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Early Holocene ritual complexity in South America: thearchaeological record of Lapa do Santo (east-central Brazil)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2016

André Strauss ,
Rodrigo Elias Oliveira ,
Ximena S. Villagran ,
Danilo V. Bernardo ,
Domingo C. Salazar-García ,
Marcos César Bissaro Jr ,
Francisco Pugliese ,
Tiago Hermenegildo ,
Rafael Santos  and
Alberto Barioni
...Show all authors
André Strauss*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Palaeoanthropology Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rumelinstrasse 23, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Centro de Arqueologia Annette Laming Emperaire, Av. Acdo. Nilo Figueiredo 2, Lagoa Santa, MG, Brazil
Rodrigo Elias Oliveira
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Departamento de Estomatologia, Faculdade de Odontologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2227, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Ximena S. Villagran
Affiliation:
Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado 1466, Butantã, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Danilo V. Bernardo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciências Humanas e da Informação, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Av. Itália KM 8, Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
Domingo C. Salazar-García
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany Departament de Prehistòria i Arqueologia, Universitat de Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Marcos César Bissaro Jr
Affiliation:
Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
Francisco Pugliese
Affiliation:
Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado 1466, Butantã, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Tiago Hermenegildo
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
Rafael Santos
Affiliation:
Fundação Nacional do Índio, Coordenação Regional Xavante, Barra do Garças, MT, Brazil
Alberto Barioni
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Departamento de História e Geografia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 338, Butantã, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Emiliano Castro de Oliveira
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Departamento de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, Santos, Brazil
João Carlos Moreno de Sousa
Affiliation:
Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Klervia Jaouen
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Max Ernani
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Mark Hubbe
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, 174 W. 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA Instituto de Arqueología y Antropología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Gustavo Le Paige 380, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Mariana Inglez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Marina Gratão
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
H. Rockwell
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Márcia Machado
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Design e Seleção de Materiais, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Osvaldo Aranha 99, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Gustavo de Souza
Affiliation:
Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional – IPHAN, Superintendência de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Farid Chemale
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6.627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Koji Kawashita
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de Brasília, Darcy Ribeiro ICC, Ala Central, Brasília, Brazil
Tamsin C. O'Connell
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
Isabel Israde
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidade Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Avenida Universidad 1471, Fraccionamiento Real Universidad, Morelia, Mexico
James Feathers
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, 4218 Memorial Way Northeast, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
Claudio Campi
Affiliation:
Departamento de Radiologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455, Cirqueira César, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Michael Richards
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Joachim Wahl
Affiliation:
Palaeoanthropology Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rumelinstrasse 23, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, Osteologie, Stromeyersdorfstrasse 3, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
Renato Kipnis
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Astolfo Araujo
Affiliation:
Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado 1466, Butantã, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Walter Neves
Affiliation:
Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: andre_strauss@eva.mpg.de)
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Abstract

Early Archaic human skeletal remains found in a burial context in Lapa doSanto in east-central Brazil provide a rare glimpse into the lives ofhunter-gatherer communities in South America, including their rituals fordealing with the dead. These included the reduction of the body by means ofmutilation, defleshing, tooth removal, exposure to fire and possiblycannibalism, followed by the secondary burial of the remains according tostrict rules. In a later period, pits were filled with disarticulated bonesof a single individual without signs of body manipulation, demonstratingthat the region was inhabited by dynamic groups in constant transformationover a period of centuries.

Keywords

BrazilLagoa SantaLapa do Santoearly Archaic periodPalaeoindianmortuary rituals
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 354 , December 2016 , pp. 1454 - 1473
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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