INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES FOR THE STUDY OF PALEOINDIAN OCCUPATIONS AT SÃO PAULO STATE: INTEGRATING ARCHAEOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES

• Grant number: 16/23584-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2017
• End date: February 28, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Theory and Methods in Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo
• Grantee: Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Fabio Parenti ; Francisco Sergio Bernardes Ladeira ; Julio Cesar Paisani ; Marcelo Knorich Zuffo ; Maria Mercedes Martinez Okumura

Abstract

This project aims to continue the research developed since 2010 through two grants granted by FAPESP entitled "The Paleoindian Occupation of the State of São Paulo: A Geoarchaeological Approach" (Proc. Nos. 2009 / 54720-9 and 2013 / 13794-5 ). The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the understanding of the processes related to the occupation of the Brazilian Southeast by the first human groups that arrived in the Americas. It is hoped that, by means of theoretically based archaeological surveys explicitly aimed at the detection of archaeological sites of the Paleoindian Period, we will provide means for a better characterization of this period in the State of São Paulo, since the Southeast is a key part in the understanding of the Human occupation of eastern South America at the beginning of the Holocene.At the same time, we intend to contribute to the development of Geoarcheology in tropical environments, with a strong interdisciplinary approach that involves the transit of information between Archeology, Physical Geography and Geology. The project is divided into three main axes: 1) archaeological surveys explicitly aimed at the detection of sites related to the Paleoindian Period; 2) characterization of the lithic industries found in the sites and their relations with the data coming from other regions; 3) excavation of paleoindian archaeological sites detected during previous projects, with the study of the formation processes in these sites, taking into account the climatic variations that occurred in the last 12,000 years and their possible consequences in terms of geomorphology and landscapes. While the first two axes refer to archaeological methods and procedures, the third axis strongly dialogues with Earth Sciences, applying an integrative approach, taking into account the processes of anthropic accumulation, geomorphogenesis and paleoclimatic proxies. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BATALLA, NICOLAS; CORREA, LETICIA C.; ARAUJO, ASTOLFO G. M.. New record of lithic blades in Brazil: The Picao site, Sao Paulo state. JOURNAL OF LITHIC STUDIES, v. 5, n. 1, 2018. (16/23584-6)

MORENO DE SOUSA, JOAO CARLOS; OKUMURA, MERCEDES. A new proposal for the technological analysis of lithic points: Application for understanding the cultural diversity of hunter gatherers in Eastern South America. QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL, v. 562, p. 1-12, OCT 10 2020. (19/08870-0, 18/23282-5, 16/23584-6)

BATALLA, NICOLAS; CORREA, LETICIA C.; ARAUJO, ASTOLFO G. M.. Lithic Landscapes and Early Inhabitants in Southeastern Brazil: First Perspectives from a Case Study in Dourado, Sao Paulo State. PALEOAMERICA, v. 5, n. 1, p. 18-pg., 2019-01-02. (16/23584-6)