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Peopling Central Brazilian Plateau at the onset of the Holocene:Building territorial histories

Lucas Bueno a, *, Andrei Isnardis b

a Department of History, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Reitor Jo~ao David Ferreira Lima, s/n - Trindade, Florian�opolis, Santa Catarina, 88040-900, Brazilb Department of Anthropology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 30 April 2017Received in revised form24 November 2017Accepted 6 January 2018Available online xxx

Keywords:PleistoceneHoloceneBrazilPeoplingTerritoryTechnology

* Corresponding author.E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Bueno).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.01.0061040-6182/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights

Please cite this article in press as: Bueno, Lhistories, Quaternary International (2018), h

a b s t r a c t

In this paper we discuss the occupation process of Central Brazilian Plateau during the end of thePleistocene and the early Holocene calling attention on two main issues: technology and mobility. Wework in two spatial scales, local and regional, in order to indicate some long-term processes during theperiod between 13,000e7000 BP. Based on site distribution, archaeological remains and chronology wepropose four distinct periods that should correspond to different phases of the peopling process of thisregion. Finally, we discuss hypotheses that might explain these changes and we emphasize the impor-tance of integrating practical and symbolic aspects in order to interpret the archaeological record andconstruct territorial histories.

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The Brazilian Central Plateau (for now on named BCP) corre-sponds to a major area of the inner Brazilian territory, which ex-tends over 1.500 km from South to North and about 2.000 km fromWest to East, and that is predominantly occupied by two Bioma:Cerrado (Tropical Savana) and Caatinga (Dry Deciduous Forest). Thecentral part of this region always had a main role in the discussionof South American human occupations due to the numerousancient sites and the antiquity of its archaeological inquiring thatgoes back to the middle XIXth century (Da-Gl�oria et al., 2017).

Here we take some scattered data and also some previoussynthesis efforts (Bueno et al., 2013; Dias and Bueno, 2013) topropose a schema of four phases for Central Brazil peopling processfor the period 13,000e7000 BP. This proposal is based on theavailable information on site distribution, published radiocarbondates and archaeological remains, especially of lithic assemblages,but also in others features from ancient sites, such as rock art andzooarchaeological remains. Since the archaeological record of theBCP gathers most of the available data for all Brazil for this period,

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the four phases discussed here are similar to those presented byBueno and collaborators (Bueno et al., 2013; Dias and Bueno, 2013).In this paper we explore in detail the internal dynamics of eachphase, articulating the available categories of remains for eachphase in order to focus the discussion on two main topics: tech-nology and territory. From this perspective, we intend to ensembleelements that allow us to discuss the causes of changes and con-tinuities identified between each phase, approaching topics thathave not been addressed in previous works. In this sense, for eachphase we present data on site's amount, localization and spatialdistribution, lithic technology, subsistence, rock art and bio-archaeology, whenever they are available for analysis.

In order to introduce some basic concepts for our discussion,territory, as we understand it here, is an area of living experience,full of resources possibilities that are not naturally given, butculturally understood. A territory is a system of known andmeaningful places, experienced by people who live inside of it andto which they are significantly bounded to (Zede~no, 1997). Weunderstand mobility as ways of living in and move through a ter-ritory that involves resources management, but also the livingexperience and attribution of meanings to places. Thus it involvescultural choices that are guided by perceptions of the environment,by the way people perceive and conceive their relation with theenvironment and not by the environment features themselves

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L. Bueno, A. Isnardis / Quaternary International xxx (2018) 1e172

(Knapp and Ashmore, 1999; Ingold, 2000; Zede~no, 2001). Finally,we conceive technology as a process that comprises a group ofculturally meaningful choices ranging from ways of using andoccupying space in relation with resources distribution, to workdivision, gender relationship and ethnic and individual identityaspects. In this sense, we understand that every single phase of thisprocess is filled with social and symbolic meanings (Dobres, 1996,2000). Based on these concepts, our analysis is focused on the re-lations between people and the material world in terms of re-sources, their management and meanings, trying to incorporate inour discussion the symbolic dimensions and to avoid the preva-lence of environmental conditions over cultural choices.

These three concepts eTerritory, Mobility and Technologye areessentials for a discussion on Peopling conceived as a process. In thecase of the BCP, we apply a perspective of a slow process of entryand dispersion of human groups since the end of the Pleistocene,which could have involved different rhythms and dynamics andincluded different population flows. By rhythms and dynamics, wemean that there may have been pulses of population growth andspatial dispersion and that the ways of space occupation andmovement could have involved areas of varied sizes and configu-ration. Our hypothesis is that these variations on rhythm and dy-namics can leave characteristic marks on the archaeological record,enabling the identification of the different moments or phases ofthis process, as it has been discussed for other regions of theAmerican and Australian continent (Beaton, 1991; Borrero, 1999;Anderson and Gillan, 2001; Hazelwood and Steele, 2003; Kelly,2003; Zede~no and Anderson, 2010).

Bringing together the proposals of Borrero (1999), Zede~no(1997) and Zede~no and Anderson (2010), we propose a fourphase process for the peopling of the BCP during 13,000e7000 BP.These phases are: 1) the initial peopling (corresponding to the stagecalled “exploration”, in Borrero, 1999 and Zede~no, 1997, and“exploration and staging”, in Zede~no and Anderson, 2010); 2) theconsolidation of articulated territories on a wide regional network(“consolidation and settlement”, in Zede~no, 1997; similar to”colonization”, in Borrero, 1999; Zede~no and Anderson, 2010); 3)the fragmentation of the regional arrangement (“fission”, inZede~no,1997); 4) the formation of newarrangements characterizedby a local diversification (“use, change, abandonment”, in Zede~no,1997).

We still do not know for real when this process begun, as thefirst archaeological signal certainly do not correspond with the firstmoment of occupation (Dillehay, 2013; Borrero, 2016). Our dis-cussion does not start with the oldest remains of human occupationthat current published data indicates as distant and isolated fromone another (Boeda et al., 2013; Vialou et al., 2017). However, we dodiscuss the scenario around which there is a certain consensus interms of accepted radiocarbon dates and, specially, that comprise agroup of sites with recurrent attributes that allow us to design anoccupation scenario (Bueno et al., 2013).

2. Geographical setting and paleoenvironmental data

The Brazilian Central Plateau can be generally defined as aTropical Savannah. It is characterized by three different climaticregimes: (a) sub-tropical without seasonality; (b) semi-arid, withstrong seasonality and long dry phases; and (c) tropical with a dryand a moist season (Ledru, 1993; Salgado-Laboriau et al., 1997).Regarding the vegetation cover, we have two main formations. Inthe northern area of the BCP region predominates the caatinga (axeric shrubland and thorn forest), whereas in the central andsouthern part prevails the Cerrado - a tropical savannah with gal-lery forest (Oliveira-Filho and Ratter (2003). In addition to these

Please cite this article in press as: Bueno, L., Isnardis, A., Peopling Centrahistories, Quaternary International (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quain

larger regional variations, the Central Plateau also diversifies, interms of vegetation cover, according to altitude, topography, soiland climate at smaller scales. The later creates niches of highbiodiversity that attract both humans and other animals.

