Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:33:31.923Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene Dryness and Human Occupation in Brazil During the “Archaic Gap”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Astolfo G.M. Araujo ,
Walter A. Neves ,
Luís B. Piló  and
João Paulo V. Atui
Astolfo G.M. Araujo
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Estudos Evolutivos Humanos, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo 05508-090, SP, Brazil Departamento do Patrimônio Histórico, Prefeitura do Município de São Paulo, Brazil
Walter A. Neves
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Estudos Evolutivos Humanos, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo 05508-090, SP, Brazil
Luís B. Piló
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Estudos Evolutivos Humanos, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo 05508-090, SP, Brazil
João Paulo V. Atui
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Estudos Evolutivos Humanos, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo 05508-090, SP, Brazil
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An overview of the archaeological data produced over the last decades for Brazil, coupled with a background of recent paleoenvironmental studies, suggests that during the mid-Holocene vast areas of Central Brazil ceased to be occupied by human groups. Independent data from dated human skeletons, rock-shelter stratigraphy, and chronology of open-air sites converge to support the inference that these areas were depopulated or altogether abandoned. Paleoenvironmental data suggest that dryness events constitute the major cause behind the observed trends. This phenomenon expands the already perceived notion that climatic stresses had a major role in the shaping of human settlement patterns in marginal environments, such as deserts and high-altitude settings.

Keywords

ArchaeologyPaleoenvironmentHoloceneBrazilSouth America
Type
Special issue articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , November 2005 , pp. 298 - 307
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Absy, M.L., Cleef, A.M., Fournier, M., Martin, L., Servant, M., Sifeddine, A., Ferreira da Silva, M., Soubies, F., Suguio, K., Turcq, B., and Van der Hammen, T. (1991). Mise en évidence de quatre phases d'ouverture de la forêt dense dans le sud-est de l'Amazonie au cours des 60,000 dernières années. Première comparaison avec d'autres régions tropicales. Comptes Rendus d'Academie des Sciences, Paris, Serie II 312, 673–678.Google Scholar
Alexandre, A., Meunier, J.-D., Mariotti, A., and Soubies, F. (1999). Late Holocene phytolith and carbon-isotope record from a latosol at Salitre, south-central Brazil. Quaternary Research 51, 187–194.Google Scholar
Araujo, A.G.M., Neves, W.A., and Piló, L.B. (2003). Eventos de seca no Holoceno e suas implicações no povoamento pré-histórico do Brasil Central IX Congresso da Associação Brasileira de Estudos do Quaternário (ABEQUA).4RecifeGoogle Scholar
Auler, A.S., and Smart, P.L. (2001). Late Quaternary paleoclimate in semiarid Northeastern Brazil from U-series dating of travertine and water-table speleothems. Quaternary Research 55, 159–167.Google Scholar
Auler, A., L.B., Piló, Saadi, A., in press. Ambientes Cársticos.In: Associação Brasileira de Estudos do Quaternário (Ed.), O Quaternário do Brasil.Google Scholar
Baker, P.A., Seltzer, G.O., Fritz, S.C., Dunbar, R.B., Grove, M.J., Tapia, P.M., Cross, S.L., Rowe, H.D., and Broda, J.P. (2001). The history of South American tropical precipitation for the past 25,000 years. Science 291, 640–643.Google Scholar
M.R., Barberi (2001). Mudanças Paleoambientais na Região dos Cerrados do Planalto Central Durante o Quaternário Tardio: O Estudo da Lagoa Bonita, DF. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation thesis,Universidade de São, Paulo.Google Scholar
Barberi, M., Salgado-Laboriau, M.L., and Suguio, K. (2000). Paleovegetation and paleoclimate of “Vereda de Águas Emendadas”, central Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 13, 241–254.Google Scholar
