Sambaquis (shell mounds) of the Brazilian coast

Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint Sambaquis (shell mounds) of the Brazilian coast Gustavo Wagner a, *, Klaus Hilbert a, Dione Bandeira b, Maria Cristina Tenório c, Maria Mercedes Okumura d a Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga, 6681, Partenon, CEP: 90619-900, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville, Rua Dona Francisca, 600, Centro, CEP: 89201-250 Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil c Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro -Museu Nacional, s/n, Quinta da Boa Vista, CEP: 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil d University of Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QH, United Kingdom b a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Available online 21 March 2011 The Brazilian shell mounds called sambaquis have been well known since the 16th century when clergy, travelers, and members of the colonial administration wrote the first narratives of Portuguese America. However, it was only during the second quarter of the 19th century that, under the orders of the Imperial Government, the first scientific expeditions carried out systematic research on these archaeological sites. The sambaquis of Brazil are found in the costal regions of the south and southeast, from the coast of what is today Espírito Santo State to the Rio Grande do Sul State. The oldest dates come from the states Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, indicating that there was an occupation as far back as the 6th century BC. The sites are to be found in coves, sandy plains dominated by beach-ridges, rocky outcrops, mangrove groves, lagoons, estuaries or large bays. This landscape variability is equally expressed in the material culture and resource exploitation, which are characterized by a variety of adaptive strategies and diversity between the various cultural contexts. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The earliest references to the large accumulation of mollusc valves in Brazilian territory are attributed to the Jesuit Fernão Cardim in 1584, who described the process of shell accumulation, originating from momentary occupations, for the purpose of mollusc collection and subsequently for smoking on a móquem (grill-like device used to smoke meats) to supply the inland villages. In 1585, the Jesuit José de Anchieta mentioned islands of shells found along the Brazilian coast. In 1587, Gabriel Soares de Sousa described in detail the molluscs used by the Tupinambá of the coast of Bahia for constructing the shell mounds. The 1797 work of the Jesuit Gaspar da Madre Deus described the funeral customs during seasonal occupations on the surface of the sites. However, during the 19th century the sambaquis captured the interest of the Emperor Dom Pedro II, who sent several scientific commissions to study the nation’s pre-historic past, and even personally oversaw the excavations of the sambaquis of Rio Sant’Ana, in Santos (Souza, 1991; Wagner, 2009a). In Brazil, these sites are found more commonly between the temperate latitudes (Fig. 1) while they become less frequent at * Corresponding author. Fax: þ55 51 33203500/4162. E-mail address: gugawagner@ig.com.br (G. Wagner). 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.009 warmer or colder latitudes (cf. Fairbridge, 1976). There are references to shell mounds in the states of the northeast such as Bahia, Maranhão and Pará, although information is still inadequate to include them in the typical sambaqui occupations of the Brazilian coast (Prous, 1992; Lima, 1999e2000; Tenório, 2003; Wagner, 2009b). The archeological sites considered to be sambaquis exist only on the coast of the south and southeast regions of Brazil and include the states of Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (Fig. 1). This archeological culture is characterized by the outstanding technical quality of stone polishing, seen in zoomorphic sculptures of significant aesthetic and artistic value. These sculptures are called zooliths, and they were considered as fossil guides to identify sites pertaining to the sambaqui archeological culture. However, research of the sambaquis of the Brazilian coast has not been done in a homogeneous fashion over the years. During the 1950s, research was concentrated in the south and southeast regions with an emphasis on the states of São Paulo and Paraná. During the following decades, the investments and the interests were relocated toward the state of Santa Catarina, and during the 1980s and 1990s research emphasis shifted toward Rio de Janeiro. Currently most of the research attention is geared toward Santa Catarina. The research in the border states of the sambaqui archeological culture, Espírito Santo and Rio Grande do Sul, have 52 G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 Fig. 1. Map of Brazil and the Brazilian states mentioned in the text. received isolated efforts and have been restricted to a few institutions, especially in the 1960s and then in the 1980s. Attempts to achieve synthesis have been proposed, both