Middle Holocene plant cultivation on the Atlantic Forest coast of Brazil?

Abstract

This work provides robust oral pathology and stable isotope evidence on Bayesian mixing model for an unexpectedly high consumption of carbohydrates by a Middle Holocene coastal population of the Atlantic Forest of South America, an area traditionally viewed as peripheral to early centres of food production on the continent. A diversified economy with substantial consumption of plant resources was in place at the shellmound (or sambaqui) of Morro do Ouro, in Babitonga Bay, and supported a dense population at ca 4500 cal BP. This dietary composition is unique when compared with that of other contemporary and later groups in the region, including peoples who used ceramics and domesticated crops. The results corroborate independent dietary evidence, such as stone tool artefacts for plant processing and plant microremains in dental calculus of the same individuals, and suggest plant cultivation possibly took place in this region at the same time as the development of early agriculture in Amazonia and the La Plata Basin. Our study situates the Atlantic Forest coast of Brazil on the map of early plant management in the Neotropics.

Pre‐Columbian fisheries catch reconstruction for a subtropical estuary in South America

“…More than a hundred archaeological shell mounds and middens, also known as sambaquis, have been recorded in Babitonga Bay (Figure 1a-c). This time interval coincided with the widespread use of domestic crops (Wesolowski, Ferraz Mendonça de Souza, Reinhard, & Ceccantini, 2010), but faunal remains (da Bandeira, 1992; and bone collagen stable isotope analyses (Bastos et al, 2014;Pezo-Lanfranco et al, 2018) demonstrate that aquatic resources continued to be the dominant source of dietary protein. Fish, in particular, were the prevailing source of dietary protein at several sites from the Middle to Late Holocene (Bastos, Lessa, Rodrigues-Carvalho, Tykot, & Santos, 2014;Pezo-Lanfranco et al, 2018).…”

“…1,500 cal BP by groups associated with the Taquara/Itarare ceramic tradition. This time interval coincided with the widespread use of domestic crops (Wesolowski, Ferraz Mendonça de Souza, Reinhard, & Ceccantini, 2010), but faunal remains (da Bandeira, 1992; and bone collagen stable isotope analyses (Bastos et al, 2014;Pezo-Lanfranco et al, 2018) demonstrate that aquatic resources continued to be the dominant source of dietary protein. This longstanding history of subsistence fishing persisted in the area with the European colonisation and urbanisation of Babitonga Bay, which nowadays is home to several artisanal fishing guilds (Colônias de pesca), some of which are in areas previously occupied by sambaquis ( Figure 1b).…”

“…1,567 km 2 (Vieira, Horn Filho, Custodio Bonetti, & Bonetti, 2008), and is surrounded by dense subtropical forests, restinga vegetation and the largest mangrove ecosystem in southern Brazil (Gerhardinger et al, 2018;Knie, 2002;Vieira et al, 2008). Fish, in particular, were the prevailing source of dietary protein at several sites from the Middle to Late Holocene (Bastos, Lessa, Rodrigues-Carvalho, Tykot, & Santos, 2014;Pezo-Lanfranco et al, 2018). The shell mounds and middens in Babitonga Bay are associated with sedentary or semi-sedentary populations that exploited a variety of fish and shellfish in the context of daily food consumption and mortuary practices (e.g., funerary feasting) since at least 6,000 years ago, similar to other sites along the Brazilian coast (DeBlasis, Fish, Gaspar, & Fish, 1998;Gaspar, DeBlasis, Fish, & Fish, 2008;Souza et al, 2016;Wagner, Hilbert, Bandeira, Tenório, & Okumura, 2011).…”

“…The radiocarbon dates were calibrated (BP) using OxCal v. 4.3 (Ramsey, 2009). Since fish were the prevailing source of dietary protein to human groups in this region, radiocarbon dates on human bone collagen were calibrated using a combination of the marine (Marine13) and terrestrial curves (SHCal13), taking into account the relative contribution of marine carbon to collagen, according to Pezo-Lanfranco et al (2018), and the same ΔR value reported above. Since fish were the prevailing source of dietary protein to human groups in this region, radiocarbon dates on human bone collagen were calibrated using a combination of the marine (Marine13) and terrestrial curves (SHCal13), taking into account the relative contribution of marine carbon to collagen, according to Pezo-Lanfranco et al (2018), and the same ΔR value reported above.…”

“…The shell mounds and middens in Babitonga Bay are associated with sedentary or semi-sedentary populations that exploited a variety of fish and shellfish in the context of daily food consumption and mortuary practices (e.g., funerary feasting) since at least 6,000 years ago, similar to other sites along the Brazilian coast (DeBlasis, Fish, Gaspar, & Fish, 1998;Gaspar, DeBlasis, Fish, & Fish, 2008;Souza et al, 2016;Wagner, Hilbert, Bandeira, Tenório, & Okumura, 2011). Fish, in particular, were the prevailing source of dietary protein at several sites from the Middle to Late Holocene (Bastos, Lessa, Rodrigues-Carvalho, Tykot, & Santos, 2014;Pezo-Lanfranco et al, 2018). Babitonga Bay witnessed the introduction of ceramics at ca.…”