A Shell Mound in a Rockshelter? Geoarchaeological Analysis of Shell-bearing Facies at Maximiano Rockshelter, Iporanga County, São Paulo State, SE Brazil

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Maximiano archaeological site consists of a limestone rockshelter embedded in the Brazilian tropical Atlantic Forest of SE Brazil. Excavated in the late 1970s by an amateur archaeologist, this 40 × 5 × 3 m rockshelter setting contains lithics, bone artifacts, and faunal and human remains dating between ~11,712 and 6796 cal yr BP. Located in a region known for its presence of fluvial shell mound sites, the origin of different types of shell-containing deposits present in the stratigraphy of the Maximiano rockshelter have, notwithstanding, remained an object of debate. This work presents the results of micromorphological and geochemical analyses of early to mid-Holocene shell-bearing facies from the site which attest to their anthropogenic nature. Results suggest deposition (tossing) and subsequent reworking of gastropod shells, charcoal, ashes, and bone in different concentrations, as well as the possible raking out of combustion features. The findings are compared with other shell mound and rockshelter sites in Brazil and around the world where similar analyses have been performed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37195.0