from the perspective of the material culture as well as from the bioarcheological point of view (Schmitz, 1984; Netto, 1885; Neves, 1988; Ihering, 1904; Prous, 1992; Lima, 1999e2000; Okumura, 2008). However, the burial patterns, the archaeofaunal assemblages, the material cultures, the settlement patterns, and the explored environments are very diverse, hampering the ability to define the characteristics of specific cultural areas. Sambaquis are defined as archeological sites that contain a specific tool set made of shells, bones, and stone associated with a matrix made up of mollusc shells and fish bones, where also are normally encountered burials. Actually, this is merely a general way to define these occupations that extend along the south and southeast coast of Brazil, where regionally specific characteristics, in cultural material as well as the internal structure of the sites, demonstrate the diversity of the related cultural contexts. The term “shell mounds” will be used in this paper to refer to the archeological sites made up of layers of shells related to any other of the archeological cultures that are separate from the sambaqui mound-builders. In terms of the cultural connection between the sambaquis that are found in this vast territory, Gaspar (2000) states that at least the sambaquis of the south and southeast of Brazil were built by groups that shared the same ethnic identity. Comparing the data of more than 900 sambaquis, Gaspar discovered that they exist simultaneously as a living area, a burial spot, and an intentional collection of animal remains. Although there are unique regional characteristics, this “triple space association” is the key that allows the population that built sambaquis to be defined as an ethnic group that is distinct from other populations that were their contemporaries. 2. History of sambaqui research in Brazil The first references to the existence of sambaquis along the Brazilian coast date as far back as the 16th century. Since then, these archeological sites have been the target of research and speculation, providing current archeologists with an extensive set of information about the peoples that built them and their cultural contents. The information produced during the 16th, 17th, and 18th century is characterized by the observations from travelers, clergymen, and members of the colonial administration that sometimes witnessed the events related to the sambaquis. An intense debate about the origins of the sambaquis was started during the 19th century. The opinions were divided between three major schools of thought: 1) The naturalist, represented primarily by Hermann von Ihering, advocating the ideas of the natural origin of the sambaquis as a result of the marine oscillations and the coastal rising (epirogenisis) dating back to the Tertiary period, and 2) The artificialist, represented primarily by Ladisláu Netto, who believed the sambaquis were the results of pre-historic human activity. The first thirty years of the 20th century were marked by a heated debate and the strengthening of a conciliatory position based on the observations of the artificial sambaquis placed on top of the natural accumulation of mollusc valves. 3) The mixed school of thought, finally, contributed to clarify the issue and bring an end to the debates (Wagner, 2009a). During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, a modern scientific approach was applied to sambaqui archeology, primarily through the contributions of foreign researchers such as Emperaire, Laming, Hurt and Bryan. The excavations carried out by these researchers stimulated many Brazilian archeologists from the universities and museums of the states of Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, promoting more intense excavations and systematic research as well as comparative studies between different sambaquis (Prous, 1992; Lima, 1999e2000). New Archeology and Processual Archaeology considerably influenced the research of Brazilian sambaquis from the 1980s exploring human adaptation to different environments and the specific exploitation strategies of the resources, as well as the development of research themes such as zooarcheology and bioarcheology. Only during this time period were the sambaquis of Rio Grande do Sul the target of systematic research, connecting them to the group of sambaqui occupations of the Brazilian coast (Lima, 1990e2000). 