facies of the region. The two underlying archaeological levels are poorer in lithic artefacts; the lithics can be divided in three categories: small artefacts on quartz, big artefacts on quartz, and hammers. These two lower levels also delivered skeletal remains of a giant sloth corresponding to Eremotherium (megafauna); in particular, it seems that certain bones were used to produce artefacts. Charcoal samples from the upper part of the sequence were radiocarbon dated. In addition, six sediment samples were collected from the profile for luminescence dating. Sand-sized (180-250 μm) and fine (20-41μm) quartz grains were extracted from the samples and prepared following a standard chemical treatment. For all six samples, the quartz OSL signal is bright, reproducible and dominated by the fast component, which indicates good luminescence characteristics for obtaining accurate and precise ages. OSL measurements were performed on both multi-grain and single-grain aliquots. The ages obtained for the two upper archaeological levels (Itaparica) correspond to the beginning of the Holocene. Conversely, the other two archaeological levels are dated to the end of the Pleistocene. Thus, the Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião constitutes the fifth Pleistocene-Holocene chrono-cultural sequence studied by our team in the region [2,3,4]. As such, it provides new evidence of an ancient human presence in South America, more than 20, 000 years ago.Peer reviewe

The Chiquihuite Cave, a Real Novelty? Observations about the Still-ignored South American Prehistory

The recently reported discovery of cultural evidence at Chiquihuite Cave (Zacatecas, Mexico), produced by humans of at least 26,500 calendar years ago, is a major advance in research into early human occupations in the Americas. Thirteen of the 239 lithic artifacts recovered from the SC-C stratigraphic component, dated during and before the Last Glacial Maximum, are illustrated in Ardelean et al. (2020. “Evidence of Human Occupation in Mexico around the Last Glacial Maximum.” Nature 584: 87–92). Although waiting for more detailed technological studies, these types of artifacts have been reported in other sites, primarily in South America. The field evidence from sites predating the Last Glacial Maximum must now be included in all interpretations of the initial settlement of the Americas.Fil: Boëda, Eric. Université Paris Nanterre; FranciaFil: Gruhn, Ruth. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Vialou, Agueda Vilhena. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Francia. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Aschero, Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Vialou, Denis. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; FranciaFil: Pino, Mario. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Gluchy, Maria. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Pérez, Antonio. Université Paris Nanterre; FranciaFil: Ramos, Marcos Paulo. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasi

Dissertatio de erudita conversatione, quam ... sub præsidio ... Jacobi Arrhenii ... pro gradu ad publicum examen modeste defert ... Magnus M. Pontinus O: gothus. In aud. Gust. maj. d. 26. Septemb. anno MDCC

Since 2013, new excavations have focused on the northern part of the Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião (TJBA-N) rockshelter, which is located on the edge of the Serra da Capivara National Park in Brazil. Ten sediment samples were dated by multigrain quartz OSL and three samples by feldspar IRSL. Multigrain OSL ages on quartz were assessed using the Central Age Model (CAM) and a Bayesian model built with the R BayLum statistics package. Ages are in good stratigraphic agreement and ages from quartz and feldspars, when available, are internally consistent. Furthermore, we produced a Bayesian model (BayLum) based on OSL ages obtained for the six sediment samples of the main stratigraphy that included stratigraphic constraints and a covariance matrix of errors. Two gaps in sedimentation were detected and can be correlated with climatic changes during the MIS 3 and during the MIS 3 to MIS 2 transition. Finally, our results provide a chronological framework for a new important Pleistocene-Holocene sequence in the region.This project benefited from French State help managed by the French Research National Agency under the Investissements d'Avenir Program (reference ANR-10-LABX-52). The authors are also grateful to the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region Council (France), the FUMDHAM (Brazil) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for funding. The authors also wish to thank the French National Facility for 14C measurements (LMC14) for performing all 14C activity measurement.Peer reviewe

New Data on a Pleistocene Archaeological Sequence in South America: Toca do Sítio do Meio, Piauí, Brazil

International audienc