Barbosa, A.I. (1991). Projeto Serra Geral Anais do I Simpósio de Pré-História do Nordeste Brasileiro.35–38.Google Scholar
Behling, H. (1995). Investigations into the late Pleistocene and Holocene history of vegetation and climate in Santa Catarina (S Brazil). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 4, 127–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behling, H. (1997). Late Quaternary vegetation, climate and fire history of the Araucaria forest and campos region from Serra Campos Gerais, Parana State (South Brazil). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 97, 109–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behling, H. (1998). Late Quaternary vegetational and climatic changes in Brazil. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 99, 143–156.Google Scholar
Behling, H. (2002). South and southeast Brazilian grasslands during Late Quaternary times: a synthesis. Paleogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 177, 19–27.Google Scholar
Behling, H., and Hooghiemstra, H. (2001). Neotropical savanna environments in space and time: late Quaternary interhemispheric comparisons. Markgraf, V. Interhemispheric Climate Linkages. Academic Press, San Diego.307–323.Google Scholar
Behling, H., and Negrelle, R.R.B. (2001). Tropical rain forest and climate dynamics of the Atlantic Lowland, Southern Brazil, during the Late Quaternary. Quaternary Research 56, 383–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behling, H., Helge, W.A., Pätzold, J., and Wefer, G. (2000). Late Quaternary vegetational and climate dynamics in northeastern Brazil, inferences form marine core GeoB 3104-1. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 981–994.Google Scholar
Behling, H., Bauermann, S.G., and Neves, P.C.P. (2001). Holocene environmental changes in the São Francisco de Paula region, southern Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 14, 631–639.Google Scholar
Behling, H., Pillar, V.D., Orlóci, L., and Bauermann, S.G. (2004). Late Quaternary Araucaria forest, grassland (Campos), fire and climate dynamics, studied by high-resolution pollen, charcoal and multivariate analysis of the Cambará do Sul core in southern Brazil. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 203, 277–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behling, H., Pillar, V.D., and Bauermann, S.G. (2005). Late Quaternary grassland (Campos), gallery forest, fire and climate dynamics, studied by pollen, charcoal and multivariate analysis of the São Francisco de Assis core in western Rio Grande do Sul (southern Brazil). Review of Paleobotany and Palynology 133, 235–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beltrão, M.C.M., Enriquez, C.R., and Danon, J., Zuleta, E., and Poupeau, G. (1986). Thermoluminescence dating of burned cherts from Alice Böer site (Brazil). Bryan, A.L. New Evidence for the Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas. University of Maine, Orono.203–219.Google Scholar
Bird, R.M., Dias, O. Jr. Carvalho, E.T.(1991). Subsídios para a arqueobotânica no Brasil: o milho antigo em cavernas de Minas Gerais. Revista de Arqueologia 6, 14–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, A., and Gruhn, R. (1978). Results of a test excavation at Lapa Pequena, MG, Brazil. Arquivos do Museu de História Natural da UFMG 3, 261–325.Google Scholar
Bryan, A., and Gruhn, R. (1993). Archaeological Research at Six Cave or Rockshelter Sites in Interior Bahia, Brazil. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Corvallis, OR.Google Scholar
Chausson, Y., and Délibrias, G. (1993). Datações realizadas no sítio de Santana do Riacho. Arquivos do Museu de História Natural da UFMG XIII/XIV, 395–400.Google Scholar
I.C., Chmyz (1983). Projeto Arqueológico Itaipu-Sétimo Relatório das Pesquisas Realizadas na Área de Itaipu (1981/83).Convênio Itipu/IPHAN, Curitiba.Google Scholar
Colinvaux, P.A., De Oliveira, P.E., and Bush, M.B. (2000). Amazonian and neotropical plant communities on glacial time scales: the failure of the aridity and refuge hypothesis. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 141–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collet, G. (1985). Novas informações sobre os sambaquis fluviais do Estado de São Paulo. Arquivos do Museu de História Natural da UFMG X, 311–324.Google Scholar