3. Sambaquis of the Brazilian coast The Sambaquis of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the southernmost region of Brazil, have been targeted for archeological research since the final years of the 19th century, when naturalists (and later ethnologists) began travelling in the region. The works of T. Bischoff (1887), C. von Koseritz (1884), E. Roquette-Pinto (1906) and A. Serrano (1937) are among the most important. The area surrounding the cities of Tramandaí and Torres, along the state’s northern coast (Fig. 2), is the area of the highest frequency of sambaquis (Wagner, 2009b). The lithic assemblage includes polished axe blades, polishers, weights for fishing nets and lines, hammer stones, flakes, as well as thermophores and lithic vessels of different shapes (Kern, 1997). The raw materials used as support were the acidic stones such as basalt and dolerite, as well as different types of sandstone and beachrock (Wagner, 2009a). The Torres sites were mined for lime extraction from the beginning of 19th century, and only some collections survive, saved and stored by research institutions in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in museums of Porto Alegre, or in private collections. However, during the mining of these sites fifty zooliths were discovered (Kern, 1970; Prous, 1977). Tools made from bone are rare but typical artifacts made of this material are needles and G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 53 Fig. 2. Location of the sambaquis in Rio Grande do Sul State. projectile points from mammal bone, hooks from fish bones, spatulas from cetacean bone, and pendants from the Carcharhinidae family of sharks (Jacobus, 1997). The malacological content of the sites in Rio Grande do Sul is unique when it is compared to the regions in the rest of the country. The shells of the Mesodesma mactroides (yellow clam) species, represent the only shell component of these sites layers, with some rare occurrence of Donax hanleyanus (wedge clam) or the even more rare gastropod species. This peculiarity is due to a unique characteristic of the State’s littoral zone and shoreface, characterized by a gradual slope creating an extensive intertidal zone (Rios, 1994). The environments that were chosen for sambaqui occupation are the plateaus on top of beach-ridges in the area between the coastal lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The few Rio Grande do Sul sites with radiocarbon dating available point to a recent occupation between 3420  60 BP (sambaqui do Camping), 3350  50 BP (sambaqui do Recreio), and 1110  40 BP (sambaqui da Dorva) (Wagner, 2009b). Set at an altitude of 22 m, on top of a rocky outcrop, the sambaqui de Itapeva is an exception when compared to the sambaqui settlement pattern of the region. However, the radiocarbon date of 3130  40 BP places the site within the same chronological horizon of the sambaquis settlement in the far south of Brazil. Between southern Santa Catarina and Espírito Santo State, the coast is marked by a series of rocky outcrops that belong to the Serra do Mar. These formations constrain the development of sandy plateaus and ample beaches. In these regions, the sambaquis are concentrated along the lagoon areas and in the inland portions of large bays. In the State of Santa Catarina, the geomorphological settings upon which the sambaquis were built are characterized by diverse environments such as islands, the inland portion of bays, mangroves, channels, beach-ridges, rocky outcrops, and sandy dunes. The information acquired so far suggests that the first settlement was around 7570e7320 cal BP (Rio Caipora), continuing until 710  95 BP (sambaqui da Caieira), showing an ample chronological frame of around 6000 years, preceding the beginning of European colonization by 200 years. The subsistence pattern denotes an exploitation of marine and terrestrial environment. The molluscs that make up the archeological layers originate from the bay and the mangrove areas. Among the most utilized are the berbigão (Anomalocardia brasiliana), the oyster (Ostrea sp.) and the bacucú (Modiolus brasiliensis). The fishing activities are represented by a variety of tools made of bone in the shape of hooks, lances, harpoons, and needles for maintenance of the nets. Fishing net weights from stone pebbles are commonly found with polished, perforated, or flaked grooves. Adzes and polished ax blades suggest that boats were built allowing for the exploration of the various environments from the multitude of sea and river islands occupied by the sambaqui groups along the coast of Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. In Santa Catarina sites there is the occurrence of realistic zoomorphic stone sculptures, pecked stones, hammer stones, grindstones on fixed support and lithic vessels with different shapes. The gathering of plants was also part of the dietary assemblage of the sambaqui peoples. Research carried out on human teeth indicates that the consumption of vegetables was important for the Morro do Ouro and Rio Comprido sites (Fig. 3). The presence of starch grains from Discorea sp. (yams), identified in skeleton teeth of the sambaqui Morro do Ouro is an example of this consumption (Wesolowski, 2000, 2007). The southern region of the State of Santa Catarina is characterized by the presence of monumental sambaquis with sites 30 min height and 500 m in length. Sixty-five sambaquis in the area have been studied, all dating to between 5270  60 BP (Ilhotinha) and 710  95 BP (sambaqui da Caieira) (Fig. 4), and set along the margins 54 G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 Fig. 3. Location of the sambaquis in the south of Santa Catarina State. of palaeo-lagoons that were the epicenters of the occupation (Kneip, 2004; Giannini et al., 2010). The sites vary in