Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Holocene Hunter-gatherer Plant Use and Foraging Choice, a Test from Minas Gerais, Brazil

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The doctoral research of Myrtle Shock focuses on the analysis of plant remains from two excavated archaeological sites in the Brazilian savanna. Plant remains are usually poorly preserved at ancient habitations of hunter-gatherer populations. However, the archaeological sites considered in this study have excellent preservation of plant remains because they are in limestone rock shelters in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. Since the sites have multiple, discrete depositional layers of human habitation dating back to 11,500 BP, the data collected will provide a window into hunter-gatherer diet and diet changes from 11,500 to 2500 BP, when agriculture was introduced to the area.Supervised by Dr. Michael Jochim of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Ms Shock is working in collaboration with Brazilian scholars. The two archaeological sites furnishing data for her research have been excavated by Dr. Ándre Prous and Dr. Renato Kipnis. These scholars' excavations and analysis of sites in northern Minas Gerais provide the radiocarbon chronology and a basic understanding of these hunter-gatherer occupations. This research project builds upon their investigations by considering an aspect of site analysis which has not previously been considered, the analysis of botanical remains. The analysis of the remains of plants is integral to understanding subsistence, both what people ate and its origin. One of the current interpretations of hunter-gatherer behavior in central Brazil is that over time mobility, the area over which groups roamed, decreased. Decreased mobility is evidenced from previously documented changes in settlement patterns and the use of stone tools. Among other hunter-gatherer groups decreased mobility resulted in dietary changes. The analysis of animal remains from the sites in northern Minas Gerais did not show the expected dietary changes accompanying decreased mobility. The analysis of plant remains by this project will contribute to understanding about subsistence, incorporating both plant and animal use into a full picture of the diet of hunter-gatherers through the 9000 years represented in the excavation stratigraphy. Changes in plant use over time may help explain how the hunter-gatherer groups adapted to decreased mobility, including changes in human resource use and foraging choices. Furthermore, understanding the timing and mechanisms of dietary change is a step toward the overall interpretation of cultural change. Analysis of plant remains for this project will be conducted in Brazil where Ms Shock will have the opportunity to consult with Brazilian botanists, work alongside other archaeologists, and train Brazilian students in the archaeobotanical specialty. Plant analysis is an emerging research topic in Brazilian archaeology. Preliminary consultation with the Brazilian national herbarium has interested the curators in how important plant seed collections could be to archaeology. This project will train individuals in northern Minas Gerais to collect specimens for a botanic reference collection, increasing their awareness of the potential value of local native plants. The reference collection will be donated to the Museum of Ethnography and Archaeology at the University of São Paulo for future archaeobotanical studies.