Extra-continental biological afinities among Late Paleoindian of Lagoa Santa, Central Brazil, and its implications for the settlement of America: an odontometric view

Author(s)

Tatiana Leite Nunes

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB)
• Defense date: 2010-03-17

Examining board members

Walter Alves Neves; Claudia Rodrigues Ferreira de Carvalho; Sabine Eggers

• Advisor: Walter Alves Neves

Abstract

Nowadays, four principal models discuss the settlement of the Americas. The oldest one defends three waves into the continent (Greenberg et al, 1986), other model, two (Neves et al., 1989), the gentic one, only one (Bonatto & Salzano, 1997), and recently, Gonzalez et al. (2008) presented a continuous flow model. The present study investigated the biological affinities of a Paleoindian Brazilian population, Lagoa Santa, with estimated antiquity between 11500-7500AP, comparing them to others word populations (Hanihara Data Bank). The investigation was based on odontometry data (mesiodistal and bucolingual diameters). Teeth have high heritability, stable morphogenesis, high archaeological presence, and are little influenced by immediate environmental factors. The biological affinities of Lagoa Santa Paleoindians were explored by Multivariate Analyses, with the application of Principal Components Analysis and Matrix Dissimilarities (Euclidian and Mahalanobis), the later visualized by Cluster Analysis and Multidimensional Scaling. Different sets of analysis were carried out for both sexes considering size and shape and shape alone. The results point to a strong tendency of differentiation of the Lagoa Santa population in relation to other Native Americans, and a strong association with Southeast Asians and Polynesians. The results strongly support the Two Main Biological Components Model (Neves et al., 1989). (AU)