format, volume, distribution, and composition, where the older ones are smaller, indicating a single construction episode. During the period between 4000 and 2000 BP, there was an increased demographic expansion and an increase in the amount of sambaquis. It is during this period, between 2890  55 and 1805  65 BP, that the sambaqui Jabuticabeira II (one of the largest and considered a communal cemetery), was built using superimposed layers of shells and sediment over burials (Villagrán, 2008). The sambaquis were a ritual space related to the dead and were primarily built for their symbolic meaning (Gaspar, 2000). Based on these regional characteristics, DeBlasis et al. (2007) suggest that the group of sambaquis people developed a series of more elaborate social Fig. 4. Location of the sambaquis in the north of Santa Catarina State. G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 organization characteristics using communal efforts for public buildings and ceremonial activities as well as the development of social inequality in the form of hierarchies and strongly established leadership. The authors suggest that between 2000 BP and 1500 BP there were changes in the depositional characteristics of the sites with the progressive substitution of shells for other organics sediments and wood charcoal in the upper layers. This period coincides with the settlement of other archeological cultures in the region and environmental changes such as the progressive drying up or reduction in extension of the lagoons, which resulted in a lower saline concentration of the water and the decrease in the supply of salt-water molluscs. In Florianópolis along Santa Catarina’s central coast, a research project focused on the mobility of the mound-builders in the area surrounding Conceição Lake. The project sought to relate permanent and temporary settlements to the main productivity of the lagoon environments and to identify seasonality by studying stable oxygen isotopes, shell coloration, and stable 13/12C and 15/14N isotopes from collagen removed from human and animal bones. The results indicated that these populations had a low level of mobility and a diet based on the consumption of fish (DeMasi, 2001). In the sites established in the inland portion of the bays, for example the Babitonga Bay of the northern coast (sambaqui Espinheiros II in Joinville), Micropogonia furnieri (croaker) and Bairdiella sp. (perch) (Figuti and Klökler, 1996) are the most common fishes. For sites established on sandy beaches facing the ocean (sambaquis da Enseada I and Bupeva II, São Francisco do Sul) the species most consumed were the Trichiurus lepturus (beltfish) and the Conodon nobilis (Bared Grunt). There was also the consumption of crustaceans but their preservation in the sambaquis deposits is more problematic (Bandeira, 1992, 2004). At the sambaqui Cubatão I, located at the mouth of the Cubatão River in Joinville, fragments of braided vegetable fiber and wooden stakes were found in the early strata, suggesting the existence of a complex architectural structure. The study of this sites shows a construction process using two different techniques that correspond to two different strata: the first is made of layers composed by using plant material and stone fragments (stacks and knots with wood and fibers) and the second made from adding different layers of mollusc shells and sediment (Bandeira et al., 2009). The archeological research in the State of Paraná began to be effective in the 1950s (Emperaire and Laming, 1956), and during the early years of the following decade (Hurt and Blasi, 1960). The efforts were intensified after the start of the National Archeological Research Program (PRONAPA), between 1965 and 1970 when several sambaquis excavations were started in the Paranaguá Bay (Rauth, 1967, 1971). On the basis of the paleoenvironmental reconstructions proposed by Bigarella (1950e1951), Rauth attempted to identify the way of life and the group establishment patterns of the sambaquis people in the giant Nhundiaquara palaeobay, which was gradually reduced due to sediment accretion (silting) from rivers deposits that transformed it into the Paranaguá (Fig. 5). Similarly to the sambaquis of Santa Catarina State, the sites in Paraná were basically built using accumulated shells of Anomalocardia brasiliana, Ostrea sp. and Modiolus brasiliensis, sometimes resulting in mounds more than 21 m high. The chronology that was obtained for these sambaquis indicates that the occupation period was between 6540  150 BP (sambaqui do Ramal), 6030  130 BP (sambaqui Porto Maurício) on the central coast and 1540  150 BP (sambaqui Ilha dos Ratos), on the southern coast (Parellada, 2008). The lithic tools found during excavation include polished axe blades, hammer stones, pecked stones, choppers, chopping tools, zoolithes and grindstones (Hurt and Blasi, 1960). The bone-made tools include harpoon points, spatulas, and adornments. Projectile 55 points made from oyster valves were also found and these are unique to the sambaquis of this region. The sambaquis found on the coast of the State of São Paulo