In recent years there has been discussion of the many health benefits of the paleodiet, a diet that consist of food that we are evolutionary and genetically adapted to consume. The agricultural revolution introduced mankind to dietary changes that did not suit our biology, and is now the main reason for the nutrition-based diseases in developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to review both the archaeological methods used to explain the paleodiet and the knowledge we have about our hunter-gatherer ancestors and to see if there is any evidence to claim that the paleodiet could be an answer to food-health related diseases. This paper will also discuss the different perspectives behind the many dietary changes in human evolution and how they reflect on man’s dietary conditions today. The material used for this research is based on studies in anthropology, biology, genetics and epidemiology. The theory behind this paper is based on the positivism knowledge founded on properties and relations between measurable studies. Based on interpretations by reason and logic this paper is concluded through deductive reasoning. The results show that food-related diseases and syndromes are absent from traditional hunter-gatherer societies and that they first start to manifest if a western-based diet is adopted. According to our evolutionary and biological structure, man is not adapted to consuming dairy or agricultural products and we are, in fact, genetically identical to our Paleolithic ancestors. Therefore, because we have the same dietary conditions as the paleo hunter-gatherer, we would be considerably more healthy if we adopted a Paleolithic based diet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Arts, 2000.

Pesquisas recentes apontam para o fenômeno construtivo de sambaquis fluviais na região do médio Vale do Ribeira de Iguape, São Paulo, mais precisamente em três regiões, Itaoca, bacia do rio Jacupiranguinha e bacia do Juquiá, durante, pelo menos, o período de 9000 anos. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo definir o perfil de um sambaqui fluvial, sítio Moraes (6000-4000 anos a.P.), no município de Miracatu, SP, com a finalidade de criar a compreensão intra-sítio dos processos formativos envolvidos para a elevação desta estrutura monticular, através de diferentes abordagens: distribuição espacial intra-sítio, tecnologia, subsistência, isótopos estáveis, estudo sedimentológico e análise de proporção componencial volumétrico. Os resultados destas análises associados aos dados advindos de outras pesquisas nos permitiram ampliar a discussão sobre o processo formativo do sítio Moraes e abordar a questão sobre as relações genética e cultural entre sambaquieiros fluviais e os demais grupos vizinhos. / Previous research at the Ribeira de Iguape valley, at the southern part of the State of São Paulo, Brasil, has revealed a long cultural sequence (ca. 11 to 1,2 kyBP) characterized by small shellmound sites generally designated as riverine, or fluvial, sambaquis. Besides the conspicuous presence of a terrestrial gastropod (Megalobulimus sp.) shells, these little mounds also share relevant amounts of human burials and similar technological patterns as regards lithic and bone industries, among other compositional elements. The principal aim of this thesis is to describe one of these mounds, Moraes, investigating the cultural and post-depositional formation processes implied on the long duration (6 to 4 kyBP) construction phase of such mound structure and after its abandonment, by means of zooarchaeological, technological, geochemical and isotopic analysis of its various deposits and cultural components therein, as well as their spatial distribution and articulation. This thesis also discusses the cultural and historical relationships of this fluvial shellmound culture with other cultural patterns and populations found at the same and nearby areas.

