Intermittent occupation of the sambaqui builder settlements in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

摘要

We study the time of settlement, period of occupation and the sociocultural system of the fishing-collecting groups, builders of huge shell and sand mounds found in the Brazilian coast. We present original results of four ~(14)C - AMS dates from the IBV4 archaeological site, one of the four sites of the Boa Vista group, located in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, and we analyze the occupation of the whole group. The results reaffirm the long occupation of populations in this region (～ 2400 yr). In this paper we complement the model proposed to this region, suggesting a discontinuous occupation of these sites, during two distinct periods: ～ 4000-3300 yr BP and ～ 2000-1500 yr BP. Moreover, it was possible to show that these sites were not active concomitantly, and that the occupation took place in an intermittent way. We show a strong correlation between the periods of occupation and of increasing sea level.