The main river that connects these principal vegetation forma-tions is the S~ao Francisco River, a perennial and rich source ofaquatic resources, with a high diversity of fish species. This river is2700 km long, and has more than 168 tributaries. The mostimportant of them are all inMinas Gerais and southern Bahia states.Besides the Rio Grande (Bahia state), the tributaries located at thePoligono das Secas are intermittent, becoming dry in periods oflower rainfall and producing large and intense water flows duringthe rainy season.

The available paleoenvironmental data for the BCP mainlycomes from pollen cores and lake sediments' analyses from severallocations in Maranh~ao, Bahia, Goi�as and Minas Gerais states (Ledru,1993; Salgado-Laboriau et al., 1997; Ledru et al., 1998; De Oliveiraet al., 1999; Auler and Smart, 2001; Barberi, 2001; Pessenda et al.,2004; Ledru et al., 2006). One of the features identified by almost allthese studies is the movement of the Inter-Tropical ConvergenceZone (ITCZ) as being a main contributor to variations in the dura-tion and intensity of episodes of drier climate in Central and North-eastern Brazil (Behling, 1998, 2002; Ledru et al., 1998; De Oliveiraet al., 1999; Markgraf et al., 2000). According to Ledru et al.(1998), the contemporary location and seasonal movements ofthe ITCZ, combined with the seasonal migration of polar air massestowards the Equator, produces north-south gradients in averagewinter temperatures and the duration of the dry season.

During the late Pleistocene, besides these dynamics, two majorcontinent-wide factors also influenced climatic conditions in theregion: the ice sheet expansion in the Northern Hemisphere andthe Andean Highlands, and a lowered sea-level (Suguio, 1999).These global factors are major causes of contrast between Pleisto-cene glacial and Holocene interglacial paleoenvironmental dy-namics. From the early Holocene onwards, there is no longer anyglobal or continental paleoenvironmental event identified on thestudied records (Behling and Hooghiemstra, 2001; Ledru andMourguiart, 2001). Changes are regionalised and diverse, and fac-tors such as latitude, altitude, geology, geomorphology, soil type,vegetation cover and, more recently, human action, are funda-mental drivers of paleoenvironmental processes in each area(Barberi, 2001).

In the Northeast region the paleoenvironmental data provideevidence of cyclic variation between wet and dry climatic condi-tions during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, causingexpansion and contraction of savannah and forest formations.These variations present different patterns in the northern andeastern areas of this region. While there is a general trend towardwetter conditions between 15,000 and 10,000e9000 BP for thenorthern sector (Pessenda et al., 2004; Ledru et al., 2006), there isevidence for semi-arid climatic conditions throughout the LastGlacial period to the early Holocene (42,000e8500 BP) in theeastern area of the region (Behling et al., 2002). During this period,however, there are records of a series of short intervals pointing to aclimatic reversal that appears inland as a dry event (recorded atLake Caço between 12,800 and 11,000 cal BP), and in the coast as awet event (the broader interval was recorded at Cear�a in15,500e11,800 BP). Accordingly to Ledru (Ledru et al., 2006), thisphenomenon is related to an influence of the Younger Dryas in theSouthern Hemisphere.

For the Central region there is evidence of greater local vari-ability and climatic oscillations at the beginning of the Holocene.We summarise data published for six different locations: Lagoa

Bonita, MG (Barberi, 2001), Vereda das �Aguas Emendadas (Salgado-


L. Bueno, A. Isnardis / Quaternary International xxx (2018) 1e17 3

Laboriau,1997), Cromínia (Salgado-Laboriau,1997), Serra do Salitre,MG (Ledru, 1993); Lagoa dos Olhos (Salgado-Laboriau, 1997;Barberi, 2001), Lago do Pires (Behling, 1998). In all six cases thereis evidence for colder and dryer conditions prevailing just after the

LGM, ca. 19,000e13,000 BP. At four sites (Vereda das �AguasEmendadas, Cromínia, Lagoa dos Olhos and Lago do Pires) there isevidence of a continuation of this dry and cold climate, in some

cases indicating the existence of extreme aridity conditions (�AguasEmendadas). In these sites the drier conditions remain dominantthroughout the early Holocene, until 8,000, 7000 or 6000 BP, ac-cording to each individual record. At the two other sites (LagoaBonita and Salitre) there is evidence of a climatic shift in the Ter-minal Pleistocene to wetter conditions, favouring the expansion ofCerrado at Lagoa Bonita and forest at Salitre. Nevertheless, thistrend toward more humidity is interrupted by short and abruptchanges of drier conditions, possibly represented by extended dryphases, as it is the case for Salitre between 11,000e10,000 BP andfor Lagoa Bonita during the early Holocene.

Comparing the records of the Northeast and Central regions ofBrazil, there is evidence that a wetter climate prevailed in theNortheast during the Late Pleistocene (at least in its northern part),while in Central Brazil there was a general trend to very arid con-ditions. During the early Holocene there was a general trend to-wards wetter conditions in different parts of Central Brazil.Meanwhile, the North-eastern region enters an arid phase,although gallery forest remains in the main river valleys. Eventhough by the beginning of the Holocene there were differentchanges taking place in each region, in both cases it promoted thespread of savannah-like environments. After 10,000 BP there is atendency to warmer and wetter conditions in Central Brazil, and towarmer and drier conditions in the Northeast. Finally, in the mid-Holocene there are records of a dry event that shows some chro-nological variation or inconsistency on its estimated time of onsetand duration for both regions. Although this variation may berelated to methodological issues in the analysis of data from pollenrecords and the interpretation of radiocarbon dates (Araujo et al.,2003), there may also be effects of local climatic variation related,

Fig. 1. Distribution of occupational events based on C14 dates per site, organized by 500yr iand the lower curve shows the data for archaeological sites located at BCP. This graph and t(2013).


for example, to land plant cover, soil type and topography at themicro-regional level.

3. Peopling of Central Brazilian Plateau in the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (13,000e11,000 BP)

According to the available data there is evidence for somearchaeological sites dated by the Terminal Pleistocene in differentregions of Brazil, reaching dates that goes back to 23,000 BP(23,120þ-260 BP, GIFA 99177, Vialou et al., 2017:873). Although thequantity and quality of these data has been increased significantlyin the past ten years (Vialou, 2003, 2005, 2011; Boeda et al., 2013,2014, 2016), this chronology is still a matter of debate (Boedaet al., 2014; Borrero, 2015, 2016). For our discussion, we decidedto work with well-established dates younger than 13,000 BP. Weagree with some authors that we have already enough data topropose that the earlier occupation of South America should beolder than 13,000 BP (Dillehay, 2013; Politis et al., 2016), but it isstill not enough data to discuss mobility and territoriality (or eventechnological organization), which are the main focus of this paper.

We still have a restricted sample for the period between13,000e11,000 BP, both in terms of number and spatial distributionof known archaeological sites (Figs. 1 and 2). For this chronologicalinterval there are sites with solid evidence in three different loca-tions at the BCP. Archaeological sites include one rockshelter in theregion of Serra da Capivara, Southern PiauíeSítio do Meio (Guidon,1986; Guidon and Delibrias, 1986), another one from Peruaçu val-ley, northern Minas GeraiseLapa do Boquete (Prous, 1991a,b; Prousand Fogaça, 1999), and one from Montalvania region, northernMinas GeraiseLapa do Drag~ao (Prous et al., 1996/1997). For themoment, these three areas define the regionwith clearest andmostreliable signs of human occupation in the Pleistocene - Holocenetransition in Brazil (Bueno et al., 2013). Even though data is scarce,there are some aspects that suggest a similar composition of thearchaeological record for these three sites.

