The Earthen Mounds (Cerritos) of Southern Brazil and Uruguay

Milheira, Rafael Guedes; García, Camila Gianotti

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_3025

Cited by 9 publications

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“…Most soil modifications and environmental management practices reported from archaeological contexts across South America are also evidenced in the southernmost lowlands of the Pampa Biome, including Uruguay, Argentina, and southern Brazil (Figure 1). Earthen architecture, in particular, represented by the construction of thousands of mounds locally known as “ cerritos de indios,” is the most apparent and widespread ancient landscape modification in South America (Bracco, 2006; Gianotti & Bonomo, 2013; Iriarte, 2006; López Mazz, 2001; Milheira & Gianotti, 2018). The cerritos are archaeological mound‐like structures whose diameter ranges from 30 to 60 m and height varying from just a few centimeters to more than 7 m. They were erected by the accumulation of anthropogenic sediments composed of earth, perishable organic, and other domestic waste, such as pottery, stone, faunal, and charred botanical remains and sometimes include human skeletal remains (Milheira & Gianotti, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geoarchaeological signatures of anthropogenic soils in southeastern Uruguay: Approaches to formation processes and spatial–temporal variability

et al. 2021

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This contribution focuses on the interpretation of earthen mound formation processes in the lowlands of the Pampa biome, southeastern Uruguay, through the integrated analysis of sedimentological and archaeological data. The three analyzed mounds from the La Tapera site have different heights and radiocarbon chronologies, indicating different construction periods across the last 4000 years. In addition, soils from surrounding plains were analyzed to provide a comparative basis for geoarchaeological characterization. From granulometric, compositional, and geochemical results, we identified different soil classes and several anthropogenic layers inside the earthen structures. Mound soils stood out from the rest due to higher levels of P, soil organic matter (SOM), and micro‐artifact content, leading to their classification as hortic Anthroportic Udorthent soils or hortic‐cultural cumulic archaeo‐anthrosols. Geoarchaeological differences between mounds are inferred as variations in the formation processes and/or construction technologies, possibly related to the functionality and height of the structures. Evidence from this contribution demonstrated the existence of ancient ways to produce nutrient‐rich long‐lasting anthropogenic soils that left persistent geoarchaeological signatures on the landscape. These findings highlight the need to broaden the discussion, culturally and geographically, about the genesis and development of management practices and associated indigenous knowledge to include the lowlands of southeastern South America.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geoarchaeological signatures of anthropogenic soils in southeastern Uruguay: Approaches to formation processes and spatial–temporal variability

et al. 2021

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“…The South American lowlands are among the most ancient regions of earthen mounds construction by hunter-gatherer-horticulturists (López-Mazz, 2001;Bracco, 2006;Iriarte, 2006a). The Uruguayan earthen mounds, known as cerritos de indios, are distributed along the southeast and northeast of Uruguay and southern Brazil (López-Mazz, 2001;Gianotti, 2005;Bracco, 2006;Cabrera, 2013;Milheira and Gianotti, 2018). They emerged around 5000 yrs BP and mark the early complexity of societies with mixed economies based on the utilization of wild resources (game, recollection, fishing) (López-Mazz, 2001;Iriarte 2007) and the cultivation of maize and beans since approximately 3500 cal BP (Iriarte, 2007;del Puerto, 2015;Milheira and Gianotti, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Uruguayan earthen mounds, known as cerritos de indios, are distributed along the southeast and northeast of Uruguay and southern Brazil (López-Mazz, 2001;Gianotti, 2005;Bracco, 2006;Cabrera, 2013;Milheira and Gianotti, 2018). They emerged around 5000 yrs BP and mark the early complexity of societies with mixed economies based on the utilization of wild resources (game, recollection, fishing) (López-Mazz, 2001;Iriarte 2007) and the cultivation of maize and beans since approximately 3500 cal BP (Iriarte, 2007;del Puerto, 2015;Milheira and Gianotti, 2018). Many of the mounds were used as a cemetery until the European conquest (Sans et al, 2012;Figueiro et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The category "cerritos" (Arechavaleta, 1892) or "Indian earthquakes" (Ferrés, 1927) was introduced to define a wide range of architectural forms including round mounds, long mounds, platforms, ring mounds and microreliefs, the functional diversity and chronology of which still require further studies (Milheira and Gianotti, 2018). The mounds, typically around 30-40 m in diameter and 1-5 m elevation, are composed mainly of an organic-rich sediment matrix from the direct surroundings (Capdemont et al, 2005;Suárez-Villagrán and Gianotti, 2013), forming an admixture with cultural remains such as food waste, lithic waste, tools, ceramics, ochre, charcoal and sometimes burnt anthill material (Bracco et al, 2000;López-Mazz, 2001;Iriarte, 2006a;Gianotti and Bonomo, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The expansion to other areas of Uruguay and Brazil, mostly in the plains around lagoons and rivers along the Atlantic coast, is more recent (ca. 3000 cal BP) (Milheira and Gianotti, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular features of organic matter in anthropogenic earthen mounds, canals and lagoons in the Pago Lindo archaeological complex (Tacuarembó, Uruguayan lowlands) are controlled by pedogenetic processes and fire practices

