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This paper discusses data from the pioneering and the latest research in Serranópolis, Goiás, Brazil. It focuses on subjects such as landscape, mobility, territoriality, distribution of rock art sites, lithic material, anthropic action, and natural processes as elements that impact archaeological sites. The approach includes the hunter-gathering groups from the Itaparica (Paranaíba Phase) and Serranópolis (Serranópolis Phase) Traditions from Upper to Middle Holocene, which are characterized by their set of lithic artifacts. Therefore, some data resulting from research that took place between 2000 and 2020 by several researches were included in the previous study from 1980 to 2000 by Schmitz and his crew. The key element is the landscape analysed within a multidsciplinary approach through the Landscape Archaeology. This paper emphasizes some subjects that must be reanalyzed through current techniques and sustains that new excavations need to take place with a special attention to the relation between the landscape and the data developed under a geoarqueological point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the investigations that defined the formation of the sedimentary deposits and the chronological sequence of the Foz do Chapecó archaeological area in the Volta Grande of the Upper Uruguay River, Southern Brazil. This research was undertaken to contribute to the definition of the diachronic, sedimentary and stratigraphic context of the archaeological occupations. To achieve these goals a geoarchaeological prospection by land and water was conducted, focusing on the valley bottoms, in the whole Volta Grande area. It comprehended the characterization of surface sedimentary deposits, the exposure and analysis of stratigraphic profiles, and sedimentological analysis. Four superficially exposed deposits were identified: i.e., fluvial conglomerates, fine sediments with sandy texture, clay colluviums and current and recent alluvial deposits. Six interesting points for the opening of stratigraphic profiles were identified, and subsequently resulted in the identification of sedimentary facies associated with river-bed, colluvial and colluvial-alluvial deposits. Three of these points presented a clear sequence of archaeological levels in the stratigraphic context. The results indicated that the local sediments are predominantly composed of a variable mixture of silt and clay, with sands occurring predominantly in an interdigitated form. The stratigraphic structure of the identified layers led to the establishment of 7 sedimentary facies, associated with colluvium (Cm), colluvium-alluvium (Sm) and alluvium and fluvial channels (Sm, Fl, Gms, Gt, Gp, Gh). The radiocarbon dating gives an age between 12.0 and 0.3 cal kBP, indicating that the filling of the local valley occurred during the end of the Pleistocene and throughout the Holocene by means of both fluvial and colluvial systems. Nine distinct archaeological levels, with a clear stratigraphic, chronological, and technological characterization were identified. The pre-ceramic archaeological sequence shows the following chronology: the oldest occupation occurred between 12.0 and 11.0 cal kBP (Cm facies); this was followed by an occupation between 10.5 and 9.5 cal kBP (Cm, Gt, Gp and Gh facies in three archaeological sites with eleven 14C data), then an occupation between 8.7 and 8.5 cal kBP (Cm facies), another between 5.7 and 5.5 cal kBP, one more between 4.8 and 4.6 cal kBP (Cm facies), and the last between 3.4 and 3.3 cal kBP (Cm and Sm facies). The ceramic phase seems to form a single dense component with the anthropogenic soil formation, and was dated between 0.5 and 0.3 cal kBP (Sm facies). These data present a previously unpublished chronostratigraphic sequence that is unique for the context of open-air sites in inner southern Brazil. • This research presents a unique example of a well-documented archaeological settlement in an open-air, multi-component site situated in a riverine setting in inland Southern Brazil. • It marks the first geoarchaeological study in Southern Brazil's subtropical oxidic environments, utilizing an integrated approach that includes sedimentology, stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating, and the spatial distribution of archaeological features. • The study's sedimentary sequence aids in reconstructing the paleo-environments of the Upper Uruguay River region. • The findings suggest that prehistoric cultural dynamics throughout the Holocene in Southern Brazil were more complex than previously understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to refine the description of the artefacts and the geomorphological, geological, pedological and chronological (optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) analyses of sedimentary deposits) characterisation of the Rincão I site (southeastern Brazil) to contribute to the understanding of early human–environment interactions. The archaeological site occupation took place on hillslopes truncated by the Mogi‐Guaçu