were the subjects of detailed research since the first decades of the 20th century (Krone, 1914), and this research was intensified as of the 1950s and 1960s through international excavation programs (Emperaire and Laming, 1956). The most researched areas were Cananéia-Iguape where 107 sambaquis were found, all located on the continent and adjacent islands (Krone, 1914; Uchôa and Garcia, 1983). A main part of the research effort was the understanding of the stratigraphic construct of the sites. According to some authors, layers composed of a single shell taxon were linked to episodes of rapid accumulation while more heterogeneous layers were considered to be the result of longer occupation periods. Efforts were also spent to reconstruct the chronological sequence of the occupations, using the sambaquis as spatial-temporal markers for the variation of sea levels (Martin et al., 1984; Callipo, 2004). The malacological composition of these sambaquis, generally matches the species found in the Santa Catarina and Paraná, with Ostrea sp. valves being the main component. In the southern region, sambaquis made of Anomalocardia brasiliana are also found. The most common lithic tools of the sambaquis of São Paulo State include simple used quartz flakes, scrapers, ground stones (generally obtained from basalt and diabase) hammer stones, stone polishers, grooved abraders and zoolithes. The state of São Paulo stands out because of the presence of sambaquis that are dated before the Alithermal (6500e5000 BP): Maratuá dated at 7803  1300 BP (this date is today considered doubtful) and Cambriu Grande dated 7870  80 BP (Fig. 6). The coast of Rio de Janeiro is characterized by heterogeneity, both in the distribution of the sambiquis as well as their geomorphologic character. A detailed evaluation of the site locations allows certain areas to be observed where the occupations occur in a concentrated fashion. The region of the cities of Parati and Angra dos Reis, in Ilha Grande Bay, has a jagged coastline, with several coves, bays, and small peninsulas as well as rocky islands. The beaches and the sandy stretches are not very developed, and the sites are predominantly located in mangrove flood plains, estuaries, or islands. On one of the islands is the Algodão site, one of the oldest sites of the Brazilian coast dated at 7860  80 years BP (Fig. 7). A more recent layer was dated at 3350  80 BP, a date much closer to the typical chronology of the region: 3060  40 BP for the sambaquis Ilhote do Leste and Ponta do Leste around 2880  40 BP (Tenório, 2003). On the Guaratiba plain, about 100 km to the north there is another region of concentrated sites. The region is an area of transition between a marine environment and a continental one, crisscrossed by several tidal channels. The sambaquis observed in this region are primarily associated with the tidal channels and are small isolated reliefs in the midst of sandy plains. The only existing dating is from the sambaqui Zé Espinho that indicates an occupation at around 2260  160 BP. On the east bank of the Guanabara Bay there are two sambaqui concentration areas: on the Magé plain and the Itaipu beach. The Magé plain is characterized by a low-lying area with marine terraces, flood plains and river deltas where the sambaquis are localized in mangrove groves (Fig. 8). On the Itaipu beach there are sites on the sand formation that separates Camboinhas Lake from the Guanabara Bay. The sambaqui de Camboinhas has one of the oldest dates for the Brazilian coast: 7958  224 BP. The site also has two more dates, 2562  160 BP and 2,328  136, closer to the chronology of the surrounding sambaquis such as Duna Pequena that is dated at 2,030  155 BP. 56 G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 Fig. 5. Location of the sambaquis in Paraná State. Toward the northeastern part of the State, there are fewer sites. The sites begin to reappear after 50 km of coastline, near the city of Saquarema, where the lake region of Rio de Janeiro begins. This area is characterized by crystalline rock relief that act as dividers between the two major drainage basins that feed Saquarema Lake. Here the sambaquis are concentrated along the plains of the inland sandbanks, facing the lake (Barbosa, 2007). After about 50 km there is another concentration of sites, located on the Cabo Frio Cape. In this region the sambaquis are found in groups located on beaches, channels, or rocky outcrops with an elevation of up to 50 m asl. The São João River plain is characterized by a slightly inclined area subject to constant flooding due to the tide system. Most of the sites are found inland, between 3 and 10 km from the current coastline. They are connected to palaeo-lagoons, small rivers and lowlands, and they have been dated between 3670  80 on the Ilha da Boa Vista II and 1920  60 BP for the Ilha da Boa Vista IV (Tenório, 2003). The analysis of the material culture distribution found in the sambaquis of Rio de Janeiro state allows certain patterns to be observed. Lithic tools include portable grinders, axe blades, grooved abraders, mortars, hammer stones, anvils, grindstone