Jessica Ferreira

O ser humano altera o ambiente em sua volta desde os registros mais antigos e seus impactos ao longo da sua evolução. Dos impactos visíveis na paisagem causados por sociedades pretéritas, destacam-se os sambaquis. Dentre as regiões brasileiras com grandes agrupamentos de sambaquis, destaca-se a Baía Babitonga, uma formação estuarina no sul do Brasil com alto potencial conservacionista e interesse arqueológico. Nesta região, há um único sambaqui situado sob gruta e devido sua singularidade, buscou-se caracterizar os moluscos do Holoceno Tardio e compreender os padrões de exploração deste recurso pelos povos pré-coloniais. A escavação arqueológica no sambaqui resultou em 27 espécies (17.695 indivíduos), onde foi possível inferir as áreas de captação dos moluscos e suas funções e utilidades para estes povos.

The emergence of plant-based economies have dominated evolutionary models of Middle and Late Holocene pre-Columbian societies in South America. Comparatively, the use of aquatic resources and the circumstances for intensifying their exploitation have received little attention. Here we reviewed the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of 390 human individuals from Middle and Late Holocene coastal sambaquis, a long-lasting shell mound culture that flourished for nearly 7000 years along the Atlantic Forest coast of Brazil. Using a newly generated faunal isotopic baseline and Bayesian Isotope Mixing Models we quantified the relative contribution of marine resources to the diet of some of these groups. Through the analysis of more than 400 radiocarbon dates we show that fishing sustained large and resilient populations during most of the Late Holocene. A sharp decline was observed in the frequency of sambaqui sites and radiocarbon dates from ca. 2200 years ago, possibly reflecting the dissolution of several nucleated groups into smaller social units, coinciding with substantial changes in coastal environments. The spread of ceramics from ca. 1200 years ago is marked by innovation and intensification of fishing practices, in a context of increasing social and ecological instability in the Late Holocene.

Babitonga Bay has a rich archaeological heritage, with a large number of sambaquis (shell mounds) related to pre-colonial fishermen-hunter-gatherers (±160 sites). The current project focuses on a sambaqui located in a cave on the east coast of São Francisco do Sul in the state of Santa Catarina known as the ‘Casa de Pedra’ mound. The site contains an archaeological matrix 38 cm thick and 27 m² in area; excavation has been underway since 2015, in 5 cm deep levels over 30 1 x 1 m sectors to obtain samples for archaeological analysis. The matrix is predominantly composed of fish bone fragments and shells. Some calcined human bones were found scattered in the upper layers. Shells and human bones found at 3 cm and 20-25 cm depth were dated at approximately 4.460 ± 30 and 5.470 ± 30 years BP. However, sediment dating below the site indicated 4.330 ± 700 and 5.670 ± 850 years BP, leading us to question the origin of the archaeological matrix and its position in the temporal context. Some paintings were seen on the walls of the cave, which after further study may prove to be the first paintings of this type in the state and perhaps the first in Brazil associated with sambaquis.

also, patrimonial: with more than 180 registered archaeological sites, the bay is occupied for about 8,000 years and marked by a great cultural diversity. Among its occupations, pre-historic peoples that arrived
in the region between 7,000 and 1,000 years B.P. These past groups known as fisherman-huntermangatherers had the habit of building and occupying mounds with shells and sediments (sambaquis) where they developed their subsistence activities in which they emphasize the ability with artifacts in rocks, shells, bones and vegetables. The sambaquis are not restricted to the occupation of the Babitonga Bay: these sites are distributed along the brazilian coast having more than 2,000 registered sambaquis, characterizing the marked presence of these people in the coastal regions. However, new findings have shown that these people didn’t only build sambaquis but also occupied rocky shelters. So far, there are three sambaquis in the rockshelter recorded in Brazil, among them the sambaqui in rockshelter Casa de Pedra, located on the east coast of the island-city of São Francisco do Sul / Santa Catarina. With a length of 40 cm, the small sambaqui was excavated under the coordination of the archaeologist, Dr. Dione da Rocha Bandeira, during the years of 2015 and 2017, being lowered 15 cm of its surface with two profiles realized to the depth. On the immediate surface of the sambaqui were scattered fragments of burned bones of human hand, in which the dating registered 5.470 ± 30 years B.P. This date placed the site among of the oldest of the region. In addition to the burned remains of human bones, there were abundant malacological and icthyological remnants along the excavated layers. However, even if
artifacts were not found, the presence of cave paintings on the inner walls of the cave and the dating of the sediments below the site, around 4,330 ± 700 and 5,670 ± 850 years old B.P., which registered to be more recent than the archaeological matrix, raised questions about the origin of the sambaqui inside a rockshelter and the possible links between the sambaquianos and the paintings. Analyzes carried out to date have not proved that the paintings are part of the sambaquian culture recorded in the Babitonga´s Bay, however, based on the dates, sambaqui composition and fauna analysis of the archaeological matrix, it was assured that this archaeological site is, in fact, a sambaqui.

