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Abstract: The relation between artefactual variability and social identities in the archaeological record is one of the main issues of the archaeological research, regardless of the theoretical approach. In Brazilian archaeology, this question has being approached under the concepts of phase and tradition, although their applications are not in tune with the theoretical debate on technology produced throughout the last 40 years, by the anthropology of techniques and studies of technological style. We will discuss the implications of such perspective in the interpretation of the archaeological record from the upper Sinos river valley, Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil.

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O povoamento inicial da América do Sul não foi um processo homogêneo. Em termos cronológicos, as evidências apontam para a ocupação de diversas regiões já em fins do Pleistoceno e início do Holoceno, com datas anteriores ou ao menos contemporâneas ao Horizonte Clóvis na América do Norte. Entre doze mil e oito mil anos ap o leste da América do Sul já se encontrava ocupado por uma população estável de caçadores-coletores, caracterizada por diversificadas estratégias de adaptação aos processos de transformação das paisagens Holocênicas. Neste texto apresentamos uma hipótese segundo a qual esse contexto pode ser mais bem entendido se concebermos que o processo de povoamento das Terras Baixas Sul-Americanas incorporou os vales dos grandes rios como rotas para o interior do continente. Nossa intenção é realçar o potencial do contexto arqueológico brasileiro para construção e teste de hipóteses que contribuam para a discussão sobre o processo de povoamento da América do Sul.

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Understanding resource utilization and economic diversification amongst Holocene hunter‐gatherers in southern Brazil requires in‐depth taphonomic analysis of faunal assemblages. Three Early to Late Holocene archaeological sites (Garivaldino, Pilger and Sangão) in Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil, revealed large assemblages of small mammal (˂1 kg) remains, composed mainly of rodents. To appreciate depositional processes of fauna in relation to human consumption, taphonomic attributes and processes were evaluated. The results indicated that the remains accumulated through different antemortem taphonomic pathways, apparently linked to the size and natural history of the species represented. The small‐ and medium‐sized (<150 g) cricetid rodents (e.g. Pseudoryzomys simplex and Sooretamys angouya) were represented by a low proportion of teeth with lightly digestive corrosion suggesting that they were derived from the predatory activity of owls, possibly Tyto alba. In contrast, large‐sized cricetids (>150 g; Kunsia tomentosus, Gyldenstolpia sp. and Holochilus sp.), and several caviomorph rodents with aggregated spatial distributions (Echimyidae (†Dicolpomys fossor, Phyllomys sp., †Clyomys riograndensis and †Euryzygomatomys mordax), Caviidae (Cavia sp.) and Ctenomyidae (Ctenomys sp.)) showed evidence of thermoalteration patterns and cut marks on bones, suggesting human exploitation. A postmortem depositional environment was deduced from dendritic and branched patterns of rootlet etching, apparent mostly at Garivaldino and Pilger. Polished areas and holes on bone surfaces, and impregnation of manganese showed moderate (Sangão) or low (Garivaldino and Pilger) incidence, pointing to water transport under moderate (Pilger) and low (Garivaldino and Sangão) energy over short distances. The results obtained here provide the first clear evidence of early human exploitation of small mammals in southern Brazil, suggesting a diversification of economies. In addition, as several of the recorded rodents are today regionally or biologically extinct, a preliminary discussion about the potential impact of humans on this process is provided.