on fixed support and quartz flakes with used edges for direct handling. The lack of pendants is notable in the Saquarema, Cabo Frio Cape, and the São João plain regions. Dyed pebbles were not found in either the Cabo Frio Cape or the São João plain. In terms of bonemade artifacts, several points and double points are part of the assemblages, but only a few perforated vertebrae and teeth were found in the sites of the São João plain. Teeth with multiple perforations, spatulas, and stingray points were more commonly found at the Ilha Grande Bay and the lakes region of Saquarema. Finally, the malacological artifacts are less frequent, and differently distributed. The element that stands out the most are the elaborate scrapers made of Callista maculata. These are only found in certain sites of the Ilha Grande Bay, the Cabo Frio bay, and the São João plain. It is worth noting the presence, along the coast of Rio de Janeiro (except the Cabo Frio Cape) of Strombus costatus (milk conch) with cut marks. The coast of the state of Espírito Santo, on the northern edge of the sambaqui extent, has not been much researched yet. In general, the sambaquis found in this area are along Vitória Bay or on the sandy plains of the north, linked to the main river deltas up to 8 km from the coast. The layers of these sites are mostly made up of Ostrea sp., but Anomalocardia brasiliana, Crassostrear hizophorae (oyster), Mytella sp. and Lucina pectinata (thick lucine) can also be found (Salles-Cunha, 1963; Orssich, 1964; Perota, 1971, 1974). The most common lithic artifacts are quartz flakes made from direct percussion without any additional finishing, cutting instruments, and scrapers. There are also polished and semi-polished axe blades made of quartz, used flakes, pecking stones, choppers, shopping tools and scrapers. The bone artifacts include projectile points, pendants made of different mammal teeth and perforated fish vertebrae. Burials are typically found in cemented levels of shells with a high content of wood charcoal and ashes, covered by a red substance and with polished axe blades (Salles-Cunha, 1963; Perota, 1971). G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 57 Fig. 6. Location of the sambaquis in São Paulo State. The Vitória Bay sambaquis have some unique characteristics when compared to the other sambaquis in the state. They are found in low-lying areas, subject to flooding, in the middle of mangrove and they have very pronounced terrigenous strata (Orssich, 1964). A date of 1435  80 shows the recent occupation of the region (Perota, 1974). These are sometimes grouped as “pre-ceramic sites” and considered as separate from the rest of the group of sambaquis. 4. Bioarchaeology (biological anthropology) of the sambaquis Although the research carried out in the sambaquis of Brazil has spanned several aspects that characterize these sites, including the fauna, the settlement pattern and formation processes, the field in which the most research and knowledge has been produced is, unquestionably, bioarcheology. The skeletons found in the sambaquis have always caught attention, both from the layman and the academic world. Indeed, for a long time, these sites have been considered cemeteries and for this reason it is important to present more details about this research. Traditionally, the analysis of human bone material from coastal Brazilian sites was focused on the description or quantification of the dental pathologies (e.g. see Salles-Cunha, 1963; Araujo, 1969, 1970) or contagious and nutritional pathologies (e.g. see MelloAlvim and Gomes, 1989). Only during the last few decades has more systemic and comparative palaeopathological research been carried out, which includes post-cranial material for a better understanding of the disease patterns of these populations (Machado, 1984; Hubbe, 2005; Okumura and Eggers, 2005). Studies regarding dental pathologies in sambaquis people revealed the presence of reoccurring occlusal wear, both moderate and severe, on most specimens. These patterns were probably caused by the involuntarily ingestion of sand and phytoliths with the food (Boyadjian et al., 2007; Wesolowski, 2007). The abrasive material was also responsible for periodontal disease, because the high levels of dental wear as well as the frequency of calculations would have contributed to a rise in the inflammation and the resulting infection of the soft tissues (gums). The severe occlusal wear would also lower the substrate level, thus lowering the occurrence of occlusal cavities in these populations. Indeed, with the exception of some skeletons from sites in Santa Catarina and Corondó (Rio de Janeiro), most of the individuals from the Brazilian coast do not have cavities (Machado, 1984; Wesolowski, 2000, 2007). Analysis of post-cranial material from these populations revealed a high occurrence of bone lesions related to infectious processes. The high positive correlation between infectious disease, population density, and the level of sedentism is well known. Therefore, the disease pattern seems to indicate that these groups had low levels of