Origins and development of subsistence strategies based on food production during the Holocene in the São Francisco River basin: a multidisciplinary approach

• Grant number: 20/04402-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Prehistoric Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: André Menezes Strauss
• Grantee: Eliane Nunes Chim
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/16451-2 - Virtual anthropology and archaeogenomics of pre-colonial Brazil, AP.JP
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/06749-5 - Food production during the Holocene in the Brazilian Central Plateau: a stable isotope perspective, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Origins and development of subsistence strategies and economic systems based on food production are central issues for understanding humanity deep history. These processes are relatively well characterized in many regions of the world. The archaeological record shows the existence of horticultural groups in the final Holocene in Central Brazil, specifically in the São Francisco River Basin, the origin and meaning of horticultural groups appearance are far from being well understood. This is partly due to the fact that the transition between foraging and horticulture occurs throughout the Middle Holocene, a period notable for the drastic density decrease in the archaeological record. The rarity of archaeological remains from this period contrasts with the abundance of archaeological sites for foragers from the early Holocene. It is within the scope of the discussion on the transition from foraging to food production that the present project is inserted. Our main objective is to understand the transition in the subsistence modes of foraging to horticulture and to characterize the chronology of human occupations. For this purpose, multi-isotopic analysis of human and faunal remains and analysis of zooarchaeology will be used. Besides, that will be established chronologies for human occupation through uranium-thorium dating of rock art and radiocarbon dating of faunal remains. In this project, we will test the hypothesis of a local origin for horticultural practices in central Brazil. (AU)