University of Nebraska - Lincoln
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How does a riverine se'ing a&ect the lifestyle of
shellmound builders in Brazil?
Sabine Eggers
Universidade de São Paulo3'#))'23531$2
C. C. Petronilho
Universidade de São Paulo
K. Brandt
Universidade de São Paulo
C. Jericó-Daminello
Universidade de São Paulo
J. Filippini
Universidade de São Paulo
See next page for additional authors
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405
Published in HOMO - Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59:6
(December 20, 2008), pp. 405–427; doi:10.1016/j.jchb.2008.04.005
Copyright © 2008 Elsevier GmbH. Used by permission.
Submitted 8 August 2007; accepted 27 April 2008;
published online 21 November 2008.
How does a riverine setting affect the lifestyle
of shellmound builders in Brazil?
S. Eggers,
1
C. C. Petronilho,
1
K. Brandt,
1
C. Jericó-Daminello,
1
J. Filippini,
1
and K. J. Reinhard
2
1 Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva,
Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-900 São Paulo, Brazil
2 School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
Corresponding author — S. Eggers, email seaggers@usp.br
Abstract
The contact of inland and coastal prehistoric groups in Brazil is believed to have
been restricted to regions with no geographical barrier, as is the case in the Ribeira
de Iguape valley. The inland osteological collection from the riverine shellmound
Moraes (5800–4500 BP) represents a unique opportunity to test this assumption
for this region. Despite cultural similarities between riverine and coastal shell-
mounds, important ecological and site distribution differences are expected to im-
pact on lifestyle. The purpose of this study is thus to document and interpret health
and lifestyle indicators in Moraes in comparison to coastal shellmound groups.
-
ine shellmound led to (a) higher caries rates and (b) lower auditory exostosis fre-
quency and (c) if the small size of the riverine shellmound translates into reduced
demographic density and thus rarity of communicable infectious diseases. Of the
Bioanthropological similarities between Moraes and coastal shellmounds include
-
-
ties and low frequencies of violent trauma. However, there are also important dif-
ferences: Moraes subsisted on a much broader protein diet and consumed more
cariogenic food, but showed a stature even shorter than coastal groups. Thus, de-
spite the contact also suggested by treponematoses in both site types, there was
enough time for the people at the riverine site to adapt to local conditions.
digitalcommons.unl.edu
digitalcommons.unl.edu
406 59 (2008)
Resumo
O contato de grupos pré-históricos brasileiros interioranos e costeiros é tido como
costeiros, espera-se que as importantes diferenças ecológicas e de padrão de as-
e interpretar indicadores de saúde e estilo de vida dos habitants de Moraes, em
se a (a) frequencias de cáries mais elevadas, e (b) proporções menores de exos-
-
-
cialmente, rejeitada. Semelhanças bioantropológicas entre habitantes de Moraes
e sambaquieiros da costa incluem exostese auditiva em frequências igualmente
traumatismos violentos. Entretanto, também foram constatadas diferenças impor-
tantes: os indivíduos de Moraes, de estatura ainda inferior a de sambaquieriros
da costa, alimentavam-se de uma dieta mais cariogência, sendo o aporte proteico
-
J J J
Introduction
Brazilian shellmounds
Almost the entire 8000 km long coast of Brazil was once inhabited by shellmound
(or sambaqui) builders. More than 1000 coastal sites of this type, dated to between 8000
and 800 years ago, have been recorded (Gaspar, 1998; Lima et al., 2004). They vary in
size and can reach seventy meters in height and several hundreds of meters in diame-
ter (de Blasis et al., 2007). Consisting mainly of complex sequences of layers of shells
and sand, they also contain hearths, artefacts, food remains, and elaborate burials asso-
ciated with bone and stone offerings as well as ochre.
Coastal shellmounds in Brazil are currently considered as monumental constructions
intentionally built by sedentary people with high population densities (de Blasis et al.,
1998; Gaspar, 1998). Zooarchaeological and stable isotope studies have shown that
407
food debris, but as construction material. Probably these people used boats, since there
the faunal remains (Gaspar, 2000; Tenório, 2000). The use of plants, albeit until recently
believed to have been of minor importance, was in fact quite common (Boyadjian et
al., 2007; Scheel-Ybert, 1998 and Scheel-Ybert, 2001; Scheel-Ybert et al., 2003; We-
solowski, 2000). Therefore, the intense dental wear in skeletal remains associated with
shellmounds is today attributed more to the admixture of plant phytoliths, than to other
abrasives, such as shell fragments and sand present in the food (Reinhard et al., 2001).
Although the coastal Brazilian shellmound builders were of relatively short stature, they
were within the range of variation of prehistoric and extant Native Americans (Storto
attributed to the intense contact with animal remains and pathogens typical for tropical
-
cable infectious diseases in some of the sites suggests high population density (Oku-
mura and Eggers, 2005). Although many neighboring sites are contemporaneous, an
overall low frequency of violent trauma among shellmound dwellers indicates a rela-
tively peaceful lifestyle and little competition for food resources (Lessa and Medeiros,
2001; Okumura and Eggers, 2005).
Although coastal shellmound builders are Mongoloids (Okumura, 2007), as are the
majority of extinct and extant Amerindians, Palaeoamericans with a premongoloid mor-
2007). However, because the most recent Palaeoamericans and the oldest shellmound
builders are roughly contemporaneous (and dated to around 10,000–8000 years ago),
questions arise on the origin and the contact of shellmound dwellers with other popula-
tions. This issue gained more attention with the description of a Paleoamerican morphol-
ogy of the oldest shellmound builder in Brazil, dated to about 9000 years ago (Neves
et al., 2005). Astonishingly, the site where this oldest shellmound dweller was found
is not a coastal site. It is a riverine shellmound called Capelinha, located in the Ribeira
valley, in the interior of the southeastern state of São Paulo (Figure 1).
Apart from the more than 1000 coastal shellmounds, there are also about 50 riverine
shellmounds recorded in Brazil. Riverine shellmounds have been studied more system-
atically since the eighties, although their existence is known since the end of the four-
teenth century (Barreto, 1988). They are known as riverine shellmounds because they
resemble coastal shellmounds in basic construction material (mainly mollusk shells of
Anomalocardia brasiliana in coastal and of Megalobulimus sp. in riverine sites), burial
distribution and pattern, habitation structures and remains giving clues about daily ac-
tivities (Eggers, in press; Figuti et al., 2004). Both were used concomitantly as a place
for living, dwelling, eating, as well as for the interment of the dead (Figuti et al., 2004).
The inland shellmounds are circular or ovoid structures, much smaller than those at
most coastal sites, and measure only about 500–2000 m
2
.
A region that most recently yielded new data on riverine shellmounds is the neigh-
borhood of Capelinha, the Ribeira valley, State of São Paulo. This valley is a geographic
