The impacts of coastal dynamics on the Saco da Pedra shell midden in northeast Brazil

The shell mounds on Brazil's northeast coast have received little scholarly attention, compared to the southern coastline and lower Amazon, due to their lower density and visibility. This article summarizes existing research on shell middens in northeast Brazil and presents recent findings from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary international 2021-05, Vol.584, p.93-105
Main Authors: Klokler, Daniela, Almeida, Fernando Ozorio de, Bowser, Brenda, Botelho, Eliezer, Bava de Camargo, Paulo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coastal dynamics
Coastal landscapes
Macro-jê populations
Shell midden archaeology
Tupinambá populations
Underwater archaeology
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Summary:The shell mounds on Brazil's northeast coast have received little scholarly attention, compared to the southern coastline and lower Amazon, due to their lower density and visibility. This article summarizes existing research on shell middens in northeast Brazil and presents recent findings from the Saco da Pedra coastal shell midden site. The breaching of an offshore sand bar resulted in inundation of more than half the area of the midden and fortuitously exposed the remnants of a shell workshop. This is the first recognized shell workshop associated with a shell midden in Brazilian territory. A better understanding of coastal dynamics and their impact on the destruction or visibility of shell middens opens up the possibility of new explanations for differences in coastal site distributions in space and time. Moreover, the site's technologically simple ceramic ware relates Saco da Pedra to Macro-Jê populations, ancient Amazonian shell mounds, and Tupinambá peoples at the nearby site Cunhambebe.
ISSN:1040-6182
1873-4553
DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.10.074