Techno functional analysis of lithic artifacts from Serra da Capivara: Estado do Piauí archaeological collection (MAE-USP)

• Grant number: 23/10205-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 30, 2023
• End date: March 22, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Prehistoric Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: André Menezes Strauss
• Grantee: Victor Nery Canadas Pedroso
• Supervisor: Antoine Lourdeau
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/14919-5 - Lithic artifacts of Serra da Capivara: detailed inventory of "Estado do Piauí" - Silvia Maranca archaeological collection (MAE-USP), BP.IC

Abstract

Prehistoric chippers employed diverse techniques and materials to chip based on their settlements' geological context, influenced by resource availability and mobility. This data could be the only way to access the lifestyle of prehistoric societies and it is the context of some sites in Serra da Capivara. The Serra da Capivara National Park (SCNP), situated in Piauí, has been a significant region for archaeology considering numerous identified sites to date. The research in northeast Brazil started in 1973 by the French Mission with a focus on understanding the extension of the park. In the last twenty years, SCNP gained attention because the pebbles with conchoidal fractures from Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (BPF) and Sítio do Meio were interpreted as the result of human involvement in relation to the ancient dates. The debate around the early occupation of America allows the identification of tendencies in lithic artifact production not just to the Pleistocene but also to the Holocene, in which organic remnants are hardly preserved and lithics are the only materials found in the sites. Although the great majority of the material excavated is housed at local institutions (i.e. FUMDHAM), the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo (MAE/USP) possesses a modest collection derived from the early phases of research in SCNP. For the first time it has been studied by the Laboratory of Archaeology and Environmental Evolutionary Anthropology (LAAAE-MAE/USP). The present proposal aims to execute a broad technology categorization of the lithic artifacts from each site in the Estado do Piauí archaeology collection by applying the Techno-Functional method. This approach has been presented as a great improvement for the archaeology studies because it emphasizes the functional sphere of the artifacts. The results of the project will contribute to developing the inventory that is already being done by LAAAE. (AU)