De Blasis, P.A. (2001). Os mais antigos soberanos da costa In Resumos do XI Congresso da Sociedade de Arqueologia Brasileira. Sociedade de Arqueologia Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro.43–44.Google Scholar
P.E., De Oliveira (1992). A palynological record of late Quaternary vegetational and climatic change in Southeastern Brazil.Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation thesis,Ohio State University, .Google Scholar
De Oliveira, P.E., Barreto, A.M., and Suguio, K. (1999). Late Pleistocene/Holocene climatic and vegetational history of the Brazilian caatinga: the fossil dunes of the middle São Francisco River. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 152, 319–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dias, O.F. Jr.(1991). Desenvolvimento cultural no horizonte 9.000/4.000 anos A.P. no Brasil Tropical. Revista de Arqueologia Americana 4, 55–87.Google Scholar
Dias, A.S., and Jacobus, A.L. (2001). The antiquity of the peopling of southern Brazil. Current Research in the Pleistocene 18, 17–19.Google Scholar
Dias, A.S., and Jacobus, A. (2003). Quão antigo é o povoamento do sul do Brasil?. Revista do CEPA 27, 39–67.Google Scholar
Etchevarne, C. (2000). A ocupação humana do Nordeste brasileiro antes da colonização portuguesa. Revista USP 44, 112–141.Google Scholar
Ferraz-Vicentini, K.R., and Salgado-Laboriau, M.L. (1996). Palynological analysis of a palm swamp in Central Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 9, 207–219.Google Scholar
E., Fogaça (2001). Mãos para o Pensamento- A Variabilidade Tecnológica de Indústrias Líticas de Caçadores-Coletores Holocênicos a partir de um Estudo de Caso: as Camadas VIII e VII da Lapa do Boquete (Minas Gerais, Brasil - 12.000/ 10.500 B.P.).Ph.D. Dissertation thesis,Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, .Google Scholar
Garreaud, R.D. (2000). Cold air incursions over subtropical and tropical South America: mean structure and dynamics. Monthly Weather Review 128, 2544–2559.Google Scholar
Geyh, M.A., Grosjean, M., Nuñez, L., and Schotterer, U. (1999). Radiocarbon reservoir effect and the timing of the Late-Glacial/Early Holocene humid phase in the Atcama Desert (Northern Chile). Quaternary Research 52, 142–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gouveia, S.E.M., Pessenda, L.C., Aravena, R., Boulet, R., Scheel-Ybert, R., Bendassoli, J.A., Ribeiro, A.S.F., H.A., (2002). Carbon isotopes in charcoal and soils in studies of paleovegetation and climate changes during the late Pleistocene and the Holocene in the southeast and centerwest regions of Brazil. Global and Planetary Change 33, 95–106.Google Scholar
Grimm, E.C., and Lozano-Garcia, S., Behling, H., and Markgraf, V. (2001). Holocene vegetation and climate variability in the Americas. Markgraf, V. Interhemispheric Climate Linkages. Academic Press, San Diego.325–370.Google Scholar
Grosjean, M., Nuñez, L.A., Cartajena, I., and Messerli, B. (1997). Mid-Holocene climate and culture change in the Atacama desert, northern Chile. Quaternary Research 48, 239–246.Google Scholar
Grosjean, M., van Leeuwen, J.F.N., van der Knaap, W.O., Geyh, M.A., Ammann, B., Tanner, W., Messerli, B., Nuñez, L.A., Valero-Garcés, B.L., and Veit, H. (2001). A 22,000 year BP sediment and pollen record of climate C14 change from Laguna Miscanti (23°S), northern Chile. Global and Planetary Change 28, 35–51.Google Scholar
Hurt, W.R., and Blasi, O. (1969). O Projeto Arqueológico “Lagoa Santa”-Minas Gerais, Brasil. Arquivos do Museu Paranaense-Nova Série, Arqueologia 4, 1–60.Google Scholar
Kipnis, R. (2002). Foraging Societies of Eastern Central Brazil: An Evolutionary Ecological Study of Subsistence Strategies During the Terminal Pleistocene and Early/Middle Holocene.Ph.D. Dissertation,University of Michigan, .Google Scholar
