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279 summary The use of plants by Brazilian shell mound populations is still very unclear. Indirect evidence of plant consumption in prehistoric Brazil has revealed that most shell mound groups show low caries rates, while some show rates compatible with frequent cariogenic food intake. Here we explore an approach in which plant micro-remains such as starch grains and phytoliths are retrieved from human dental calculus (tartar) to shed light on which plant parts were consumed by these ancient populations. Using this approach, we contrast data from the huge coastal shell mound Jabuticabeira II (low caries rate) with that from the small riverine site of Moraes (high caries rate). We conclude that: (a) the site with the higher caries rate shows a much higher proportion of starch grains than the samples from the site with a low caries rate; (b) therefore, diet must have contained more starchy and cariogenic food in Moraes than in Jabuticabeira II; (c) there does not seem to be a correlation, nor an association, between the number of caries and the corresponding starch grain concentration per individual; (d) diet was not homogeneous for all people from one site; (e) a greater variety of plants seems to have been consumed/used by the people from Jabuticabeira II than by those from Moraes; (f) some of the starchy plants consumed were possibly sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), yams (Dioscorea sp.), and plants from the Araceae family; and finally, (g) some of the starch grains found are modi- fied grains, suggesting food processing. Although preliminary , these data, and especially this approach, are promising to uncover how plants were used by Brazilian shell mound societies. CHAPTER TWENTYONE Micro-Remains Trapped in Dental Calculus Reveal Plants Consumed by Brazilian Shell Mound Builders Célia H. C. Boyadjian and Sabine Eggers introduction People who built shell mounds (sambaquis) in Brazil subsisted mainly on fish and shellfish (De Masi 1999; Figuti 1992; Figuti and Plens [chap. 16], Gaspar et al. [chap. 7], and Klokler [chap. 11] in this volume). We still know little about which plants were used to complement their marine diet with carbohydrates, fibers, vitamins, minerals , and non-animal proteins. This is partially due to the bad preservation of noncarbonized plant macro-remains, but also because Brazilian archaeologists were not particularly focused on the systematic recovery of plant remains until recently (Bianchini, Scheel-Ybert, and Gaspar 2007; Scheel-Ybert et al. 2003; Wesolowski et al. 2010), leading to a loss of evidence. The few reports regarding plant use in sambaquis were originally based on indirect evidence such as lithic artifacts interpreted as plant-processing tools (Gaspar 1998; Kneip 1977, 1994; Tenório 1991). Results of groundbreaking research in the sambaqui context include anthracology (Scheel-Ybert, chap. 22 in this volume), which has shown that a diversity of plants was used as fuel, and might have been used as construction material, and in rituals (Scheel-Ybert 2000, 2001a, 2001b, chap. 22 in this volume; Scheel-Ybert et al. 2003). Also, many of the charred seeds and wood identified correspond to plant taxa that produce edible fruits (Scheel-Ybert 2001a, 2001b). Charred tubers of monocotyledons (e.g., Dioscorea sp.—yams) were also found. But does the presence of remains from plants eaten today mean that those plants were actually used as food in the past? Local climatic conditions influence plant preservation. In arid environments seeds, fibers, and fruits can preserve 280 Célia H. C. Boyadjian and Sabine Eggers well, allowing paleodietary reconstruction. In places where plant remains are badly preserved, flotation techniques are essential to systematically explore ancient plant use (Bianchini, Scheel-Ybert, and Gaspar 2007; Pearsall 2000; Scheel-Ybert et al. 2005/2006; Scheel-Ybert, chap. 22 in this volume). Unfortunately, the recovered remains do not necessarily belong to plants that were actually used as food. Various approaches suggest plant use in ancient diets: (a) discovering edible plant remains in “garbage middens” or on tools and (ceramic) vessels used for food procurement, storage, processing, or cooking (Pearsall 2000); (b) finding plant remains in human coprolites (Reinhard and Bryant 2008); (c) observing high caries rates and rapid growth of carious lesions suggesting a highly cariogenic and thus carbohydrate-rich diet (Lanfranco and Eggers 2010; Turner II 1979); and (d) obtaining stable isotope signatures from bone and teeth revealing consumption of C3 or C4 plants (Ambrose and Krigbaum 2003; Katzenberg 1992). All of these approaches show certain drawbacks when applied to the sambaquis. Ceramic vessels are extremely rare and not...

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