Archaeologies of Remembrance. Death and memory in past societies

WILLIAMS, H. (Ed.) Archaeologies of Remembrance. Death and memory in past societies. New York: Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers. 2003. (Papers from a conference session the Theoretical Archaeology Group conference held in December – 2000 at St. Catherin’s College. Oxford). 310 pp. ISBN 0-306-47451-

Morphometric affinities and direct radiocarbon dating of the Toca dos Coqueiros’ skull (Serra da Capivara, Brazil)

The biological variation of the earliest skeletons of South America has been intensely debated for the last two centuries. One of the major research constraints has been the limited number of available samples dating to the early Holocene. We here present the first direct radiocarbon-date for the early Holocene human skeleton from Toca dos Coqueiros (Serra da Capivara, Brazil), also known as “Zuzu” (8640 ± 30 BP; 9526–9681 cal years BP). We performed craniometric analyses using exclusively samples from Brazil, to revisit the sex of the skeleton, and to discuss the evolutionary processes involved in the occupation of the continent. The sex of the individual was estimated as a female when compared to late and early Holocene individuals, but as a male when compared only to the early Holocene series. We also found that Zuzu presents the strongest differences with the late Holocene Guajajara individuals, located nearby, and the strongest similarities with the early Holocene series from Lagoa Santa, attesting for solid biological affinities among early Holocene individuals from Brazil, as well as a moderate level of morphological variation among them. This suggests that the early individuals were part of the same heterogeneous lineage, possibly a different one from which late Holocene populations diverged.Fil: Menendez, Lumila Paula. Universidad de Viena; Austria. Universitat Bonn; AlemaniaFil: López Sosa, María Clara. Universitat Bonn; AlemaniaFil: Monteiro da Silva, Sergio Francisco Serafim. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Martin, Gabriela. No especifíca;Fil: Pessis, Anne Marie. No especifíca;Fil: Guidon, Niède. No especifíca;Fil: Solari, Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Manejo y cultivo de plantas en sierras húmedas del NE de Brasil ca. 670-530 BP: evidencias palinológicas del yacimiento Evaristo I

Se presentan las primeras huellas culturales de antiguas poblaciones alfareras de la Serra de Baturité. El espectro polínico de los sedimentos evidencia un mosaico de vegetación húmeda y xerofitica. El polen útil recuperado de las cerámicas, como la yuca (tipo Manihot), el camote (tipo Ipomoea), el algodón (tipo Gossypium), las palmeras y fructíferas (tipo Arecaceae, Astronium y cf. Anacardium), juntamente con los microhongos patógenos del maíz, del algodón y de algunos tubérculos (tipo Curvularia, tipo Alternaria, tipo Puccinia y cf. Ustilago maydis) indican actividades agrícolas y de subsistencia. Los hongos coprófilos (tipo Cercophora, Gelasinospora y tipo Sordariaceae) reflejan el tiempo de permanencia de esos grupos en la zona arqueológica. El hongo Gelasinospora también muestra el uso del fuego como combustible para las prácticas agrícolas y caza. Esos datos demuestran el uso de la cerámica en contextos funerario y doméstico

Genomic history of coastal societies from eastern South America

Sambaqui (shellmound) societies are among the most intriguing archaeological phenomena in pre-colonial South America, extending from approximately 8,000 to 1,000 years before present (yr bp) across 3,000 km on the Atlantic coast. However, little is known about their connection to early Holocene hunter-gatherers, how this may have contributed to different historical pathways and the processes through which late Holocene ceramists came to rule the coast shortly before European contact. To contribute to our understanding of the population history of indigenous societies on the eastern coast of South America, we produced genome-wide data from 34 ancient individuals as early as 10,000 yr bp from four different regions in Brazil. Early Holocene hunter-gatherers were found to lack shared genetic drift among themselves and with later populations from eastern South America, suggesting that they derived from a common radiation and did not contribute substantially to later coastal groups. Our analyses show genetic heterogeneity among contemporaneous Sambaqui groups from the southeastern and southern Brazilian coast, contrary to the similarity expressed in the archaeological record. The complex history of intercultural contact between inland horticulturists and coastal populations becomes genetically evident during the final horizon of Sambaqui societies, from around 2,200 yr bp, corroborating evidence of cultural change

Pré-história na foz do rio Chapecó

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