A., Laming-Emperaire, Prous, A., A., Vilhena de Moraes, and M.C., Beltrão (1975). Grottes et Abris de la Region de Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Bresil-Premier Rapport de la Mission Archéologique Franco-Brésilienne de Lagoa Santa.Cahiers D'Archeólogie d'Amerique du Sud. École Pratique des Hautes Etudes VIe Section: Sciences Economiques et Sociales.Google Scholar
Ledru, M.P. (1993). Late Quaternary environmental and climatic changes in Central Brazil. Quaternary Research 39, 90–98.Google Scholar
Ledru, M.-P., and Mourguiart, P. (2001). Late glacial vegetation records in the Americas and climatic implications. Markgraf, V. Interhemispheric Climate Linkages. Academic Press, San Diego.371–390.Google Scholar
Ledru, M.-P., Braga, P.I.S., Soubies, F., Fournier, M., Martin, L., Suguio, K., and Turcq, B. (1996). The last 50,000 years in the Neotropics (Southern Brazil): evolution of vegetation and climate. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 123, 239–257.Google Scholar
Ledru, M.-P., Salgado-Laboriau, M.L., and Lorscheiter, M.L. (1998). Vegetation dynamics in southern and central Brazil during the last 10,000 yr B.P. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 99, 131–142.Google Scholar
Ledru, M.-P., Mourguiart, P., Ceccantini, G., Turcq, B., and Sifeddine, A. (2002). Tropical climates in the game of two hemispheres revealed by abrupt climatic change. Geology 30, 275–278.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machado, L.C. (1990). Sobre as práticas funerárias de cremação e suas variações em grutas do norte e noroeste de Mians Gerais. Revista do CEPA-Santa Cruz do Sul 17, 235–247.Google Scholar
Martin, G. (1997). Pré-História do Nordeste do Brasil. Editora Universitária da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife.Google Scholar
Martin, L., Bertaux, J., Corrége, T., Ledru, M.P., Mourguiart, P., Siffedine, A., Soubiés, F., Wirrman, D., Suguio, K., and Turcq, B. (1997). Astronomical forcing of contrasting rainfall changes in tropical South America between 12,400 and 8800 cal yr B.P. Quaternary Research 47, 117–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melo, M.S., Coimbra, A.M., and Cuchierato, G. (2001). Genesis of Quaternary colluvial–eluvial sedimentary covers in southeastern Brazil. Quaternaire 12, 179–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, E.T. (1987). Pesquisas arqueológicas paleoindígenas no Brasil Ocidental. Estudios Atacameños 8, 37–61.Google Scholar
Nimer, E. (1989). Climatologia do Brasil. IBGE, Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar
Noelli, F.S. (2000). A ocupação humana na Região Sul do Brasil: arqueologia, debates e perspectivas–1872–2000. Revista USP 44, 218–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nuñez, L., Grosjean, M., and Cartajena, I. (2001). Human dimensions of Late Pleistocene/Holocene arid events in southern South America. Markgraf, V. Interhemispheric Climate Linkages. Academic Press, San Diego.105–117.Google Scholar
Nuñez, L., Grosjean, M., and Cartajena, I. (2002). Human occupations and climate change in the Puna de Atacama, Chile. Science 298, 821–824.Google Scholar
Oliveira, J.E., and Viana, S.A. (2000). O Centro-Oeste antes de Cabral. Revista USP 44, 142–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
M.G., Parizzi (1993). A Gênese e a Dinâmica da Lagoa Santa com Base em Estudos Palinológicos, Geomorfológicos e Geológicos de sua Bacia.Unpublished M.A. Dissertation thesis,Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, .Google Scholar
Prous, A. (1991). Santana do Riacho-Tomo I. Prous, A. Arquivos do Museu de História Natural da UFMG. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte.Google Scholar
Prous, A. (1997). Archéologie du cours moyen du Rio São Francisco (vallées des rios Peruaçu et Cochá).Prous, A., and Ribeiro, L. Arquivos do Museu de História Natural da UFMG. UFMG, Belo Horizonte.19–67.Google Scholar
Prous, A., and Fogaça, E. (1999). Archaeology of the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in Brazil. Quaternary International 53/54, 21–41.Google Scholar
Prous, A., Costa, F., and Alonso, M. (1997). Arqueologia da Lapa do Dragão. Arquivos do Museu de História Natural da UFMG XVII/XVIII, 139–209.Google Scholar
