Chemical analysis of pottery reveals the transition from a maritime to a plant-based economy in pre-colonial coastal Brazil

Abstract

Understanding long-term dynamics of past socio-ecological systems is essential for their future management. The southern Atlantic Forest coast of Brazil with its biodiverse littoral zone and artisanal fishing communities, is a priority for conservation. Traditional maritime knowledge is thought to have a deep-history and indeed, marine exploitation can be traced back to the middle Holocene. As part of one of South America’s largest diasporas, Guarani groups reached the southern Brazilian coast at around 1000 years ago. Their impact on the long-standing coastal economy is unknown, due to poor preservation of organic remains. Through the first organic residue study on Guarani pottery, we show that maize rather than aquatic foods was the most dominant product in pottery at this time. By developing a mixing model based on carbon isotope values of saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids we propose new criteria for the identification of maize, opening up avenues for future research. Our data confirms the importance of maize to the pre-colonial Guarani, even in a highly productive coastal environment. The Guarani occupation of this region marks a significant departure from previous socio-economic systems, potentially leading to loss of traditional knowledge and alleviating anthropogenic pressure, albeit temporarily, on the marine environment.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Admiraal, Marjolein https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9830-8032 Colonese, Andre C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0279-6634 Milheira, Rafael G. da Rocha Bandeira, Dione Demathe, Alexandro Pereira dos Santos, Adriana M. Fossile, Thiago Talbot, Helen M. Bondetti, Manon (mb1681@york.ac.uk) Lucquin, Alexandre https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4892-6323 Montalvo-Cabrera, Javier Prates, Luciano Serna, Alejandro (as4055@york.ac.uk) Craig, Oliver E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4296-8402
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 817911). This work also contributes to the ICTA-UAB “María de Maeztu” Programme for Units of Excellence of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CEX2019-000940-M) and to EarlyFoods (Evolution and impact of early food production systems: 2021 SGR 00527). The authors would like to thank L. Gonzales Carretero for the SEM analysis of carbonized crusts of the pottery. We thank M. von Tersch and J. Lundy for their help in the laboratory work and maintenance of the instruments. Furthermore, we would like to acknowledge and thank the INDUCE project (ERC-2015-AdG No 695539) and Ester Oras for providing modern reference samples published in Dataset 2. Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 817911). This work also contributes to the ICTA-UAB “María de Maeztu” Programme for Units of Excellence of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CEX2019-000940-M) and to EarlyFoods (Evolution and impact of early food production systems: 2021 SGR 00527). The authors would like to thank L. Gonzales Carretero for the SEM analysis of carbonized crusts of the pottery. We thank M. von Tersch and J. Lundy for their help in the laboratory work and maintenance of the instruments. Furthermore, we would like to acknowledge and thank the INDUCE project (ERC-2015-AdG No 695539) and Ester Oras for providing modern reference samples published in Dataset 2. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023
Dates:	Published: 5 October 2023 Accepted: 13 September 2023
Institution:	The University of York
Academic Units:	The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Archaeology (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Chemistry (York)
Depositing User:	Pure (York)
Date Deposited:	03 Nov 2023 14:10
Last Modified:	10 Jan 2025 00:09
Published Version:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42662-5
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41598-023-42662-5
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:204910

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Description: Chemical analysis of pottery reveals the transition from a maritime to a plant-based economy in pre-colonial coastal Brazil

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Chemical analysis of pottery reveals the transition from a maritime to a plant-based economy in pre-colonial coastal Brazil

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