Regarding sites' establishment, these three rockshelters arelocated at salient or physically distinctive places, drawing attention

nterval. The upper curve shows the data for archaeological sites from all areas of Brazilhree other maps presented in this paper were based on data presented by Bueno et al.


Fig. 2. Sites between 13,000 and 11,000 BP.


to places that could be easily found or viewed in the landscape froma long distance and, at the same time, that concentrate a good di-versity of resources in the surrounding area.

The monumental karstic relief of Peruaçu River' valley assem-bles close to a hundred sites, including Lapa do Boquete sitewith anoccupation dated at 12,000 BP. This valley runs into to S~ao Franciscovalley and among its natural features are a special concentration offloristic variety along few kilometres and hundreds of large rock-shelters (which throughout the Holocene would be covered bymany thousands rock art figures) (Prous and Rodet, 2009a,b).

The Serra da Capivara is another monumental relief ensemble,with exuberant arenitic forms and large rockshelters. More thanfive hundreds archaeological sites were found so far, mostly atrockshelters. The human occupations occur without significantinterruptions from this first phase to the XXth century (Pessis et al.,2014).

As pointed by Kelly (2003, pp.49), “People entering a newcontinent may have avoided areas where the local topographycould not be connected to some larger topographic scheme. In thisregard, linear mountain chains (or their foothills), major rivers, and


coastlines might provide the easiest topography to navigate and torelate to other known places.”

Sítio doMeio rockshelter was excavated at the end of the 1970's,where eight archaeological levels were identified. In level V char-coal samples, from different hearth structures, were dated at12,200± 600 BP (GIF-4628), 12,440± 230 BP (GIF 5403) and13,900± 300 BP (GIF 4927). They were found in association with alithic assemblage that includes limaces, retouched and simpleflakes, cores, cobbles, two hammers and a chopper, mademainly onflint, quartzite, sandstone and quartz (Guidon, 1986, pp.168e169).

Lapa do Boquete rockshelter, excavated during the 1980's andthe 1990's, has a consistent chronological sequence, which en-compasses the late Pleistocene and all the Holocene, and excellentconditions for preservation of a rich assemblage of organic remains(Prous and Schlobach, 1997). For the period between 13,000 and11,000 BP there are six dated charcoal samples collected fromdifferent hearth structures. They were recovered from levels 7 and8, with a great amount of lithic and faunal remains and large firehearths (Kipnis, 2003; Rodet, 2006).

The lithic industry from levels 7 and 8 includes limaces, side



scrapers, end scrapers, retouched flakes and cores. Debitage isrepresented by some bifacial flaking and a fragment of a projectilepoint. The chaine operat�oire associated to the production of formaland informal tools from these levels is clearly defined, pointing outcomplementarities between both sequences and showing elementsof continuity among the assemblages (Fogaça, 2001).

Technological characteristics of the lithic industry remains thesame for the whole period, as it is also the case for the subsistencepattern. This pattern involves a broad-spectrum diet, with differentspecies of small and medium-size mammals (Kipnis, 2003).

The Lapa do Drag~ao rockshelter is located in Montalvania, in thenorth of Minas Gerais and 90 km from Lapa do Boquete. This site iscomposed by two neighbouring rockshelters in the southern part ofa doline, on the west margin of the Coch�a River, and 4 km awayfrom the main river. In 1977 three different areas were excavated atone of the shelters, identifying ten archaeological levels andobtaining ten radiocarbon dates for the site. A charcoal samplecollected from a hearth on Level VIII was dated at 11,000± 300 BP(CDTN 1007). This is the earliest level with archaeological remainsat the site and was associated with a large lithic assemblage. Thisassemblage shows similar technological characteristics to thosedescribed for Lapa do Boquete. There were different scrapers,limaces and evidence of bifacial flaking, but a clearly dominance ofunifacial flaking. According to Prous et al. (1996/97), the hightypological diversity, the proportion of retouched flakes and a morecontrolled flaking process are the main distinctive aspects for thisPleistocene/Holocene lithic industry in comparison to the Mid-Holocene assemblage.

It is worth noted that for this period there are no bio-archaeological or rock art data from the sites mentioned before.

3.1. Hypothesis

Based on this context we propose that the period 13,000 to11,000 BP corresponds to a mapping phase of a poorly occupiedlandscape, where the Serra da Capivara and Peruaçu valley, as wellas the S~ao Francisco river basin, functioned as important landmarkers in a landscape that need to be known (Kelly, 2003). Giventhe marked climatic change and variability that characterizes thisperiod, with an alternation between extremely dry conditions andperiods with seasonally heavy rainfall, these places could have beenregarded as hot-spots in terms of diverse resource availability,playing an important role as focal points to organize logisticalmobility. Thus, both factorselandmark and ecological hot-spotsecould have contributed to their selection as focal points to becontinuously occupied by hunther-gatherer groups during thisphase.

The characteristics of the archaeological record of all three sitessuggest an occupation phase of groups with already some knowl-edge of the region. The continuous shelters' reoccupation (partic-ularly at Lapa do Boquete and Sítio do Meio), the procurement ofvaried plant and animal resources, and the use of diversified lithicraw materials show the existence of a previous knowledge on re-sources' distribution and reflects a moment between the explora-tion and the effective occupation of the region. This means thatthese contexts do not represent the first moments of settlement northe begging of the occupation, but they can be consider as related toan exploration time of the area.

In this sense, the main question related to lithic industries andspatial occupation in Central Brazil during this period involves thediscussion regarding the meaning of these similarities and theirrelation to mobility patterns and cultural affiliation, questions alsoinvolved in the definition and characterization of the ItaparicaTradition (Schmitz, 1980; Guidon, 1986; Etchevarne, 1999; Oliveira


and Viana, 1999; Prous and Fogaça, 1999; Bueno, 2007a,b; Rodetet al., 2011). For the last 10e15 years this concept has receivedmore attention and have been the focus of detailed lithic techno-logical analysis (Fogaça, 2001; Bueno, 2007a,b; Rodet, 2006;Isnardis, 2009; Lourdeau, 2015). Based on these studies we couldsay that there is a strong homogeneity in the production schemesand knapping objectives to obtain the main unifacially shaped ar-tifacts commonly found in these assemblages (Lourdeau, 2015).These artifacts have always many different edges (in terms of line,angle and size) combined in a single piece, suggesting they weremultifunctional artifacts. They are also characterized by theircuration: they almost always have signs of successive resharpen-nings and were produced in anticipation of use. These attributesalong with their multifunctional nature supports our interpretationof them as portable artifacts, traveling with their producersthroughout the landscape (Bueno, 2007b).

4. Intensification and dispersion in the peopling of BCPduring the early Holocene (11,000e9000 BP)

Just after 11,000 BP we have a huge increase in the number ofsites and their spatial distribution, occupying all the BCP (Fig. 3).Nevertheless, it is good to remember that this occupation was nothomogeneous and it did not covered all spaces that encompassesthe BCP. Here as well there are selected places that show similar-ities -or at least places that have been occupied more frequently togenerate an archaeological signature (Bueno, 2011; Dias and Bueno,2013)- and other places in which we have a distinct archaeologicalrecord, especially regarding lithic technology, as we observe atLagoa Santa (Bueno and Isnardis, 2017).