O presente trabalho aborda uma região bem delimitada, circunscrita aos afloramentos calcários do alto curso do rio São Francisco no estado de Minas Gerais (1500km²). Depois de um período inicial exploratório com levantamentos de superfície intensivos, resultando na descoberta de 120 sítios, duas cavernas, a Loca do Suim e a Gruta do Marinheiro, foram escolhidas para receberem escavações. O objetivo foi comprovar a existência de uma ocupação caçadora-coletora arcaica na região estudada, utilizando como principal elemento descritivo a indústria lítica produzida por esses grupos, envolvendo aspectos como tipologia, tecnologia e cronologia do material. Buscou-se assim colocar em evidência algumas particularidades da região estudada, assim como apontar para eventuais semelhanças com as grandes tradições arqueológicas do período arcaico conhecidas no centro e sul do Brasil. / This project is located in the carstic region (1500km²) of the upper São Francisco river valley, in the southeastern portion of the Brazilian highlands, 250km to the southwest of the well known Lagoa Santa region, State of Minas Gerais. After a period (5 years) of intensive search for sites, discovering more than 120 of them, two caves (Loca do Suim and Gruta do Marinheiro) where excavated. The objective was to prove the existence, also in this area, of archaeological material related to arcaic hunter-gatherers. For being abundant, the lithic industry produced by these pre-historic groups was chosen as main descriptive element. The analysis, based on typological, technological and chronological characteristics of the sample, points out the similarities and differences that exist between this industry and the main lithic archaeological traditions of central and southern Brazil during the arcaic period.

Le Sauveterrien représente l'une des principales traditions culturelles du Premier Mésolithique européen. L'uniformité présumée de ce complexe était basée surtout sur la présence dans la France méridionale et l'Italie septentrionale de pointes à dos fusiformes (pointes de Sauveterre) et de microlithes triangulaires. Le but principal de ce travail est celui de mettre en discussion et vérifier cette association en utilisant une approche technologique ample des assemblages lithiques appartenant à 23 contextes stratigraphiques de 12 sites français et italiens de référence. En particulier, ces assemblages ont été analysés avec l'objectif de reconstruire les chaînes opératoires dans leur totalité, de l'approvisionnement des matières premières à l'utilisation et à l'abandon des éléments ayant servi comme outils. Plusieurs techniques d'analyse ont été intégrées afin de comprendre et caractériser les assemblages sauveterriens à partir de points de vue différents et complémentaires. De plus, l'évaluation de l'uniformité du complexe sauveterrien dans son territoire central par rapports aux groupes culturels des régions voisines a permis d'aborder de façon préliminaire la question de la réelle nature du Premier Mésolithique de l'Europe occidentale. / The Sauveterrian represents one of the main cultural aspects of the European Early Mesolithic. It was at first identified and described in southern France during the 1920ies. Following the discovery of similar lithic assemblages in north-eastern Italy (Adige Valley), during the 1970ies it was proposed that this culture had developed over a large territory whose central areas are represented by southern France and northern Italy. The presumed uniformity of this complex was based, in particular, on the presence in both regions of needle-like backed points (Sauveterre points) and triangular microliths. In the following years a first typological attempt to verify the actual homogeneity of the Early Mesolithic of this region arose some doubts regarding the appropriateness of this unification. Following this line of research the main aim of this work was, thus, to question and verify this association, by applying a broad technological approach to the study of the lithic assemblages belonging to 23 stratigraphic contexts from 12 French and Italian reference sites. More specifically these assemblages were investigated with the aim of reconstructing the entire reduction sequences, from the procurement of lithic raw materials to the use and discard of tools. Different analytical techniques were thus combined in order to understand and characterize the Sauveterrian assemblages from different and complementary viewpoints. Besides, the evaluation of the uniformity of the Sauveterrian complex in its central area with respect to the neighbouring cultural groups, allowed tentatively approaching the investigation of the very nature of western European Early Mesolithic.

