Geoarchaeology of shell middens in the national forest of Caxiuanã - Amazonia

• Grant number: 22/11325-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: November 15, 2022
• End date: May 14, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Prehistoric Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Ximena Suarez Villagran
• Grantee: Mayara Cristina Pereira Mariano
• Supervisor: Christopher Evan Miller
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/06293-6 - Geoarcheology of shell house in Flona de Caxiuanã, Amazônia, Pará, BP.MS

Abstract

Shell middens are archaeological sites whose matrices are built from the anthropogenic accumulation of shells and organic matter. In Brazil, they are called sambaqui and are located along the Atlantic coast and further inland near rivers and/or bays. Although shell middens are present on almost the entire Brazilian coast, some areas have been systematically researched, such as the south and southeast regions that have produced information about the way of life, social organization, formation of the archeological record, paleopathology, paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and interpretations of the symbolic and social world of the shell midden societies. The available data on Amazonian shell middens indicate the presence of autochthonous and ancient pottery, however, information on the variability and formation process of amazonian shell middens is still scarce. From a geoarchaeological approach, this project aims to study the formation process of the Forte site, a shell middens located inside the Caixuanã National Forest (PA), using the method of archaeofacies analysis, with soil micromorphology as the main analytical technique. With this research, we will advance in the understanding of Amazonian shell middens, through in-depth site formation process analyses that can offer information about daily life, resource and landscape use, and the economy of amazonian shell middens societies. (AU)