In this phase the occupation expands to othermajor river valleysof the region, as the Tocantins River and the Upper Parana (Para-naíba valley), and included too several tributaries of these mainrivers (Schmitz et al., 2004; Bueno, 2007a). Also, special attention isgiven to those well-defined valleys that offer a good diversity ofgame and fruit, and maintain water availability throughout theyear. This seems to be the case for other regions which we canconnect with this second phase: Santa Elina, Serran�opolis, Dia-mantina and Montalvania (Prous et al., 1996/1997; Schmitz et al.,2004; Isnardis, 2009; Bueno, 2011; Lourdeau, 2015). The remark-able similarities in the lithic technology and technological organi-zation among all these areas are what allows us to propose aregional phenomenon, whose origins are certainly related to theexploration dynamic that characterizes the previous period.

The subsistence seems to remain basically the same in thissecond phase, based on generalized exploration of small and me-dium mammals, fruits and birds (Kipnis, 2003; Schmitz et al.,2004). As pointed out by Kipnis (2003) and Schmitz et al. (2004),for several sites dated on this period, there are a remarkablepresence of botanical remains, suggesting the importance of plantcollecting in the subsistence pattern of these groups. As it has beenstressed in several papers, there is no evidence of megamammals inthe archaeological record of the BCP, evenwhen there are evidencespointing to the coexistence of this kind of fauna and humanoccupation in the same area and period (Hubbe et al., 2014). Theonly exception comes from Santa Elina site, where there werefound perforated osteoderms (Vialou, 2011).

Zooarchaeological studies carried out by Kipnis (2003) andSchmitz et al. (2004) in sites located at the Peruaçu valley andSerran�opolis region, respectively, have suggested a subsistencewhere collecting plant resources should have had a very importantrole during the early Holocene.

To illustrate the main characteristics of this phase in order todiscuss settlement strategies and the mobility system, we will


Fig. 3. Sites between 11,000 and 9000 BP.


discuss more closely the case of middle Tocantins river valley, in theLajeado region.

According to the data obtained over the last 15 years of researchin the middle Tocantins river valley, we have a well dated sequencethat starts by 10,500 BP and continues until today, if we include inthis sequence the actual Xerente's occupation of this area (Morales,2006; Bueno, 2007a,b; Bueno et al., in press).

For this region the available data comes from rockshelter andopen-air sites. There are six open-air sites with a well datedsequence between the early and middle Holocene and two rock-shelters with dates for the same interval - 12,000e5000 BP (Buenoet al., in press).

The assemblages recovered at the open-air sites consist of lithicremains that are related mostly to the production of unifacial ar-tifacts and only a few bifacial ones, mainly associated with the


Itaparica Tradition. According to a set of analysis that include thesedated sites and other open-air sites with same archaeological ma-terial, it was possible to propose some characteristics of the lithictechnological organization associated to these contexts.

In the Tocantins valley we see the typical raw material selectionthat can be observed in other areas for the same period. Differentstrategies of raw material acquisition regarding its quality takeplace: that finest rock varieties are chosen for the production ofunifacially shaped artifacts, while the rock varieties of inferiorquality are used to make simpler tools and unmodified flakes.When we look at the technical choices, we can clearly see anarticulation between formal and informal tools production anddiscard. The formal unifacial artifacts are made by a well-definedchaîne operatoire, which implies specific technical choices fromthe raw material selection to the successive resharpening process



until the abandonment of the tools. These choices involve the se-lection of the finest and most homogeneous raw material, onlyavailable in the bigger quarries of the region. On these quarry sites,a previous flaking of the cores was made, producing some blanksthat were transported and flaked in another areas. These blanksmust present two parallel and elongated sides, and must be thickenough to allow a continuous resharpenning process during its lifecycle. Thus, the production of these artifacts involves a continuousprocess of definition, delineation and resharpening of small edges.They were basically used on the production and maintenance ac-tivities of other artefact assemblages made on wood and bone. Theprocess of defining edges to be use in different activities, and theconstant redefinition of the artifacts' passive part in order to permitits hafting and/or handling, involves a constant reformulation ofthe blank's original form and volume (Bueno, 2007b). So, we see inLajeado the same general process described by Fogaça (2001) forthe North of Minas Gerais (Peruaçu Valley) and by Lourdeau (2015)for the Serranopolis region.

The distribution of the unifacially shaped artifacts within thesites, the variability of their edge compositions and dimensions, theuse of resharpening as part of the production process, and thenumber of artifacts, led us to propose that they probably were partof the toolkits that were transported by the individuals of thesegroups in different kinds of movements, and that they were usedfor a variety of activities involving mainly the acquisition ofdifferent resources. In this context, they were produced in antici-pation of useein terms of places of use and the activities that wouldbe performed (Bueno, 2007b).

Another aspect of Tocantins river valley is that it was possible tosee differences between sites in terms of environmental locationand assemblage composition, probably due to some sort of logis-tical mobility. Nevertheless, it was possible to identify a recurrentuse of the same places during more than a millennium, showingcertain stability in the territorial dynamics. The quantity ofarchaeological sites that we found along the Tocantins River re-inforces the role that this major water courses should have hadduring this period. Furthermore, the archaeological record suggestsa totally established occupation of the area, the maintenance ofterritoriality patterns and a strategy of lithic technological organi-zation that involves mobility and an operational sequence thatwere implemented to cope with unpredictability in resource en-counters in time and space (Bueno, 2007a).

If we look to other parts of the BCP, it is possible to identifywithin the operational sequences some aspects of the lithic tech-nological organization shared between areas that were more than2.000 km far from each other (Fig. 4) (Fogaça, 2001; Rodet, 2006;Lourdeau and Pagli, 2014; Lourdeau, 2015).

According to Lourdeau:“The techno-functional analysis of the early Holocene lithic as-

semblages at GO-JA_01 [Serran�opolis region], Toca do Boqueir~ao daPedra Furada and Toca do Pica-pau [Serra da Capivara region] thusreveals the technological proximity of the unifacially shaped arti-facts produced at these three sites, despite the great distanceseparating them. Similarities between the flake tools in these threeassemblages are also pointed out. The technological relationshipbetween these collections is thus not limited to the commonpresence of remains known as unifacially shaped artifacts. Thethree data sets demonstrate the existence of identical knappingobjectives and similarity in the production schemes used to meetthem. These lithic assemblages result from the same technologicalsystem. These observations, which support the strong conceptualhomogeneity of these assemblages, are reinforced by data pub-lished for several other sites in the region. For example, at Lapa doBoquete or at sites in the Lajeado region, unifacially shaped artifacts


are produced by the samemodalities as at the three sites previouslystudied, and they show the same volumetric range in profiles andtransverse sections. Based on published drawings, we also notedthe existence of an UTFt [Transformative Techno-functional Units]on the ends of these artifacts with rounded, pointed or transverserectilinear delineation. Finally, the debitage schemes used to obtainblanks for the associated flake tools are always described as simple,without core preparation, and by series of mainly unidirectionalremovals. These data tend to strongly confirm the existence ofItaparica technocomplex as a vast technocultural group distributedin central and northeast Brazil during the Pleistocene-Holocenetransition and the early Holocene” (Lourdeau, 2015, pp. 65/66).

Based on the available informationwe propose that more than aconceptual framework for unifacial production, these regions wereoccupied by groups sharing specific ways of territoriality, involvinghigh mobility patterns and logistical mobility. At the same time,this sharing behaviour could have enabled the transit betweendistinct group territories, probably involving flexible frontiers, andthe visitation by individuals from groups from distant locations.

But, as we mentioned before, there are places, such as LagoaSanta, with an archaeological record that does not show these samecharacteristics. According the extensive data presented by WalterNeves and colleagues (Neves et al., 2003), the chronology obtainedin this area shows a very clear scenario. In spite of some early ev-idence of humans crossing the region (the strongest support of thiscomes from a burial context where a female skeleton, known as“Luzia”, was recovered and was dated between 11 and 12,000 BP),the bulk of human occupation at Lagoa Santa started, ratherabruptly, around 10,500 BP. Soon after 10,500 BP, new sites begunto be occupied. There are plenty of evidences in rockshelter andopen air sites, especially in the surroundings of one of the largestkarstic lakes of the region, where the amount of lithic remains in-creases. There are also evidences of the use of plants and, finally, thepresence of some well elaborated human burials.

The lithic assemblage associated to this context is composedmainly by quartz crystal flakes, with a low frequency of flint,concentrated in the deeper layers. Most of the remains are quitesmall, less than 4 cm long, and most of the tools are informal, withone or two well defined small edges. Although scarce, some arti-facts show resharpening and reuse. There is also some evidence ofhafting, even in these small tools, that were mainly unifaciallyflaked. In spite of the fact that most of the lithic rawmaterials wereprobably obtained from local sources, there are data showing theexploitation of raw materials located at least 60 km far from LagoaSanta (Hurt, 1960; Pugliese, 2007; Bueno, 2010; Bueno and Isnardis,2017).

These characteristics of the lithic technology tend to remainconstant along the following two millennia. However, there is animportant technological innovation: all shelters more intensivelyexcavated so far (systematically or not) indicate the production of atype of ground stone artifactsehand axes. They are made of he-matite or igneous rocks, raw materials not commonly found in thevicinity, and they represent the earliest record of ground stoneartifacts for this area, as well as for Brazil, with dates that go back to9500 BP (Pugliese, 2007; Bueno, 2010).

But perhaps the most striking aspect of the occupation of thisarea are the hundreds of human burials registered in several ofthese shelters, especially after 9000 BP. These burials are occupyinglarge rockshelter's and they indicate an important change in theprocess of handling and preparing buried bodies (Strauss et al.,2016). This use of the rockshelters as funerary spaces marks astrong differentiation on meaning of the natural shelters comparedto the other areas previously discussed (Peruaçu, Serra da Capivara,Serran�opolis, Lajeado). Therefore, we could stand that in Lagoa


Fig. 4. Unifacial (plane-convex) artifacts. (A) Serran�opolis region (Lourdeau, 2015); (B) Peruaçu valley (Rodet, 2006); (C) Peruaçu valley (Rodet, 2006); (D) Middle Tocantins(Lajeado) (Bueno, 2015).


Santa there was another structuration of the territory, other usesand meanings of the shelters and, by extension, of the other placesconnected with them.

Neves and collaborators have recently published a paper pre-senting what may be the oldest record of rock art for this region(Neves et al., 2012). They found engravings in the base of the shelter


in Lagoa Santa, buried under a thick sediment columnwith samplesdated by different techniques at 9500 BP. The engraved figures arestylistically similar to those registered in other shelters of this re-gion. This case from Lagoa Santa points that, at least in that region,the rock art is already part of the building of place meanings duringthis second phase of peopling of the BCP.



4.1. Hypothesis: changing patterns

In the late centuries of this second phase, we identify somechanges in lithic technology. The main aspect of this change is thatthe traditional unifacially shaped artifacts are no longer produced.

Of course this does not happened at the same time in all placesin the BCP. This was a changing process that occurred between9000e8000 BP, at least in Serran�opolis (Schmitz et al., 2004),Lajeado (Bueno, 2007a,b), Peruaçu (Fogaça, 2001; Rodet, 2006) andSerra da Capivara (Lourdeau and Pagli, 2014).

These changes regarding lithic technology and rock art tookplace between 10,000e9000 BP and consolidated in the followingmillennia, leading to a process of regionalization. To understandsuch process, perhaps it would be helpful to take another look tothe number of dates and sites for Brazil and, specifically, for the BCPduring this period, as shown in Fig.1. One of the aspects that we cannote is that for the interval between 10,500 and 10,000 BP, slightlybefore these changes took place, we have the highest point on thegraph, indicating the highest number of occupational events. If thiscould be seen as a proxy of demography, these changes might havehappened right after an increase in the demographic patterns thatwe have observed for the BCP peopling process.

Another important aspect is that, based on site distribution, wecould identify a spread of occupations toward the western of theBCP, where are located the headwaters of several major river basinsof Brazilian inland, which could connected this area with othermain Biomes of Brazil that are experiencing an intensification inhuman peopling too (Paraguay River with Chaco region and Platabasin, Xingu and Tocantins with Amazon basin, Paranaíba withParan�a basin) (Bueno et al., 2013).

As wementioned before, in the beginning of the Holocene thereis a general trend to warmer and wetter conditions in this area,which is almost entirely covered by a kind of savannah vegetation(Cerrado). Based on this data we are proposing here that the com-bination of demographic increase, intensification of cultural con-tacts and flux of people and information, improvement of resourceavailability could have contributed for the changes observed on thelithic technology and rock art, but they certainly also involvedchanges in mobility patterns, social organization, and territoriality.We could also add to all these aspects the proposal of Neves andPucciarelli (1991) that, by the 9000 BP could have taken place amigration of a population from a distinct biological stock into SouthAmerica.

5. Regionalization and transition (9000e7000 BP)

As noted before, what we see during 9000e7000 BP is anintensification of the regional variability and that, instead of tech-nological homogeneity and large shared territories, the scenario isdominated by a regionalization (Fig. 5).

The lithic assemblages are essentially generalized, produced onlocal rawmaterial and it seems that these regional assemblages arerelated to an expedient technological organization.

Unfortunately, there are only a few projects with regional ap-proaches, but what they are showing is a low variability betweensites and a strong correlation with primary refuse at the sites,which could indicate the preference for a forager strategy. Never-theless, it is important to mention that subsistence patterns remainthe same, in terms of faunistic and floristic remains, even consid-ering the taphonomic bias.

If we look closer to some of these regions, the distinctive attri-butes between the previous phases and this third one can becomeclearer. In Serra da Capivara, the lithic assemblage is morerestricted. Some types of artifacts, that were present since the


Pleistocene levels, are no longer registered at the sites (rocksheltersnor open-air sites) (Lourdeau and Pagli, 2014). There is less vari-ability. However, the unifacial artifacts are still being produced. Ifwe pay a close attention to the chronology, we will see that thischange was happening around 9000 BP. Among the exuberantsandstone formations of Capivara, the bigger number of occupiedsites can be found between 9000 BP and 6000 BP. It is not clear,however, if this increasing number corresponds to more similar ormore distinguished sites.

In Peruaçu Valley, both Fogaça (2001) and Rodet (2006) un-derline that a remarkable change took place around 9000 BP. In therockshelters (where all the known sites from this period arelocated), the unifacial formal and sophisticated artifacts becamerare or disappear from the archaeological record. The industriesbecame simpler, made of less selected raw materials (Rodet, 2006),compatible with local sources, and suggest expedient solutions(Fogaça, 2001) such as less blank varieties, and simpler and non-patterned chaînes op�eratoires.

In the middle Tocantins river valley, the open-air sites whichwere intensively occupied during the previous period, were nowabandoned. Between 9000 and 7000 BP we only have clear evi-dences of human occupation in rockshelters, places that were notoccupied in the previous period. Thus, this area represents aninteresting case of settlement patterns' change and, at the sametime, indicates the permanence in the region coupled with aban-donment of some places and incorporations of new ones (Buenoet al., in press). The formal unifacial shaped artifacts that wereproduced earlier are no longer found at these sites.

From these data, we can observe reducing signs of logisticalstrategies that seems to be replaced by a generalized system forgathering raw materials for lithic industries. But this replacementwas not general in the BCP. Yet, different objectives regarding lithicmaterials and different ways to deal with rocks and artifacts replaceit. In some areas we no longer see the production of artifacts inanticipation of use, which were replaced by artifacts that seems tobe made for occasional needs. Whereas, in another areas, the pre-vious planned and multifunctional unifacial artifacts remain andare still important. It's not just a change, it's a change into diversity.

It is very interesting to note that Lagoa Santa context that pre-sent a distinct lithic technology, a large quantity of human burial,rock art and polished stone tools, shows an intensification processof occupation during the same period, between 9500 and 8000 BP(Bueno and Isnardis, 2017). As we have mentioned above, besidesthe ancient dates for rockshelters, the occupational dynamics ofthis region indicates an intensification after 10,000 BP, and a changeon the activities performed at these places, especially the record ofhuman burials in each site.

During this period we see the emergence of the rock art indistant places located within the BCP. The main areas to which wehave more consistent data regarding rock art chronology arePeruaçu and Serra da Capivara. At least in these two areas we couldsay that the rockshelter's walls are inaugurated during this phase,between 9000 and 7000 BP (Ribeiro, 2006; Pessis et al., 2014).Besides the scarcity of data, it seems that between 9000e8000 BPwe found the first rock art manifestations also in Lajeado rock-shelters (Bueno et al., in press).

At Toca dos Oitenta, a sandstone rockshelter in Serra da Cap-ivara, a sediment level dated between 7840e7600 BP covers rockpaintings (Pessis, 2002). At Lapa do Boquete, in Peruaçu valley, afallen block was filled with incisions and, after them, with geo-metric engravings, stylistic similar to one of the oldest styles innorthern Minas Gerais. The level under the fallen block has aradiocarbon date of 9350 BP and the level covering the block wasdated at 7810± 80 BP (Ribeiro, 2006). In both cases, the


Fig. 5. Sites between 9000 and 7000 y BP.


stratigraphic conditions are clear, well stablished, and the datesseems reliable.

But the presence of rock art in this phase is still subtle. It doesnot dominate the shelters and does not change the landscape, as itwould do in the later periods. The pictures, especially in PeruaçuValley, occupy the rock walls in small numbers and their themesand style are quite simple and non-specific (Fig. 6).

Even with few secure dating (see discussion in Ribeiro, 2006),we could say that the differences in rock art ensemble in CentralBrazil start to become clear still in this phase. Ribeiro (op. cit.) setsin the two millennia of this third phase the first styles of NorthernMinas Gerais and South-western Bahia states. The first styles onPeruaçu valley rock walls are composed by monochromaticanthropomorphic figures and by “geometric” figures, morefrequently monochromatic, as simple parallel lines, “grids”, groupsof spherical or squared biomorphic little figures (Ribeiro and


Isnardis, 1996/97; Isnardis, 2004).With no reliable dating, composed by simple lines, zoomorphic

figures (most of them suggestive of lizards) and schematicanthropomorphic pictures, the earlier rock art from Goi�as (at Ser-ran�opolis and Caiaponia regions) is not very different from that firststyles of Peruaçu (Schmitz et al., 1989, 1996, 2004; Isnardis, 2004).But their local development will take very different directions inthe following centuries.

At Unaí, in Northwestern Minas Gerais, P. Seda (Prous, 1991a,b)obtained an 8160 BP date at a level that covered a fallen fragmentfrom the painted wall, thus establishing a minimal dating. Unfor-tunately, we do not have specific representations of those graph-isms in the literature, but the date marks the beginning of thispractice on rockshelters within the 9000e7000 BP phase.

In Serra da Capivara, the dates presented by Pessis (2002)around 7700 BP are related to the already very typical figures at


Fig. 6. Most ancient rock art discussed in this paper. (A) Engraving in Lapa do Santo, Lagoa Santa region (Neves et al., 2012); (B) Fallen block from Lapa do Boquete, Peruaçu valley(Ribeiro, 2006 - modified); (C) Most ancient style of rock art at Serra da Capivara (Pessis, 2003); (D) Early styles from Peruaçu valley (Isnardis, 2004).


Southern Piauí called “North-East Tradition” (Pessis, 2003; Pessiset al., 2014). By this period, the regional walls are dominated byanthropomorphic paintings combined in very suggestive sets thatseem to compose scenes. For some researchers these themes willremain throughout the next millennia. If we compare the themesand stylistic characteristics of the sets of graphisms in these areas,we can already observe a diversity, even though it is not intense andevident enough as it will be later in the following periods of therockshelters' occupation.

In Tocantis (Goi�as region) and in the rest of the Minas Geraisstate there are no known burials dated on this period. The


rockshelters are not being used as funerary areas. The only area thathas burial assemblages is the Lagoa Santa region. Nevertheless, W.Neves and his research team have suggested that the horizon thatcomprises the third phase we proposed could corresponds with thearrival into the Planalto Central of new human populations, basedon data regarding diversity in cranial morphology (Neves andHubbe, 2005; Neves et al., 2003; Hubbe et al., 2014). The pres-ence of a new morphology could be taken as an aspect to think onthe wide range of processes that was developing during this thirdphase, where the most ancient similarities are being dismantledwithin a framework of an emerging regionalization.



5.1. Hypothesis

It's clear that, besides possible sampling bias, another territori-ality is being built. Moreover: another territorialities are being build.The use (and meaning) of sites have changed. When one comparesbetween the regions during this period, the differences becomevery significant. In some regions, as Lagoa Santa Karstic Plateau, thecaves and rockshelters became funeral places. The known rock-shelters at Diamantina region are empty of archaeological remains.In Serra da Capivara, this is the major period of rockshelter occu-pations. In Peruaçu valley there are many remains in rockshelters,but the unifacial artifacts are gone. In Serran�opolis region, thenumber of occupied sites increases and they became more similarone to another. This configuration seems to reinforce the changesthat begun at the end of the previous phase, consolidating theregionalizing process that resulted on the development of newartefactual assemblages and new dynamics on the use of space.These changes on technology, mobility and territoriality will mark anew phase in the peopling process. Between 9000 and 7000 BPseems to be the end of the slow and gradual occupational process ofthe BCP that begun at the end of the Pleistocene, and thatcomprised the building of wide and shared territories. As weobserved by the end of the last period, these changes could havebeen related to a demographic growth, an intensification of theinformation flow and environmental changes, and possibly also tothe arrival of new human populations to the BCP.

