Geophysical investigations of the underwater archaeological site Cabeludo at the Baixada Maranhense combining Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Side Scan Sonar (SSS)

• Grant number: 22/12482-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geophysics
• Principal Investigator: Jorge Luís Porsani
• Grantee: Rodrigo Corrêa Rangel
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This post-doctoral research project is part of two individual projects: one supported by FAPESP (2020/15560-5) and the other by FAPEMA (02856/20). Pieces of tree trunks on the lake and river beds are evidence of pre-colonial indigenous populations in the Amazon region. In the entire American continent, these pieces of tree trunks are the only archaeological remnants of pre-colonial settlements in an aquatic environment, however, they remain one of the least known. Therefore, archaeological investigations in this region are essential for a better understanding of the pre-colonial indigenous population. The objective of this research is to combine two geophysical methods, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Side Scan Sonar (SSS), to refine the underwater mapping of the already known wood pieces at the Cabeludo site, Baixada Maranhense, and also to prospect adjacent areas to locate new wood pieces and guide the search for new archaeological artifacts on the bed of the Paraná River in the Turiaçu River basin. The combined application of GPR and SSS may assist in the location, characterization, and delimitation of underwater wood pieces and archaeological artifacts in an indirect and non-invasive way, providing an optimization of the archaeological investigation. This research is unprecedented in Brazil, and the results may contribute to a better understanding of the organization and format of those villages, the preservation of the archaeological cultural heritage, and the advancement of archaeological and anthropological studies of the pre-colonial indigenous population in the Baixada Maranhense, floodplain of the northeastern Amazon region.

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)

PORSANI, JORGE LUIS; NAVARRO, ALEXANDRE GUIDA; RANGEL, RODRIGO CORREA; NETO, ANTONIO CARLOS DE SIQUEIRA; DE LIMA, LEONARDO GONCALVES; STANGARI, MARCELO CESAR; DE SOUZA, LUIZ ANTONIO PEREIRA; DOS SANTOS, VINICIUS RAFAEL NERIS. GPR survey on underwater archaeological site: A case study at Jenipapo stilt village in the eastern Amazon region, Brazil. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE-REPORTS, v. 51, p. 10-pg., 2023-10-01. (22/12482-9, 20/15560-5)