Early Holocene ritual complexity in South America: the archaeological record of Lapa do Santo (east-central Brazil) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Burial Practices in the Lagoa Santa region (east-central Brazil)
2017
In reconstructing the life of past populations, human burials are highly informative of symbolic and ritual behavior. In eastern South America, however, skeletal remains dating to the early Holocene are rare, precluding the proper study of their ritual dimensions. Lagoa Santa region in central Brazil is an important exception, as hundreds of well-preserved early Holocene human skeletons were recovered throughout 170 years of research. Here, I present a critical review of the history of discoveries of human remains in the region starting with the first interventions of Peter Lund in the first half of the nineteenth century. New excavations in Lapa do Santo starting in 2001 have revealed an elaborated setting of mortuary behavior in Lagoa Santa. Between 9.4 and 9.6 cal kyBP, the reduction of the body by means of mutilation, defleshing, tooth removal, exposure to fire, and possibly cannibalism, followed by the secondary burial of the remains according to strict rules, became a central element in the treatment of the dead. In the absence of monumental architecture or grave goods, these groups were using parts of fresh corpses to elaborate their rituals, showing this practice was not restricted to the Andean region at the beginning of the Holocene. Between 8.2 and 8.6 cal kyBP, another change occurred, whereby pits were instead filled with disarticulated bones of a single individual without signs of body manipulation, showing that during the early Archaic, Lagoa Santa was a region inhabited by dynamic groups that were in constant transformation over a period of centuries. The Lagoa Santa region is renowned worldwide for its rich fossil collection and for the conditions that led to an excellent degree of preservation of human skeletal remains such as is seldom observed in other ancient archeological sites in the Americas. Furthermore, the presence of humans in the region dates back to the end of the Pleistocene, endowing it with an outstanding role in the studies investigating the first Americans.
The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil)
PloSOne, 2015
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.
Latin American Antiquity, vol. 23, no. 4, pgs 533-550., 2012
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.
The Cultural Dynamics of Shell-Matrix Sites, 2014
Human remains have repeatedly been described in the studies of shell mounds (or sambaquis) of the Brazilian coast since the first publications in the 19th century. However, they were rarely considered a decisive feature in the definition of this type of site. We analyze the role of funerary structures in the evolution of sambaqui archaeological research by exploring the relationships between physical anthropological and archaeological studies throughout the history of research of these sites in Brazil. Adequate understanding of the nature of sambaqui funerary contexts requires a complementary approach from both disciplines, rather than one-sided emphasis on particular issues. By studying burials in their archaeological context, amidst the fascinating stratigraphy that often characterizes sambaquis, it is possible to grasp social constructs such as ritual, gender, and customs, as well as lifestyle and health of these people.
Extreme cultural persistence in eastern-central Brazil: the case of Lagoa Santa Paleaeoindians
Lapa do Santo rockshelter, a Paleoindian site located in Eastern-Central Brazil, presented two main occupations; one during Early Holocene (12,460 to 8700 cal BP), and a latter in Middle Holocene (5100 to 4200 cal BP). In spite of this 3600 year gap, the stratigraphy and general characteristics of the material culture did not indicate any visible discontinuity. This led us to hypothesise a reoccupation of the rockshelter by the same cultural group, tested by means of statistical analyses comparing lithics, bone artifacts, and faunal remains from early and middle Holocene layers. No significant differences were found, and our results indicate the presence of a cultural tradition that persisted for 8240 years, or roughly 412 generations.
