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| Author(s): |
Arlys Nicolás Batalla Crossa
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE) |
| Defense date: | 2023-08-17 |
| Examining board members: |
Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo;
Paulo Cesar Fonseca Giannini;
Francisco Sérgio Bernardes Ladeira;
Maria Mercedes Martinez Okumura;
Julio Cezar Rubin de Rubin
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| Advisor: | Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo; Casimiro Jaime Alfredo Sepúlveda Munita |
| Abstract | |
Batalla N. Anthropogenic signals in sandstone and calcareous rockshelter archaeological sites in the Ribeira de Iguape valley and the Corumbataí river basin, SP, Brazil: A geoarchaeological approach [thesis]. São Paulo (Brazil): Universidade de São Paulo, Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia; 2023. Human occupations in rockshelters and caves have called the attention of archaeologists since the beginnings of the discipline. Their frequently high preservation potential means that the substrates of sheltered sites constitute true archives of anthropogenesis. The present doctoral research addresses the relationships between human beings and substrates through a geoarchaeological approximation of the formation processes of deposits from three rockshelter sites located in southeastern Brazil. The proposal is divided into two case studies. In Case study 1, the Abrigo do Alvo and Abrigo Roncador sites, formed in sandstone belonging to Botucatu Formation, in the northern part of the Corumbataí river basin, center-east of São Paulo state, which have occupations dating back to the Middle Holocene (respectively, between 7,284 to 7,505 cal. BP and 4,088 to 4,403 cal. BP), are compared with the aim of revealing potential anthropogenic signatures and post-depositional processes behind the differential preservation of bone remains. In Case study 2, the Abrigo Maximiano site, formed in metacarbonate rock of the Açungui Group, in the middle portion of the Ribeira de Iguape river valley, in the south of São Paulo state, with occupations that range from the Early to Middle Holocene (11,712 to 6,796 cal. BP), is studied on its own to determine the human activities behind its deposits, which include layers rich in burned materials and gastropod shells. The methods were adjusted to the particularity of the contexts and consist of sediment sampling in bulk and in intact blocks in the field, archaeological micromorphology, detection and counting of calcite pseudomorphs after calcium oxalate crystals (\"ash pseudomorphs\"), granulometry, major elements analysis, neutron activation analysis (INAA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and FTIR spectroscopy. The results indicate, for Case study 1, a geogenic contribution from the erosion of the bedrock, which has its regional base signal in the Abrigo Roncador site and the internal part of the Abrigo do Alvo site, which was affected by anthropogenic depositional contributions in only the second case. Post- depositional processes, which include the removal and migration of fine materials by an intense hydrological regime and bioturbation, point to the low preservation potential of bone remains in Abrigo Roncador. Results from Case study 2 indicate the anthropogenic character of the deposits from Abrigo Maximiano, with recognised activities including the dumping of shells in reworked mixes, the tossing of entire and fragmented shells in sub-horizontally distributed layers, primary combustion features, and dumping/sweeping of combustion-derived materials in the internal sector of the site. Depositional patterns and similar chronologies to those present in fluvial sambaquis in the Ribeira de Iguape river valley permit us to consider the rockshelter as part of the same archaeological phenomenon. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 18/14293-3 - Human-environment interactions in different sites through time: Geochemical approach to the formation of Abrigo do Alvo, Abrigo Roncador, and Abrigo Maximiano rockshelters |
| Grantee: | Arlys Nicolás Batalla Crossa |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |