Extreme cultural persistence in eastern-central Brazil: the case of Lagoa Santa Paleaeoindians

Abstract

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.

Lagoa Santa's contribution to the origins and life of early Americans

“…In conclusion, archeological and skeletal material at Lagoa Santa show a particular way of life that started at 10,500 yBP and lasted for thousands of years, characterized by a resilient and continuous strategy to subsist and to interact in a tropical environment . Different from temperate populations such as the Clovis culture in North America, Lagoa Santa relied heavily on nondomesticated plants and lived in a relatively restricted territory.…”

The Technological Diversity of Lithic Industries in Eastern South America during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene Transition

“…These are the oldest records for ground axe blades in the Americas (Figure 3: 4). The lithic industry is also defined by the persistence of making those microliths in the exact same way for at least 8000 years [122], considering that crystal quartz is not a common raw material in the Lagoa Santa region, and other tools (bigger and more complex) could be produced using other types of raw material, like high-quality quartzite, that could be easily found in the area. In this sense, the cultural norm for using small crystals defined the technological limitations of the industry.…”

“…This is because the American continent only started to be densely occupied after 13,000 BP, when the Pleistocene was ending. In South America, there are only four places known to this day that present strong evidence that some people settled the continent before 13,000 BP: the Serra da Capivara region, in Northwestern Brazil, which has sites containing simple tools of quartzite pebbles made by direct percussion (choppers), the oldest one being Boqueirão da Pedra Furada, dating around 50,000 BP [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]; Monte Verde site, in central Chile, where choppers and flakes are presenting dates older than 33,000 BP [12]; Santa Elina site, in Midwestern Brazil, where retouched limestone flakes and polished pendants made of Megatherium sp. (giant sloth) osteoderms were found and dated to around 23,000 BP [13,14]; and Taima Taima site in Venezuela, where the El Jobo lithic industry was found dating back to 13,000 BP (or 15,000 cal BP) [15].…”

Microvestígios botânicos em artefatos líticos do sítio Lapa do Santo (Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais)

“…e tatus (Dasypus e Euphractus) (Santos, 2011;. Araujo et al (2018) apresentam a classificação de uma amostra menor desses artefatos, 56 deles, provenientes das unidades F12, F13, G12 e G13 e unidades M, datados entre 10.060 e 4510 anos cal. A.P.…”

“…Com o estudo de 26 sepultamentos 9 foram identificados sete padrões funerários 10 , bastante resumidamente caracterizados como: 1) esqueletos em posição fletida; 2) é o mais diverso e é constituído por remanescentes esqueletais que foram talhados e descarnados, com sinal de queima dos tecidos macios; 3) indivíduos enterrados em covas circulares com ossos às vezes desarticulados e quebrados intencionalmente; 4) esqueletos articulados com membros ausentes mas sem marcas de corte; 5) ossos de indivíduo em forma de feixe com marcas de corte; 6) esqueleto cremado; e 7) cova circular com pigmento nos ossos e coberta com blocos (Strauss, 2010;). 4 70 m de comprimento e 20 m de largura (Araujo et al, 2018). 5 O Holoceno Inicial é definido entre 10.000 e 7000 anos A.P.…”