Dual organisation and mortuary ritual: architectural and archaeobotanical evidence for the southern proto-Je, Brazil and Argentina

Summary

Circa A.D. 1000 the Mound and Enclosure Complex (MEC) began appearing on the landscape of southern Brazil and Misiones, Argentina. The MEC mark a distinct change in funerary practice reflecting increasing complexity in social structure. Modern southern Je groups exhibit dual social organisation, characterised by exogamic, patrilineal moieties, dividing all beings, objects, and natural phenomena into two cosmological categories. Archaeological research is beginning to identify the early evolution and precursors to these later social forms. Survey and excavation of an MEC in Santa Catarina suggest dual social structure is manifested in the funerary landscape at multiple levels, from the plateau level to internal mound division. Charcoal identifications from earth ovens at PM01 in Misiones, Argentina, reveal highly specific species selection for ceremonial wood fuel that is determined by moiety membership. These finding provide insight into past social organisation and advocate methodologies that can target these phenomena.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage