On Vastness and Variability: Cultural Transmission, Historicity, and the Paleoindian Record in Eastern South America

Abstract

Eastern South America, or what is today Brazilian territory, poses interesting questions about the early human occupation of the Americas. Three totally distinct and contemporaneous lithic technologies, dated between 11,000 and 10,000 14 C BP, are present in different portions of the country: the Umbu tradition in the south, with its formal bifacial industry, with well-retouched scrapers and bifacial points; the Itaparica tradition in the central-west / northwest, totally unifacial, whose only formal artifacts are limaces; and the "Lagoa Santa" industry, completely lacking any formal artifacts, composed mainly of small quartz flakes. Our data suggests that these differences are not related to subsistence or raw-material constraints, but rather to different cultural norms and transmission of strongly divergent chaînes opératoires. Such diversity in material culture, when viewed from a cultural transmission (CT) theory standpoint, seems at odds with a simple Clovis model as the origin of these three cultural traditions given the time elapsed since the first Clovis ages and the expected population structure of the early South American settlers.

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

“…Archaeological evidence in South America does not corroborate the "Clovis First" hypothesis-which assumes that the oldest evidence in Americas are the Clovis Culture artefacts-since many of these cultures arise simultaneously, or even previous to, the Clovis lithic industry [136], considering that the oldest associate Clovis sites date around 11,000 BP (13,000 cal BP) [137]. Few of the Eastern South American Paleoindian assemblages present technological features that are similar to Clovis, except maybe the Fell industry, which presents both blade technology and points made by the bifacial thinning method with fluting.…”

“…The empirical data in South America is not feasible under the "Clovis First" hypothesis. Not surprisingly, new models are now being discussed, considering multiple migrations, the earliest ones before the Last Glacial Maximum [136].…”

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

“…The archeological record diversity in the transition of Pleistocene to Holocene in the South America has been recognized by many researchers . Lagoa Santa, in that sense, provides another well‐studied region showing the contrast of the early hunter‐gatherer occupation in the tropics and in the temperate areas of the Americas.…”

Caracterização Da Indústria Lítica Do Sítio Lapa Grande De Taquaraçu, Mg

“…Dados obtidos através de pesquisas em Lagoa Santa e em outras regiões da América do Sul sugerem que a ocupação Paleoíndia se iniciou de forma abrupta há aproximadamente 11700 anos cal AP, sendo observada através de culturas materiais totalmente distintas, principalmente em relação aos vestígios líticos (Araujo, 2013;2015 (Araujo, 2012). https://doi.org/10.26892/noctua.v1i4p141-163…”