The Cultural Dynamics of Shell-Matrix Sites

22: Landscape and Use of Plants by Southern and Southeastern Brazilian Shell Mound Builders

289 summary Sambaquis, Brazilian shell mounds, are among the best studied sites in the country. While recent research is drastically changing our views about this society, plant use and consumption still remain largely underestimated. Recent archaeobotanical research, however, is gradually changing this scenario. The present chapter synthesizes the current knowledge on the use of plants by sambaqui builders based on anthracological (charcoal) analysis as well as on archaeobotanical analysis. Eight sites were analyzed in southeastern Brazil (Rio de Janeiro State) and two sites were analyzed in southern Brazil (Santa Catarina State). Our results demonstrate that sambaqui people settled in the restinga ecosystem, usually near coastal forests and mangroves, and that plants played a much more important role in sambaqui people’s subsistence than previously recognized. Plant foods were also a part of ritualistic activities, as we have indications that they were offered in funerary rituals and/or consumed during mortuary feasting . Fire was a central element in sambaqui people’s life. The ecofacts studied by anthracology are the remains of countless fireplaces, many of which have been maintained for long periods in honor of the dead. Beyond their social importance, these fires’ remains may give us information about a wide range of domestic and ritualistic aspects. introduction Sambaquis, occurring along almost the entire Brazilian coast and testifying to an occupation dated from at least 8000 until ca. 1000 BP, are among the best studied sites in the country. Recent research, however, is drastically CHAPTER TWENTYTWO Landscape and Use of Plants by Southern and Southeastern Brazilian Shell Mound Builders Rita Scheel-Ybert changing our views about these sites, as may be seen in several chapters in this book (e.g., Boyadjian and Eggers [chap. 21]; Figuti and Plens [chap. 16]; Gaspar et al. [chap. 7]; Klokler [chap. 11]; Okumura [chap. 13]; Okumura and Eggers [chap. 8]; and Souza [chap. 12]). In the place of the traditional image, namely that of shell deposits as food residues left behind by small groups of nomadic foragers, emerged the vision of monumental landscape markers constructed by sedentary fishers with a relatively complex organization. In spite of the fact that questions related to landscape, diet, subsistence, and ceremonial activities have always been among the main interests of sambaqui archaeologists , the importance of plant use and consumption remained, until recently, largely underestimated. This is due to the poor preservation of plant remains in the archaeological record and to the fact that archaeobotany is still a very young field of research in Brazil, but also to the rarity of field research aimed at maximizing the recovery of plant remains through flotation techniques. Indeed, preservation of noncarbonized botanical macro-remains in these sites is very rare. On the other hand, carbonized macro-remains are generally abundant in sambaqui archaeological sediments. A great deal of information on the abovementioned subjects resides in these charred remains, which until quite recently were collected exclusively for dating purposes. Anthracology (charcoal analysis and identification based on wood anatomy criteria) provides paleoenvironmental and landscape reconstitutions, as well as paleoethnobotanical information concerning plant use. This discipline allows reliable reconstructions of the local 290 Rita Scheel-Ybert woody vegetation, since the correlation with phytosociological data is usually quite direct (Scheel-Ybert 2000). Charred macro-remains of fruits, seeds, tubers, and other dietary items are frequently preserved along with wood charcoal remains, thus providing information about food plants (Di Piazza 1998; Scheel-Ybert 2001a; Tengberg 2002). In the present chapter, we aim to present a synthesis of the current knowledge on the use of plants by Brazilian sambaqui builders based on anthracological as well as on archaeobotanical analysis. These results disclose the importance of plants for sambaqui populations. regional setting Eight sambaquis from Rio de Janeiro State (Forte, Boca da Barra, Salinas Peroano, Meio, Ponta da Cabeça, Corondó, Pontinha, Beirada—22°53'–22°57'S /42°03'–42°33'W), and two sambaquis from Santa Catarina State (Jabuticabeira II, Encantada III—28º36'–28º37'S/48º54'–48º57'W) were studied (Figure 22.1). Their chronology is situated between 6190–5760 and 1380–1180 cal BP. Two of these sites present evidence of short occupations (Meio and Encantada III), but most of them attest to long-standing sedentary settlements (Table 22.1). In most of the Rio de Janeiro State coastal zone, the climate is tropical: wet, hot, and rainy in summer with a mild dry season in winter. Plant associations, as in a great part of the Brazilian coast, vary according...