6. Fission, abandonment(?), rock art and the formation ofarchaeological record: further into Holocene and diversity

To finish our long history, by 7000 BP we have another scenariotaking place at the BCP. What we see is a strong decrease of thearchaeological signal for the BCP. The number of sites and datesdecay abruptly in several regions (Araujo et al., 2003; Araujo, 2014).

Araujo and colleagues in a paper published 12 years ago, havedefined this pattern of low archaeological signal as the Archaic Gap.In that paper the authors presented a revision of paleoclimatic datafor Central Brazil and a revision of known dated samples fromarchaeological sites. By comparing these two sets of data theypresented a hypothesis to explain the almost absence of dated sitesduring the middle Holocene in Central Brazil. In their opinion, thisphenomenon could be explained by a process of regional aban-donment due to a paleoclimatic context marked by an

Fig. 7. Distribution of C14 dates per 500 yr for archaeological sites loc


intensification of aridity that should have led to a scenario of lowwater availability (Araujo et al., 2003).

To exemplify one possible alternative explanation to that pro-posed by Araujo et al. (2003), we can explore, in a regional scale, thearchaeological context for the Central-northern of Minas Gerais.This region encompasses 6 archaeological areas that have been theresearch focus from different archaeological teams or the sameteam in different periods, from South to North: Lagoa Santa, Dia-mantina, Montes Claros, Unaí, Peruaçu and Montalvania. Almost600 km separates Lagoa Santa, in the South, from Montalvania, inthe North; from Unaí, at the North-West and Diamantina, at theEastern border of this region, the distance is about 400 km. Suchdistances define an area of almost 300.000 km2.

Using an interval of 500 years (to maintain the method utilizedby Araujo and colleagues) to distribute the dated samples, whatemerges from the graphic is an “alternation pattern”. The occupa-tion periods of each area is intercalated within each other: whenone area does not have dates, the neighbour area has (Fig. 7). Thisseems to be a pattern at least between 8000 and 4000 BP. It sug-gests that we have an integration among these areas, with somekind of circulation of their “gravity center”.

Along this exact period, the lithic industries of all these regionsshare some features: they rarely made formal artifacts; theyselected local raw materials; most of the artifacts are small, with afew retouched edges and low frequency of resharpening behaviour;their nucleus does not show too specific characteristics, indicatingan absence or a minimum of planning prior the flaking process;they are not looking for a specific type of support, but they areproducing specific kinds of edges in different supports. Besidesregional variations probably regarded to the access of particularraw materials, it is possible to say that during this period there issome similarity between their lithic assemblages, especiallyregarding the central and northern areas of Minas Gerais state.

When we look closely to those areas, we can see, beyond thesimilarities in lithic industries, different modes of territoriality.

For Lagoa Santa region, besides the aspects showed above, thelithic artefact production remains focused in quartz crystals, whichare very ubiquitous throughout the landscape. However, the burialpractice in caves and rockshelters is abandoned, meanwhile theprevious day-to-day activities continues in those sites.

In Diamantina region, among the approximately 20 excavatedsites only in one of them it was obtained radiocarbon dates be-tween 6000 and 3000 BP (the excavation was conducted by Prof.

ated in five different areas in center and northern Minas Gerais.



Marcelo Fagundes and his UFJVM team Fagundes, 2016). This singlecase indicates the human presence in the region for the middleHolocene, but the strong absence of archaeological levels for thisperiod at the rest of the sites shows a remarkable change in tech-nological organization and mobility strategies. Before explainingthis absence by regional or local abandonment, we wish to un-derline that all the dated samples come from rockshelters. Thus, weare looking at an absence in these particular locals in the landscape.What we can really say is that rockshelters lost the important rolethat they had previously played; they no longer occupy a relevantfunction in mobility strategy and technological organization.

At Peruaçu valley and Montalvania region, in the extreme Northof Minas Gerais state, after 7000 BP there are nomore signs of plan-

Fig. 8. The great diversity in rock art. (A) Lapa do Caboclo, Peruaçu valley (photo: A. Isnardisfrom Diamantina region (photo: A. Isnardis); (D) Paintings from Serran�opolis (Schmitz, 198


convex artifacts or any other kind of formal (or complex andpatterned) lithic artefact. The density of lithics and other materialsin archaeological levels decays. However, the shelters continue tobe used until the upper Holocene. The rock art became morefrequent, intense and more distinguished between the areas, butsecure dating is still difficult to obtain (Fig. 8).

In Lagoa Santa region (we include the neighbouring Serra doCip�o, in the southern point of Espinhaço mountain chain) the re-searchers presented solid radiocarbon dates that indicates the rockart composing from 5120 ± 130 BP, at Lapa Vermelha (Laming-Emperaire, 1979), until at least 2000 BP, at Santana do Riacho(Prous and Baeta, 1992/93). Known as “Planalto tradition”, theoldest pictures in this region are dominated by zoomorphic figures

); (B) Toca do Pinga do Boi, Serra da Capivara (photo: A. Isnardis); (C) Ancient paintings7).



(especially “deers”).Significant similarities were observed between Serra do Cip�o

and Diamantina rock art (Isnardis, 2009; Linke, 2014). Not only interms of themes election, but also the stylistic change (the olderfigures in Serra do Cip�o are very similar to the older figures inDiamantina); the same occurs with the younger pictures. If weassume the same range of dates for both regions, we would havethe rock wall occupation in Diamantina beginning at the sameperiod for which we have no archaeological levels.

For Peruaçu valley and Montalvania region we don't have rockart dating between 7800 and 2800 BP (Ribeiro, 2006). But this lastdate corresponds to the last style of “S~ao Francisco tradition”, andthe first date seems to correspond to its first style (Ribeiro, 2006).So, its development could be placed in the middle Holocene, basedon the available data. Characterized by polychromic figures, abun-dance andmajor interest in high andwide panels, the so called “S~aoFrancisco tradition” dominates the rock walls in Peruaçu valley. Inboth thematic and stylistic aspects the early S~ao Francisco traditionis deeply different from the figures that dominate the rocksheltersin Diamantina, Lagoa Santa e Serra do Cip�o.

Another important aspect related to rock art in central andnorthern Minas Gerais is the fact that in both regions it seems thatthe interactions with previous occupation of the shelters are keyelements in the panel composition (Ribeiro and Isnardis, 1996/97;Isnardis, 2004, 2009; Linke and Isnardis, 2012). Continuitythroughout the middle Holocene is a significant component of rockart for both areas. This phenomenon suggests strong ties with thepainted places, a strong sense of relation between those people andtheir territory. However, in each region those interactions involveddifferent behaviours, reinforcing the strong cultural diversity inmiddle Holocene (for further discussions see Isnardis, 2004; Linke,2008; Linke and Isnardis, 2012).

Some similarities can be found in the intermediate areas, be-tween Serra do Cip�o/Diamantina and Peruaçu/Montalvania regions,as well as in Jequitaí (Tobias, 2010), Monjolos (Guimar~aes et al.,2011) and Montes Claros (Bueno, 2013). The rock art assamblagesfrom those areas present some similarities with the first regions,but also local specificities. They show particular ways of selectingand combining the themes shared with other regions, integratingoriginal themes and also composing specific spatial organizationson the rockshelters.

