Eighth Millennium Pottery from a Prehistoric Shell Midden in the Brazilian Amazon

The earliest pottery yet found in the Western Hemisphere has been excavated from a prehistoric shell midden near Santarém in the lower Amazon, Brazil. Calibrated accelerator radiocarbon dates on charcoal, shell, and pottery and a thermoluminescence date on pottery from the site fall from about 8000...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1991-12, Vol.254 (5038), p.1621-1624
Main Authors: Roosevelt, A. C., Housley, R. A., da Silveira, M. Imazio, Maranca, S., Johnson, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid soils
Ancient civilizations
Antiquities
Archaeology
Bones
Brazil
Ceramics
Charcoal
Chemical bases
Culture
Environmental conservation
Excavations
Historic buildings & sites
Kitchen middens
Pottery
Prehistoric pottery
Radiocarbon dating
Shell middens
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Summary:The earliest pottery yet found in the Western Hemisphere has been excavated from a prehistoric shell midden near Santarém in the lower Amazon, Brazil. Calibrated accelerator radiocarbon dates on charcoal, shell, and pottery and a thermoluminescence date on pottery from the site fall from about 8000 to 7000 years before the present. The early fishing village is part of a long prehistoric trajectory that contradicts theories that resource poverty limited cultural evolution in the tropics.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.254.5038.1621