Caverna da Pedra Pintada

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Caverna da Pedra Pintada
Pará State
MesoregionBaixo Amazonas Mesoregion
MicroregionSantarém Microregion

Caverna da Pedra Pintada (Painted Rock Cave (in Portuguese)), is an archaeological site in northern Brazil, with evidence of human presence dating ca. 11,200 years ago.[1][2]

This find has challenged previous thinking about patterns of human settlement in South America.

Paleoindians this far south and with an independent culture that existed at the same time as other early Native Americans were active on the Great Plains of North America. Formerly researchers believed that Amazonian settlements arose later than those in the Andes, and were developed by migrants from the highlands.[2]

Location

Caverna da Pedra Pintada is located near the town of

Amazon River Basin in Pará state in northern Brazil.[1]
It is the main attraction of the 3,678 hectares (9,090 acres) Monte Alegre State Park, created in 2001.[3]

Rediscovery and excavations

American archaeologist

radiocarbon dated and thermoluminescence dated to ca. 11,200 to 10,000 years ago.[1][2] The early dates of these finds have affected the interpretation of human settlement in the Amazon Basin. Roosevelt believes that the cave's evidence supports a theory that the Amazon Basin was settled much earlier than formerly believed.[4]

Findings

The early dates of human presence at the cave show that humans did not exclusively migrate from North America down to the Andes in South America, which some archaeologists had previously believed.

"We found strong evidence that a culture quite distinct from the North American Paleoindian culture, but contemporary with it, existed more than 5,000 miles to the south", Anna Roosevelt has said. "Paleoindians traveled far and adapted to a diverse range of habitats. The existence of distinct cultures east of the Andes suggests that North American big-game hunters were not the sole source of migration into South America."[1]

The lowest levels of the cave yield charred floral and faunal remains and stone tools, including spear points, suggesting that the earliest visitors were

Paleoindians used the cave frequently over a span of 1,200 years, leaving remains of fruits, and seeds, including Brazil nuts; as well as fish, birds, reptiles, shellfish, and amphibians.[1]

30,000 lithic specimens have been excavated from the cave.[2]

Paintings

Lumps of raw

hand stencils in browns, reds, and yellows.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Saraceni, Jessica E. and Adriana Franco da Sá. "People of South America." Archaeology. Vol. 49, No. 4, July/August 1996. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Wilford, John Noble. "Scientist at Work: Anna C. Roosevelt: Sharp and To the Point In Amazonia", New York Times. 23 April 1996, Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  3. ^ Parque Estadual de Monte Alegre (in Portuguese), Ideflor-bio, archived from the original on 2016-12-20, retrieved 2016-12-14
  4. ^ "SCIENTIST AT WORK: Anna C. Roosevelt; Sharp and To the Point In Amazonia", New York Times, 23 April 1996, accessed 24 April 2016

External links