River's lateral (~1200 m) and vertical (~5 m) movements during the Late Quaternary, in an area where in situ bedrock outcrops are uncommon. This geological context favoured human groups simultaneously having access to the resources provided by the alluvial plain and hillslopes. Here we describe how about three hundred lithic artefacts are associated with soils that originated from sandy colluvium with OSL ages between 20.3 and 5.5 thousand years. These ages are consistent with the local palaeopedological and geomorphological contexts of landscape changes, and partly controversial from the perspective of models currently in vogue for the human occupation of southeastern Brazil. The vestiges of past human presence amid the hillslope sandy colluvium deposits include: 1) a set of flakes and formal artefacts (one stemmed point and three convex artefacts) made of sandstone obtained from hillslopes near (<10 km) the site; and 2) predominant detritus and flakes of quartz and flint obtained mostly from the adjacent (<1.5 km) alluvial plain, linked to flaking sequences other than those of the formal artefacts. Only quartz artefacts were found in the lower levels of the site stratigraphy, whereas in the intermediate and upper levels quartz, flint and sandstone artefacts were found, suggesting that there were changes in the raw materials used for flaking over time. The formal artefacts from the site have technological attributes like the ones observed in assemblages associated with a previously known lithic industry (Rioclarense), but a different pattern of choice of raw materials. This suggests that technical standards underwent a process of adaptation to the environmental particularities surrounding the Rincão I site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entre 13 000 et 7000 BP, le territoire du sud du Brésil a été occupé de manière stable et diversifiée et le matériel lithique taillé constitue sa principale trace anthropique. Les recherches archéologiques révèlent de plus en plus la présence d'occupations dans différents environnements ainsi que les différents processus de formation stratigraphique à partir de la fin du Pléistocène. Ainsi, cet article propose d'analyser l'histoire des premiers témoignages d'occupation précoloniale dans le sud du Brésil d'un point de vue géoarchéologique, en se concentrant sur les données stratigraphiques et chronologiques et sur les processus de formation des niveaux archéologiques. Au total, 33 sections stratigraphiques ont été analysées sur 31 sites archéologiques répartis le long des bassins du Paraná, de l'Uruguay et du versant atlantique. Des témoins de niveaux archéologiques ont été trouvés dans différents contextes géomorphologiques : plateaux, versants, fonds de vallée, plaines alluviales et abris-sous-roche. Les résultats indiquent que les niveaux archéologiques les plus anciens de la région se sont formés au Pléistocène supérieur, associés à des périodes d'incisions fluviales qui signalent des changements importants dans les systèmes fluviaux du sud, marqués par la formation de terrasses alluviales et colluvio-alluviales dans les fonds de vallée. Par la suite, à l'Holocène inférieur, on observe des processus colluviaux généralisés dans les vallées encaissées, des alluvions dans les cours fluviaux moyens et des dépôts anthropiques dans les abris-sous-roche qui ont permis la formation des principaux niveaux anciens. Au début de l'Holocène moyen, les dépôts sédimentaires contenant du matériel archéologique diminuent considérablement, marquant des changements régionaux dans les industries lithiques. Les données indiquent un seuil de dépôt et d'archéologie à l'Holocène inférieur, marqué par une haute résolution d'enregistrement, où les séquences stratigraphiques présentent une plus grande épaisseur et une densité accrue de niveaux archéologiques. Enfin, la diversité des assemblages lithiques interrégionaux est clairement mise en évidence, marquée par la prédominance des industries sur galets et sur blocs, le débitage d'éclats et de lames comme supports de divers outils dans les bassins intérieurs et le façonnage de petites pointes sur le versant atlantique. Between ≈13,000 and 7000 BP, the territory of southern Brazil was occupied in a stable and diverse manner, with the main anthropic trace being in lithic material. Archaeological research has provided more consistent evidence of occupation in different environments and associated with different stratigraphic formation processes since the Late Pleistocene. Therefore, this paper proposes to analyse the history of the earliest evidence of pre-colonial occupation in southern Brazil from a geoarchaeological point of view, focusing on stratigraphic and chronological data and the process of formation of archaeological layers. Thirty-three stratigraphic sections were analysed from 31 archaeological sites distributed along the Paraná, Uruguay and Atlantic basins. Evidence of archaeological levels was found in different geomorphological contexts: plateau, slopes, valley bottom, alluvial plains and rockshelters. The results indicate