Distributional patterns of herbivore megamammals during the Late Pleistocene of South America

Gallo, Valéria; Avilla, Leonardo dos Santos; Pereira, Rodrigo C.L.; Absolon, Bruno Araújo

doi:10.1590/s0001-37652013000200005

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Fishtail points are highly abundant in the nearby Uruguayan plains, clearly extending to the border with Brazil (Nami, 2007(Nami, , 2013Flegenheimer et al, 2013), and it would be extremely unlikely that the current political frontier between the two countries represented a sharp limit to the distribution of these groups in the Late Pleistocene since it does not reflect any sort of real geographical or ecological barrier. Moreover, during this time the same biome covered this vast region, linking the southernmost Pampean plains with the territories of southern Brazil (De Vivo & Carmignotto, 2004;Morrone, 2006;Suárez & Santos, 2010;Gallo et al, 2013), with only small clinal variations being present until the 22˚S parallel (Bombin, 1976;Oliveira, 1996;Cartelle & Lessa, 1988;Carlini et al, 2004;Kerber et al, 2014). Specifically, this vast territory that reaches the southern part of São Paulo state includes all of the localities with FTPP as presented in this paper, except for the projectile points recovered from Minas Gerais and Bahia states (see Figure 10).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Fishtail Projectile Points from South America: The Brazilian Record

Loponte¹,

Carbonera²,

Silvestre³

2015

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The projectile points known as Fishtail or Fell represent a specific design associated with the earliest hunter-gatherers of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in South America. Brazil was traditionally considered as a marginal area of their distribution because in the past there were only a small number of findings known, often inadequately documented. In this paper we present a general and unified overview of the Brazilian record, including previously unpublished metric, technological and stylistic features. Also, we report on new findings of fishtail points in order to expand the amount of information currently available. Some issues related to these records are also evaluated by comparing them with data from the Uruguayan plains and the Argentinean pampas. The general picture that emerges after this analysis shows a growing record of fishtail projectile points in southern Brazil, demonstrating a significant presence of these early paleo-South American populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Fishtail Projectile Points from South America: The Brazilian Record

Loponte¹,

Carbonera²,

Silvestre³

2015

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“…Perhaps for this reason, they have been interpreted as a product of exchange with southern groups (e.g., Dias 2012). In this interpretation, the FPs were manufactured in the adjacent plains of Uruguay and perhaps in Argentina, but not in southern Brazil, which certainly was intriguing since the Uruguayan plain and most of southern Brazil constituted of the same biome during the end of the Pleistocene (and even today in some areas), with the same or similar faunal resources, and without significant topographic distortions (Adams & Faure 1997;Cione et al 2009: 128;Gallo et al 2009;Loponte & Carbonera 2017;Vivo & Carmignotto 2004). In fact, the southern states of Brazil, Uruguay and Northeast Argentina present a continuous distribution of other points (early and middle Holocene) from the so-called Umbú Tradition (Nami 2020a;Okumura & Araujo 2014;Prous 1992: 148-149;Rodríguez 2005).…”

Section: The Record Of Fps In South Brazilmentioning

confidence: 98%

Raw materials and functional designs of Fishtail projectile points from southern Brazil

Carbonera

Loponte²

2021

JLS

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This study analyses the lithic landscape and the selection of rocks used to manufacture Fishtail points (FP) in southern Brazil, their designs, and some functional aspects. In order to identify the offer of lithic resources, we carried out several surveys throughout 15 months in 47 counties in the Southern Brazil covered by the Botucatú - Serra Geral Vulcano Sedimentary Complex. The lithic composition of numerous hill slopes, fallen rocks, and accumulations of pebbles and boulders in the riversides was evaluated. The results show that basalts (including a small proportion of andesites and rhyodacites-rhyolites), and silicified sandstones, are ubiquitous in the landscape. Conversely, non-translucent cherts are scarce, so their acquisition would have been time-consuming. However, these local cherts were the rocks mostly used to manufacture these points, being another example of the selectivity for high quality rocks by Paleoamerican hunter-gatherers. The same cherts selected in southern Brazil to produce the FP were used to manufacture other point-types by local hunter-gatherers of the early and middle Holocene grouped in the so-called “Umbú Tradition”. Not a single FP of the entire collection analyzed here was made from silicified limestones, which is one of the most common raw materials among the Uruguayan FPs, nor were they made from quartzites as were most of the FPs of the Pampean plains. Regarding to the designs of these projectiles, some morphotypes appear to have been designed to produce multiple injuries through successive thrusts and withdrawals in the bodies of the prey, while in others, the design seems to have favoured penetration and fixation on the prey, suggesting in this case, a single shot technique for each projectile. As the maintenance process unfolded, especially for points below ~ 80 mm in length, they show features that negatively impacted their efficiency, including distinct asymmetries, somewhat open front angles, a decrease in the cutting perimeter and cross-sectional area, an increase in the bevel angle of the blade edges, and a tendency to a conical cross-section. Behaviours intended to counteract these problems were maximizing the length of the leading edge, maintaining the symmetry and the triangular blade resting on straight shoulders, and maintaining the aerodynamic properties as much as it were possible, in order to improve their lethality and the fixation capacity. Beyond these rejuvenation processes, three different morphotypes of points appear to be included within the sample. The first includes points over 120 mm and ~ 80 g in weight, with triangular or slightly lanceolate limbs, which mostly present straight shoulders, but there are also examples of rounded shoulders. The second design corresponds to projectiles between 110 and 87 mm and ~30 g in weight, with triangular or slightly lanceolate blades and straight shoulders. The third design presents the classic shape of these projectiles, with a fish silhouette, with maximum lengths below 90 mm, with a more robust and conceptually different design, where the angles of the edges of the blades and of the shoulders are equal, perhaps with the intention to facilitate the spear withdrawal to produce multiple injuries.

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“…A presença de ambos os Megatheriidae no registro fossilífero caçapavano demonstra que a região constituía, já no final do Pleistoceno, uma zona de transição entre os ambientes de parque, aos quais o Eremotherium era adaptado, e ambientes abertos pampeanos, habitats preferenciais do gênero Megatherium (GALLO et al, 2013). As flutuações climáticas modificavam o ambiente de forma cíclica: em períodos glaciais, a região ficava mais seca e fria, permitindo o avanço dos campos e o predomínio do Megatherium; em períodos Geoturismo na área de abranGência do corede campanha ('metade sul' do rio Grande do sul, brasil), parte ii: elementos Geopatrimoniais ex situ, contextos e identidades quentes, interglaciais, elementos florestais e espécies de clima mais quente e úmido se tornavam predominantes, propiciando a chegada de Eremotherium.…”

Section: Elementos Geopatrimoniais Ex Situ -Fósseis Do Corede Campanhaunclassified

Geoturismo na área de abrangência do COREDE Campanha (‘metade sul’ do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil), parte II: elementos geopatrimoniais ex situ, contextos e identidades

et al. 2019

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Distributional patterns of herbivore megamammals during the Late Pleistocene of South America

Cited by 22 publications

References 30 publications

Fishtail Projectile Points from South America: The Brazilian Record

Fishtail Projectile Points from South America: The Brazilian Record

Raw materials and functional designs of Fishtail projectile points from southern Brazil

Geoturismo na área de abrangência do COREDE Campanha (‘metade sul’ do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil), parte II: elementos geopatrimoniais ex situ, contextos e identidades

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