The Origins Project and the First Americans’ Controversy

Bernardo, Danilo Vicensotto; Neves, Walter Alves; Kipnis, Renato

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57466-0_9

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The South American foragers include people from Lagoa Santa in Central‐Eastern Brazil, who were paleo‐American foragers dating 11,000 to 7,000 BP. They were terrestrial foragers with subsistence based on middle to small‐sized animals, such as deer, armadillos, peccaries, cavies, birds, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, and mollusks, but they also relied heavily on plant sources like wild tubers and fruits (Bernardo, Neves, & Kipnis, ; Da‐Gloria & Larsen, , ). The Archaic period (10,000–3,500 BP) Chinchorro people from the Atacama region of Chile (Morro 1 and Acha 3 sites) primarily exploited marine resources but occasionally consumed plants from the Andean foothills to their east (Arriazza, ; Arriazza, Doubrava, Standen, & Haas, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental microwear texture analysis ofHomo sapienssapiens: Foragers, farmers, and pastoralists

Schmidt

Remy

Sessen

et al. 2019

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives The current study seeks to determine if a sample of foragers, farmers, and pastoralists are distinguishable based on their dental microwear texture signatures. Materials and methods The study included a sample of 719 individuals from 51 archeological sites (450 farmers, 192 foragers, 77 pastoralists). All were over age 12 and sexes were pooled. Using a Sensofar® white‐light confocal profiler we collected dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) data from a single first or second molar from each individual. We leveled and cleaned data clouds following standard procedures and analyzed the data with Sfrax® and Toothfrax® software. The DMTA variables were complexity and anisotropy. Statistics included ANOVA with partial eta squared and Hedges's g. We also performed a follow‐up K‐means cluster analysis. Results We found significant differences between foragers and farmers and pastoralists for complexity and anisotropy, with foragers having greater complexity than either the farmers or the pastoralists. The farmers and pastoralists had greater anisotropy than the foragers. The Old World foragers had significantly higher anisotropy values than New World foragers. Old and New World farmers did not differ. Among the Old World farmers, those dating from the Neolithic through the Late Bronze Age had higher complexity values than those from the Iron Age through the medieval period. The cluster analysis discerned foragers and farmers but also indicated similarity between hard food foragers and hard food farmers. Discussion Our findings reaffirm that DMTA is capable of distinguishing human diets. We found that foragers and farmers, in particular, differ in their microwear signatures across the globe. There are some exceptions, but nothing that would be unexpected given the range of human diets and food preparation techniques. This study indicates that in general DMTA is an efficacious means of paleodietary reconstruction in humans.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental microwear texture analysis ofHomo sapienssapiens: Foragers, farmers, and pastoralists

Schmidt

Remy

Sessen

et al. 2019

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…The last intervention at Lagoa Santa was carried out by a research group from the University of São Paulo in the 2000s . In addition to increasing the number of human skeletons excavated, this research group largely improved the archeological record of the region (see below).…”

Section: How Old Is the Human Occupation Of Lagoa Santa?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Da-Gloria

Hübbe

Neves

2018

Evolutionary Anthropology

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The region of Lagoa Santa, Central-Eastern Brazil, provides an exceptional archeological record about Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene occupation of the Americas. Since the first interventions made by the Danish naturalist Peter Lund in the 19th century, hundreds of human skeletons have been exhumed in the region. These skeletons are complemented by a rich botanic, faunal, technological, and geomorphological archeological record. We explore here the contributions of Lagoa Santa material to the origins and lifestyle of early Americans, providing an historic background. Cranial morphology of Lagoa Santa skeletons allowed the proposition of a model of two biological components for the occupation of the Americas, in which early Americans are morphologically similar to people of African and Australo-Melanesian origin. Furthermore, the archeological record in the region has revealed an intense use of plant resources, a restricted spatial distribution, and the symbolic elaboration of local hunter-gatherers, unveiling a distinct lifestyle compared to early North American populations.

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