Evidence related to fishing between sambaquian populations and taquara-itararé culture in Babitonga Bay is very old, it can be said that since its first publication in the nineteenth century, there is mention of the traces related to this practice, since these sites are consisting mainly of animal remains obtained by fishing techniques. Only from the 1990s onwards, systematic studies focusing on faunal remains and based on zooarcheology began to be made, allowing the qualitative and quantitative progress to be made. These studies made it possible to better understand the role of fish in relation to other marine resources, the preferences between the species caught, the inferences about
the environments frequented and the equipment used as well as the relationships of fishing practices between these different cultures. It can be said that it was this bias that can contribute to the brilliant initiative of creating a collaborative network of studies on the subject as well as to base conservation studies on the marine fauna of Babitonga Bay.

Sambaquis are archaeological shell mounds and middens formed by pre-Columbian populations inhabiting the Atlantic Forest coast of Brazil between the Middle and Late Holocene. Beyond their recognized cultural values, sambaquis are valuable biological archives for tracking changes in past biodiversity and informing modern conservation studies and management. In this contribution we reviewed the published record of faunal remains from archaeological sites located in Babitonga Bay, in the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. Through a literature review covering 110 sites, we assembled a comprehensive survey of terrestrial and marine taxa exploited by human groups in this area between ca. 5500 and 370 years ago. A total of 244 species were recorded, of which 14 are currently endangered and 12 are no longer present in Babitonga Bay. This zooarchaeological synthesis provides snapshots of past biodiversity, adding a novel contribution to current debates around the conservation biology of one of the world's most threatened tropical biomes.

O livreto foi feito especialmente para o publico infantil a fim de ensinar, de forma divertida, sobre a Zooarqueologia e a histórias dos povos pré-colombianos que viveram no litoral sul do Brasil. No final do livro contamos com um super trunfo sobre os animais que encontramos nos sítios arqueológicos!

Babitonga Bay has been the focus of multiple interdisciplinary studies on sambaquis sites since the mid-twentieth century, resulting in a wealth of information on the Holocene human groups that occupied the region. In order to explore correlations between modern and archaeological faunal remains retrieved in sambaquis of this region, this present study discuss some aspect of human-faunal interaction during the Holocene. We review the literature reporting faunal remains for 110 sites, recording a total of 244 species for the late Holocene. This study offers the first preliminary faunal baseline for paleoenvironmental and palaeoecological studies, while providing valuable information for conservation biology in Babitonga Bay.

ABSTRACT: Shellmounds are archaeological sites built by groups of fishermen-hunter-gatherers that contain remains of fauna and flora existing at the time they were formed. The shellmound in rockshelter Casa de Pedra, located in São Francisco do Sul, Santa Catarina, was studied through phytolith analyses to infer aspects of the paleoenvironment. Grasses predominate with the presence of some trees and palms, with no variation in vegetation type  during the period of site occupation, between 5470 and 4460 years BP. Despite the stability of the vegetation, a small densification of the tree cover was identified from the base to the top, which may be related to an increase in humidity, in agreement with other paleoenvironmental  studies carried out in the Southern Region of Brazil.