Kaal

Gianotti

Puerto

et al. 2019

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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The Pago Lindo site in the River Plate basin (Uruguay) is an important pre-hispanic mound settlement (ca. 3000-600 B.P.), of which the technologically and socially advanced nature have only recently been revealed. Different angles of pedogenetic and palaeo-ecological science are rapidly improving our understanding of the history of the site and the relationships between human activity and habitat alteration. Here we add to this progress by molecular characterization of soil organic matter (SOM) in anthropogenic earthen mounds, canals and lagoons from Pago Lindo, by pyrolysis-GC-MS. The results showed that the SOM in the earthen mound and the archaeological lagoon are composed of microbial (partially chitin), aliphatic (partially root-derived) and pyrogenic (from fireplaces or wildfires) materials, whereas the canal and younger lagoon contained SOM with larger proportions of relatively intact plant remains (lignin and polysaccharides from herbaceous species). In most systems, a clear degradation trend can be observed with increasing depth -either from intact plant remains to microbial tissues (canal, young lagoon), or from microbial tissues to recalcitrant aliphatic and pyrogenic sources (earthen mound, ancient lagoon)-which is indicative of a strong control of decay intensity on SOM composition. Multivariate statistics confirmed that most variability in pyrolysis fingerprints can be attributed to degradation/preservation dynamics, which probably erased most of the molecular information on habitat development under the influence of past societies, including nearby maize cultivation.

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El Litoral Atlántico Uruguayo: Síntesis Arqueológica Y Apuntes Para La Conservación

Villarmarzo¹

2022

tessituras

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El presente ensayo hace un compendio de las investigaciones arqueológicas desarrolladas en la región atlántica del departamento de Rocha en Uruguay. En especial describe el repertorio de tipo de sitios identificados desde la década de 1970 y posteriormente en finales de 1990 y primera década de 2000. Presenta también un listado de los fechados obtenidos en los distintos tipos de sitios. A la par de algunas de estas investigaciones, comenzaron a llevarse a cabo relevamiento de estado de conservación de los sitios, con identificación de avanzado riesgo de algunos de estos bienes. Esto plantea la necesidad de establecer nuevas estrategias de abordaje que contemplen la actualización normativa, metodologías acordes y la participación de todos los actores implicados en la conservación y puesta en valor.

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The Earthen Mounds (Cerritos) of Southern Brazil and Uruguay

Cited by 9 publications

References 8 publications

Geoarchaeological signatures of anthropogenic soils in southeastern Uruguay: Approaches to formation processes and spatial–temporal variability

Geoarchaeological signatures of anthropogenic soils in southeastern Uruguay: Approaches to formation processes and spatial–temporal variability

Molecular features of organic matter in anthropogenic earthen mounds, canals and lagoons in the Pago Lindo archaeological complex (Tacuarembó, Uruguayan lowlands) are controlled by pedogenetic processes and fire practices

El Litoral Atlántico Uruguayo: Síntesis Arqueológica Y Apuntes Para La Conservación

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