Rick, J.W. (1987). Dates as data: an examination of the Peruvian preceramic radiocarbon record. American Antiquity 52, 55–73.Google Scholar
Rodrigues-Filho, S., Behling, H., Irion, G., and Müller, G. (2002). Evidence for lake formation as a response to an inferred Holocene climatic transition in Brazil. Quaternary Research 57, 131–137.Google Scholar
Salgado-Labouriau, M.L. (1997). Late Quaternary palaeoclimate in the savannas of South America. Journal of Quaternary Science 12, 371–379.Google Scholar
Salgado-Laboriau, M.L., Casseti, V., Ferraz-Vicentini, K.R., Martin, L., Soubies, F., Suguio, K., and Turcq, B. (1997). Late Quaternary vegetational and climatic changes in cerrado and palm swamp from central Brazil. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 128, 215–226.Google Scholar
Salgado-Labouriau, M.L., Barberi, M., Ferraz Vicentini, K.R., and Parizzi, M.G. (1998). A dry climatic event during the late Quaternary of tropical Brazil. Review of Paleobotany and Palinology 99, 115–129.Google Scholar
Schmitz, P.I., Barbosa, A.S., Jacobus, A., and Ribeiro, M.B. (1989). Arqueologia nos Cerrados do Brasil Central Pesquisas-Antropologia. Instituto Anchietano de Pesquisas, São Leopoldo.Google Scholar
Servant, M., Maley, J., Turcq, B., Absy, M., Brenac, P., Fournier, M., and Ledru, M.-P. (1993). Tropical forest changes during the Late Quaternary in African and South American lowlands. Global and Planetary Changes 7, 25–40.Google Scholar
Sifeddine, A., Albuquerque, A.S., Ledru, M.-P., Turcq, B., Knoppers, B., Martin, L., Mello, L.Z., Passenau, H., Dominguez, J.L., Cordeiro, R.C., Abrão, J.J., and Bittencourt, A.P. (2003). A 21000 cal years paleoclimatic record from Caçó Lake, northern Brazil: evidence from sedimentary and pollen analysis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 189, 25–34.Google Scholar
M.I., Silveira .(1994). Estudo Sobre Estratégias de Subsistência de Caçadores-Coletores Pré-Históricos do Sítio Gruta do Gavião, Carajás (Pará).Unpublished Master's Thesis thesis,Universidade de São Paulo, .Google Scholar
Stevaux, J.C. (2000). Climatic events during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in the Upper Parana River: correlation with NE Argentina and South-Central Brazil. Quaternary International 72, 73–85.Google Scholar
Sylvestre, F., Servant, M., Servant-Vildary, S., Causse, C., Fournier, M., and Ybert, J.-P. (1999). Lake-level chronology on the southern Bolivian Altiplano (18 S–23 S) during late-glacial time and the Early Holocene. Quaternary Research 51, 54–66.Google Scholar
Turcq, B., Pressinotti, M.M.N., and Martin, L. (1997). Paleohydrology and paleoclimate of the past 33,000 years a the Tamanduá river, Central Brazil. Quaternary Research 47, 284–294.Google Scholar
Turcq, B., Albuquerque, A.L.S., Cordeiro, R.C., Sifeddine, A., Filho, F.F.L.S., Souza, A.G., Abrão, J.J., Oliveira, F.B.L., Silva, A.O., and Capitâneo, J. (2002). Accumulation of organic carbon in five Brazilian lakes during the Holocene. Sedimentary Geology 148, 319–342.Google Scholar
Vernet, J.-L., Wengler, L., Solari, M.-E., Ceccantini, G., Fournier, M., Ledru, M.-P., and Soubies, F. (1994). Feux, climats et végetations au Brésil Central durant l'Holocene: Les données d'un profil de sol à charbons de bois (Salitre, Minas Gerais). Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences de Paris 319, II 1391–1397.Google Scholar
Vialou, A.V. (1984). Brito: o mais antigo sítio arqueológico do Paranapanema, Estado de São Paulo. Revista do Museu Paulista. Nova Série 9–21.Google Scholar
Vialou, D., Vilhena-Vialou, A., Figuti, L., Benabdelhadi, B., and Wesolowski, V. (2000). L'Homme Fossile et ses Paleoenvironnements dans le Bassin du Paraná- Brésil. Ministére des Affaires Ètrangiéres, Paris.Google Scholar
Walter, H.V. (1948). A Pré-História da Região de Lagoa Santa (Minas Gerais). Velloso and Cia. Ltda., Belo Horizonte.Google Scholar
Walter, H.V. (1958). Arqueologia da Região de Lagoa Santa. Sedegra Gráfica Ltda, Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar
Weiss, H., and Bradley, R.S. (2001). What drives societal collapse?. Science 291, 609–610.Google Scholar