mobility and a relatively high population density (Mendonça, 1995; Hubbe, 2005; Okumura and Eggers, 2005). Comparative cranial studies between pre-historic groups of the Brazilian coast are still rare, but several authors support the idea that there was a morphological unity between the populations of the coast. However, these studies are based on a small sample of sites and are not statistically sound (Okumura, 2008). Neves (1988), after considering the archeological record and the morpho-cranial variability of the sambaquis people, suggested that between 7000 BP and 6000 BP hunter-gatherer populations from the interior of Brazil, probably belonging to the Humaitá tradition (e.g. Schmitz, 1984), arrived on the coast between the modern states of Paraná and São Paulo. From there, two migration routes started, one following a northern direction and another following a southern one, giving birth to the largest sambaquis. The sambaquis to the north of São Paulo tend to be smaller and fewer (Neves, 1988). Neves’ hypothesis is fundamentally based on the idea that the groups that occupied the coast of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo 58 G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 Fig. 7. Location of the sambaquis in SE Rio de Janeiro State. Fig. 8. Location of the sambaquis in NE Rio de Janeiro State. G. Wagner et al. / Quaternary International 239 (2011) 51e60 formed a single biological unit, different from those groups that settled the coast of Paraná and Santa Catarina, while the sambaqui populations of São Paulo held an intermediary position. Okumura (2008) was able to corroborate this hypothesis after analyzing cranial measurements of approximately 700 individuals, as well as non-metric data of approximately 1000 individuals. Thus, the results of this study point toward two separate main groups, with two distinct cranial morphologies, where the separation between the two happens along the Paraná coast. Toward the central coast of Santa Catarina Okumura (2008) observed a relative difference between the group of the settlement with pottery and those that do not have pottery, reinforcing the hypothesis of the existence of a socio-cultural unity among the sambaqui mound-builders of the south and the southeast regions of Brazil. 5. Conclusion From this summary on the sambaquis archaeological evidence, it is apparent that more intense work on the Brazilian coastal sambaquis is a priority. Several coastal regions have not been targeted for research as yet, making it impossible to define the exact area covered by the sambaquis people and the origin of their archeological culture. The existing chronology reflects the rhythm of the research, which has been intense in certain regions, and provides several dates for few sambaquis or, short periods of research over vast areas that supply only minimal data to reconstruct the settlement system of the Brazilian coast. Nevertheless, the in-depth research carried out on the sambaquis from the South and Southeast coasts allows the establishment of some patterns in the distribution of the cultural elements, which reinforces the hypothesis of the existence of a socio-cultural unit among the sambaqui mound-builders. It is important to point out the triple space association of burials, the intentionality in the shell mounds building with malacological layers of many metres of thickness and the joint occurrence of the sambaquis as a settlement pattern. Bioarcheological data have reinforced the hypothesis of a differentiation among the sambaqui mound-builders, the populations with pottery and the hunter-gatherers from the Brazilian inland areas. Although the regional lithic industries showed differences in the use of raw materials (diabase and basalt at Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná and São Paulo, and quartz at São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo) and peculiar stone tools from each region, the occurrence of specific instruments throughout the coast sites suggests the existence of a social and cultural unity. Important are the presence of grindstones on fixed support mainly in Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, the occurrence of zooliths in São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, the concentration of scrapers in Rio de Janeiro and Paraná, choppers and chopping tools in Paraná and Espírito Santo and finally, the shaped recipients such as plates, bowls and mortars in Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro. Future research should seek to understand the variations of the material culture of these sites. Research data from the early decades of the 20th century show that lithic and bone-made tools can be found in some sites but are vary rare in others. How can this variation be explained? How do we explain hundreds of burial sites concentrated in a single sambaqui while there are hundreds of kilometers of coast with hundreds of sambaquis that have none? G. Soares de Sousa noted the use of sambaqui shells for construction purposes during the colonial period. 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