Toward an Archaeology of Ritual Practice in southern Central America (2018, Paris)
Archaeology studies past practices through fields of action. In Mesoamerica, such fields exist across different scales of analysis, and for example lead research to identify individual or family routines in domestic and workshop settings. At the opposite end of this are large-scale periodic communal practices, often referred to as political or ritual. In these latter fields, insights into longue durée transformation are prone to be foregrounded at the expense of insights into human actions and its transmission within a group. The settings for such rituals are invariably referred to as 'public', 'ceremonial' or 'communal', depending on the archaeological region of period in question. Ritual practices in indigenous societies in Central America are mostly explained by viewing ritual in systematic terms, echoing Sahlins and Geertz. Chiefly authority is seen to be combined with that of ritual practitioner, rendering ritual itself seemingly a-historical and closely linking it to questions of political power. Ritual activity, and its pertaining material culture, is thus proposed as an irreducible functionalist fact, typically regarded for divination, communication with supernatural realms, and symbolic violence. Here, I will argue for a historical view on ritual in the prehistories we assemble and study, focusing attention on the question of ritual landscapes in southern Central America-a region with ample indicators for ritualized activity, but archaeologically challenged by a material culture with an abstract visual language, and a historical record lacking in individual events, except perhaps for volcanic eruptions. Spanish: La arqueología estudia prácticas pasadas a través de campos de acción. En Mesoamérica, tales campos existen en diferentes escalas de análisis, y por ejemplo apoyan a identificar rutinas individuales o familiares en entornos domésticos y en talleres. En el extremo opuesto, se encuentran las prácticas comunitarias periódicas a gran escala, a menudo denominadas 'políticas' o 'rituales'. En los últimos campos, los conocimientos sobre la transformación longue durée son propensos a ser enfocados a expensas de la comprensión de las acciones humanas y su transmisión dentro de un grupo. Los espacios para tales rituales se denominan invariablemente como 'públicos', 'ceremoniales' o 'comunales', dependiendo de la región o período arqueológico en cuestión. Las prácticas rituales en las sociedades indígenas en el sur de Centroamérica se explican mayormente viendo a rituales en términos sistémicos, haciéndose eco de Sahlins y Geertz. La autoridad principal se considera combinado con la del especialista ritual, convirtiendo el ritual en algo aparentemente a-histórico y vinculándolo estrechamente a cuestiones de poder político. La actividad ritual, y su cultura material pertinente, se propone, así como un hecho funcionalista irreductible, típicamente destinado a la adivinación, la comunicación con los ámbitos sobrenaturales y la violencia simbólica. Aquí, propondré una visión histórica en las prehistorias que reunimos y estudiamos, enfocado en los paisajes rituales del sur de Centroamérica-una región rica en referencias a actividad ritual, pero desafiada arqueológicamente por cultura material con lenguaje visual abstracto, y un registro histórico que carece de eventos individuales, a excepción quizás de las erupciones volcánicas. 2
Fragmentation and depositions in Pre and Protohistoric Portugal., 2019
Ongoing multidisciplinary studies of skeletonized human remains from the Middle Neolithic Bom Santo Cave (Lisbon, Portugal) is indicating a very heterogeneous population at various levels (diets, mobility and genetics). The current interpretation suggests that its socio-economic and funerary territories encompassed the lower Tagus, its tributaries and the granitic sectors of the Mora–Pavia area in the Alentejo. Archaeothanatological analyses indicated mutually exclusive funerary practices: secondary depositions at Room A and primary and secondary depositions at Room B. Polished stone tools are evenly distributed in both rooms, while ornaments, pottery, flint blades and sheep/goat phalanges are almost restricted to Room A. Such distribution patterns reflects the coexistence of distinct funerary practices in which Room A is part of a much complex behaviour that included primary depositions, exhumation, transportation and re-deposition of human bone remains between different sectors of the cave and/or cemeteries (caves, dolmens) of the above-described territory. Thus, a more dynamic (in its rituals) and wider (in its geography) set of funerary practices than usually perceived—in which the intentional segmentation of human skeletons is attested—seems to have taken place at the onset of megalithism in central-southern Portugal.
New Perspectives on the Peopling of the Americas, 2018
The Serra da Capivara region in northeastern Brazil contains several archaeological sites that have yielded human skeletal remains. Compared to other regions of Brazil, these sites have produced a smaller number of human skeletons (i.e., 3 to 4 individuals). However, the human fossil record of the region, especially that which is not associated with pottery, remains as yet inadequately investigated. Here we present a comprehensive review of previously-collected, non-pottery-associated human skeletal remains from Serra da Capivara. Additionally, we report on newly recovered human skeletons from recent excavations at the Pedrinho and of Toca da Barra da Janela do Antonião sites in the region. Current dates for these skeletal remains derive from associated materials, as efforts to obtain direct radiocarbon dates on the bones have proved unsuccessful due to the lack of bone collagen. The current understanding that the region was occupied for several thousands of years makes it difficult to define valid operational taxonomic units. While attempts for the extraction of ancient DNA remain thus far unproductive, future efforts should focus more on improving the estimates of antiquity for the skeletons. Resumen La región de la Serra da Capivara en el noreste de Brasil contiene varios sitios arqueológicos en donde se han hallado restos óseos humanos. En comparación con otras regiones de Brasil, estos sitios han producido un menor número de esqueletos humanos (i.e. de 3 a 4 individuos). Sin embargo, el registro fósil huma-no de la región, especialmente aquel que no está asociado con cerámica, sigue inadecuadamente investigado. Aquí se presenta una revisión exhaustiva de los restos óseos humanos previamente colectados y no asociados con cerámica de la Serra de Capivara. Del mismo modo, reportamos nuevos restos humanos recu-perados durante excavaciones recientes en Pedrinho y Toca da Barra da Janela do Antonião, localizados en la misma región. Las dataciones actuales para estos restos óseos derivan de materiales asociados, ya que los intentos para obtener fechados radiocarbónicos de los huesos no han sido exitosos debido a la falta de