that the oldest archaeological levels in the region were formed in the Late Pleistocene, associated with periods of fluvial incision that signal important changes in the southern river systems, characterized by the formation of alluvial and colluvial-alluvial terraces in the valley bottoms. This is followed in the Lower Holocene by widespread colluvial processes in the incised valleys, alluvium in the middle river courses and anthropogenic deposits in the rockshelters that formed the main ancient levels. In the early Middle Holocene, sedimentary deposits containing archaeological material decrease significantly, marking regional changes in lithic industries. The data indicate that there appears to be a threshold between deposition and archaeology in the Early Holocene, characterized by high stratigraphic resolution, where stratigraphic sequences show greater thickness and density of archaeological levels. Finally, the diversity of inter-regional lithic assemblages is clearly highlighted, marked by the predominance of industries on pebbles and blocks, the debitage of flakes and blades as a support for various tools in the interior basins and the shaping of small projectile points on the Atlantic slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern coast of Brazil has been settled in different episodes between ca. 7.5 and 0.5 ka before the present by hunter-fisher-gatherers, shell mound builders of the pre-colonial Sambaqui cultural tradition. The factors that influenced human migrations in these episodes are diverse. They include cultural changes due to the coming of other groups, chronic food shortages, sea level changes, and lagoon silting. This paper combines geological, geomorphological, meteorological, and archaeological data to show how interactions between environmental dynamics and human settlement played a central role in modeling coastal sedimentary and rocky landscapes on the southern coast of Brazil during the middle Pleistocene to late Holocene. On Costão do Ilhote, a north-south oriented granitic promontory in Laguna County, Santa Catarina State, erosional features such as facets, keels, grooves, flutes, pits, and polished surfaces that developed on granitic boulders and pavements were recognized as ventifacts. In the same context, hundreds of fixed sharpeners/polishers from the production of polished objects by the sambaqui culture have been found crosscutting the ventifacts. Based on crosscut relationships between pre-colonial aged fixed sharpeners/polishers and ventifacts, relative sea-level changes during the Holocene, the age of distinct generation of sand dunes, and the age of shellmounds (sambaquis), four potential intervals of ventifaction are proposed: last 650 ka, last 350 ka, between ca. 115 and 5 ka BP, and between ca. 2.0 and ∼0.5 ka BP, with separated estimated abrasion rates of approximately 3.5 × 10−5 mm/yr, 7.0 × 10−5 mm/yr, 1.7 × 10−4 mm/yr, and 1.3 × 10−2 mm/yr, respectively. The ca. ∼1.5 ka of the last ventifaction interval was synchronous with a period of sambaqui culture retreat in the southern coastal plain of Santa Catarina, and also coincided with a period of abundant sand availability. This period is characterized by a drastic decline in sambaquis construction along the sand barrier and paleolagoon and a migration towards lagoonal and coastal rocky promontories, including Costão do llhote. Based on these pieces of evidence, we propose to add new components to the close interactions between environmental evolution and prehistoric human occupation on the southern coast of Santa Catarina during the Holocene: the strong winds combined with sand availability. • Origin, evolution, and preservation of ventifacts on granitic rocky promontories of Brazil southern coast. • Directional data of ventifacts as Quaternary paleowind indicators. • Age relationships between ventifacts and archaeological sharpeners/polishers. • Interactions between environmental dynamics and human settlement in southern Brazil. • Integrated approach to assessing regional landscape evolution during the late Quaternary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Alice Boer site, located in Southeastern Brazil, was considered to be one of the oldest sites in the Americas, and a strong candidate for being a pre‐Clovis site. Ages obtained by researchers during the 1970s and 1980s put the site inside a chronological range between 2 and 14 ka, eventually reaching as old as 30 ka or even 130 ka. Between 2010 and 2012, our research team revisited the site to improve the knowledge of Paleoindian occupation in Southeastern Brazil. Here, we present new data of stratigraphy and chronology (luminescence and radiocarbon dating), pedological and magnetic analysis performed at some of the sites. Results show that the site's oldest occupation took place ca. 8 ka, which provides new insight into human occupation in South America. In addition, we show some issues with radiocarbon contamination due to soil humin fraction mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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