Paleoindian Cave Dwellers in the Amazon

The Peopling of the Americas

Bibliographic Data

ID23329249
AuthorsAnna Roosevelt (University of Illinois Chicago), A C Roosevelt (A. C. Roosevelt is with the Field Museum, Chicago, IL 60605, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.), Marcondes Lima Da Costa (0000-0002-0134-0432, Universidade Federal do Pará), Christiane Lopes Machado, M Michab (M. Michab, N. Mercier, and H. Valladas are with the Centre de Faibles Radioactivités, Laboratoire mixte CNRS-CEA, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.), N Mercier (0000-0002-6375-9108, M. Michab, N. Mercier, and H. Valladas are with the Centre de Faibles Radioactivités, Laboratoire mixte CNRS-CEA, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.), Helene Valladas (0000-0002-1858-0782, CEA Direction des énergies), J K Feathers (0000-0002-1309-6131, University of Washington), J Feathers (J. Feathers is with the Luminescence Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.), William K Barnett (0000-0001-7038-8977, American Museum of Natural History), W Barnett (W. Barnett is with Interdepartmental Laboratories, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA.), Maura Imazio Da Silveira (0000-0002-2902-2479, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi), Andrew Henderson (0000-0001-6334-9435, New York Botanical Garden), J Sliva (J. Sliva is with the Center for Desert Archaeology, 3975 North Tucson Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85716, USA.), Barry Chernoff (0000-0001-8439-4542, Field Museum of Natural History), David S Reese (0009-0007-6300-3910, University of Illinois Chicago), J A Holman (J. A. Holman is with the Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.), Nicholas Toth (Indiana University Bloomington), Kathy Schick (0000-0002-4451-9176, Indiana University Bloomington)
Year1996
Volume272
Issue5260
Pages373-384
Publication date1996-04-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0036-8075 • E-ISSN: 0193-4511
PublisherAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1126/science.272.5260.373
OpenAlexW2020901419
LanguageEN
Citations received262
References cited33

A Paleoindian campsite has been uncovered in stratified prehistoric deposits in Caverna da Pedra Pintada at Monte Alegre in the Brazilian Amazon. Fifty-six radiocarbon dates on carbonized plant remains and 13 luminescence dates on lithics and sediment indicate a late Pleistocene age contemporary with North American Paleoindians. Paintings, triangular bifacial spear points, and other tools in the cave document a culture distinct from North American cultures. Carbonized tree fruits and wood and faunal remains reveal a broad-spectrum economy of humid tropical forest and riverine foraging. The existence of this and related cultures east of the Andes changes understanding of the migrations and ecological adaptations of early foragers.

Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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