The funerary practices are still unknown for most contexts ofcentral Brazil, far away from the littoral area, until the range of 3000BP. Most of the data that we have for the first millenniums of thisfourth period comes from rockshelters, which seem to have func-tioned as funerary spaces on a punctual way (Prous and Rodet,2009b). Nevertheless, Neves points out that the morphology ofmost of the known individuals are similarly with the contemporaryAmerindian populations and, therefore, distinctly different fromthe morphology of the individuals from the beginning of the Ho-

locene. The site Caixa D’�Agua de Buritizeiro, north of Minas Geraisstate, is an important exception to the scarcity of burials in theBrazil inland during the first millenniums of this fourth phase. It isan open-air context on an old terrace of the S~ao Francisco River thatwas used as a funerary space for a long period, between 7000 and6000 BP (Prous and Rodet, 2009b). But we still lack of detailedstudies on the morphologies of the dozens of individuals buriedthere.

6.1. Hypothesis

Based on these data we propose that during the mid-Holocenewhat we have, at least for this region of central-north Minas Ger-ais, it is not a “regional abandonment”. Maybe we could work with


the idea of changes in territoriality, with a different mobilitypattern and different ways of conceiving, using and maintaining aterritory. Instead of thinking about abandonment, we couldconceive such process as permanence, with some kind of disper-sion of small social units for wider regions that, in certainmoments,came together at specific places of this large region. The similarityidentified in the lithic technology, this integration between areaswith distinct rock art, the importance of re-occupation and inter-action with previous occupations, the pattern of dated samplespointing to an intercalation of occupation intensity between theseareas. All these aspects allow us to propose this hypothesis: duringthe mid-Holocene, at least for the area of central-north MinasGerais, we have a process of territoriality changes, one that involvesnot a regional abandonment but the incorporation of wider areas ina movement of permanence that involves integration, articulatingdifferent areas across the space and time.

7. Final remarks and future research

In this paper we have proposed four distinct periods related todifferent process of peopling the Central Brazilian Plateau. Theseperiods involve changes in technology, territoriality, mobility, androck art. As we mention, there are series of factors that could havecontributed to these changes: demography, cultural contact, envi-ronmental changes. From a theoretical point of view, we are pro-posing that all such aspects must be considered for building aninterpretation about the reasons and meanings related to thesechanges.

Based on what was presented above we can synthesize thesefour main periods as follows:

Phase 1efrom 13,000 to 11,000 BP. At the local level we haveevidences of a logistical mobility being practiced associated in theregional level with large territories without well-defined bound-aries, facilitating an intense flux of people, information and goods;related to an exploration and colonization phase (sensu Zede~no,1997); Phase 2efrom 11,000 to 9000 BP. We still have a logisticalmobility at the local level, more influenced by Cerrado seasonalvariability, demographic increase in the beginning of this phaseand, towards the end, we can propose that a regionalization processis taking place at the BCP, with a decrease in territorial extensionsand probably well-defined boundaries; this phase could be corre-lated to a Settlement phase (Zede~no, 1997).

Phase 3 e from 9000 to 7000 BP. The wide sharing of techno-logical organization in the Central Brazilian Plateau fades away.Instead, more peculiar strategies and technological choices rise ineach region. Diversity takes place and we can see different kinds ofmobility, other territorialities, which change the meaning and useof the places in the landscape (which in turn it occurs in differentways in each region). The rock art became part of the landscapes,but still in a shy way.

Phase 4 e after 7000 BP. The diversity increases. The rock artmultiplies and becomes a strong component of regional landscapes.Some elements of technological organization are being sharedamong the areas, especially in Minas Gerais, but lithic industries,site function and mobility are diverse throughout the Central Bra-zilian Plateau. Some areas show weak archaeological records oronly specific kinds of remains (as rock art). Some places are aban-doned, but human presence is still clear and culturally diversethroughout Central Brazilian Plateau.

How can we explain these changes? Why did they occur?First of all, it is important to stress that, although it is possible to

propose these changes based on the characteristics of archaeolog-ical record, as we have just presented, we still needmore and betterdata to truly understand the reasons that have guided the choices



made by the people that were experiencing those places in the BCP.The changes identified in a macro-regional scale by 9000 BP

happen a short time after a huge increase in the quantity andgeographical distribution of the sites. As we have argued, it couldhave involved changes in territorial extent and boundaries, culturalinteraction and fluxof information between human groups living indifferent places.

One remarkable aspect in the occupation process of the BCP isthat, besides all these changes, there are some places that areoccupied during all periods. Certainly, the choices made by thepeople who inhabited, built and lived in these places were not thesame.

Studying the rock art of some sites of Peruaçu river valley andDiamantina region Isnardis and Linke have identified interactionprocesses between the figures painted in the wall. In both regions,the younger paintings are placed in the walls establishing anintense dialogue with the older figures. In Peruaçu valley, newpaintings are placed very close to the older ones with the samethemes; older paintings are re-painted or receive a new contour(with a new colour); the graphic spaces (the panel limits), definedat the first moment of painting, are maintained (Isnardis, 2004). AtDiamantina, the interactions are even more radical (clearlycomposing a different system of interactions): the new paintingsare many times placed touching the limits of the older ones;sometimes they are placed inside their limits or they completelyencompass older figures; in many cases the new paintings do notcompose complete figures, they are partially composed by tracesthat belong to older figures or they put another elements into olderpaintings, transforming them (Linke, 2008, 2014; Isnardis, 2009;Linke and Isnardis, 2012).

Putting all these aspects together we could present a hypothesisthat some places, once selected as important landmarks to helpnavigate the uninhabited or poorly known landscapes, as in phase1, becomes more and more “Places of People” (Machado, 2012). Bythe material remains on the floor and, especially the painted walls,they become recognizable as places that were once occupied, pla-ces that were already used by people with whom they could orcould not have engaged directly or even recognized. In theperspective of regional ranking, we can say that these are places ofinterrelated temporalities, places that connect people throughdifferent times, places where people from different times engagetogether to continue building them, performing different kinds ofinteractions through the figures painted at the walls: denying,complementing, reinforcing are all aspects that, curiously or not,correspond to the same actions that we perform in the process ofconstructing histories and memories (Santos-Granero, 2007).

So what we are trying to build is an understanding for this longprocess of exploration, colonization, settlement and abandonmentof the BCP that does not focus in just one aspect, neither presentjust one andmajor cause to explain such process. We are proposingthat we need to put all aspects together and look for an explanationwhere environment, demography, technology and subsistencewere combined to explain in contextual perspective the dynamicsof territorial histories involved in the peopling of BCP.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank C�esar M�endez and Rafael Su�arez forinviting us to participate in the symposium “Mobility and use ofspace in late Pleistocene South America: is it possible to discussearly human regional ranking?” during the SAA 81st AnnualMeeting and for the invitation to contribute to this Q.I. Special Issueon “Mobility and Use of Space”. We acknowledge the CNPq forproviding support for one of us (LB) to participate at the SAA Annual


Meeting, at Orlando, Florida, in April 2016. We acknowledge twoanonymous reviewers that made helpful comments on an earlierversion of the paper. We also thank Alejandra Materrese, whokindly help us with paper translation and revision.

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