O presente trabalho apresenta o estudo das camadas estratigráficas de três sambaquis situados nos municípios de Jaguaruna e Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Partimos do princípio de que eles são estruturas erigidas intencionalmente por uma população que habitou a região por aproximadamente 6000 anos, e que para a construção de seus cemitérios se apropriavam do material malacológico disponível na região. O desmembramento dos componentes de cada camada nos forneceu informações a respeito do material construtivo dos sítios, e a partir destes resultados foi possível testar algumas hipóteses sobre a mudança da matriz construtiva verificada nos sambaquis. / This work presents the study of stratigraphical layers of three sambaquis located on Jaguaruna and Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brazil. We assume that such structures were intentionally built by a population that inhabited the region for over 6000 years, and that for the pilling up of their burial grounds they gathered malacological material available within the area. The breakdown of the elements of each layer provided us information regarding the construction material of the sites, and based on these results it was possible to test some hypothesis regarding a change on the constructive matrix recorded on the sambaquis.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-06-28T16:09:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Osvaldo André Oliveira_.pdf: 10816055 bytes, checksum: 50384491a058f8b9850dc0b8c392cd05 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-28T16:09:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Osvaldo André Oliveira_.pdf: 10816055 bytes, checksum: 50384491a058f8b9850dc0b8c392cd05 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-11-17 / UNISINOS - Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos / Nos últimos 40 anos, estudos arqueológicos (sintetizados em Oliveira et al., 2003; Oliveira e Teixeira, 2005 a,b e c; Oliveira, 2006) apontam que a principal ocupação humana pré-colonial da planície costeira do extremo Sul do Brasil, na região dos municípios de Santa Vitória do Palmar e Chuí, estaria relacionada a grupos construtores de cerritos. Por outro lado, os sítios arqueológicos registrados através do “Banco de Dados Arqueológicos e Paleontológicos do Litoral Sudeste do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil (BDAP)”, segundo Oliveira (2006), mostram que nesta área também existem outros tipos de sítios, associados a populações e momentos cronológicos distintos, tais como sítios erodidos sobre dunas (localizados na faixa litorânea) e sítios de encosta (nas bordas de banhados da Lagoa Mangueira). Além desses, ocorrem também sítios até agora pouco conhecidos e não estudados, que são o foco de estudo dessa tese, localizados na margem leste da Lagoa Mirim, constituindo-se basicamente de material lítico lascado, com significativa ocorrência de pontas de projétil, que foram denominados sítios líticos da margem da Lagoa Mirim. A região, como um todo, é caracterizada (Villwock e Tomazzelli, 1995) como uma ampla planície costeira, onde campos, banhados, lagoas e áreas úmidas associadas constituem a paisagem dominante. No município de Santa Vitória do Palmar, as margens da Lagoa Mirim ocupam toda a extensão de seu território até limites com o município de Rio Grande (ao Norte) e, através do arroio São Luiz e alagados (ao Sul), faz fronteira com o Uruguai. A partir de cronologias estabelecidas por vários autores (Schmitz et al, 1991; Mentz Ribeiro, 1999; Consens, 2004 entre outros) para a ocupação inicial desses grupos caçadores e coletores na região sul do Brasil e norte do Uruguai, acreditamos que a ocupação dos sítios líticos da margem da Lagoa Mirim tenha se dado entre 10.000 a 6.000 anos A. P., ao final de um período de intensa regressão marinha, que teve seu auge por volta de 18/17.000 A.P., no qual o Sistema Lagunar Patos-Mirim (dentro dele a Lagoa Mirim) havia se transformado em uma larga planície fluvial, onde rios como Jaguarão, Cebolatti, Taquari entre outros, dissecavam os antigos depósitos marinho-lagunares, formando pequenos vales (Villwock e Tomazzelli, 1995). Esses grupos teriam se estabelecido às margens daqueles paleovales, que convergiam para a porção nordeste da atual lagoa, antes de desaguarem no oceano, através da região do atual Banhado do Taim. Esses grupos, possivelmente oriundos da região do vale do Rio Negro, no atual Uruguai, teriam encontrado ali condições adequadas para desenvolverem seu modo de vida. A partir do pico transgressivo holocênico, por volta de 5.000 A.P., os vales são novamente afogados e inicia-se um novo ciclo de formação da paleolaguna Mirim, até ser novamente isolada, formando a lagoa como hoje a conhecemos. A partir desse momento, um novo ciclo de ocupação se desenvolve, com os construtores de cerritos, nas áreas alagadiças ao longo de arroios, nos terraços da recém-formada Lagoa da Mangueira e nas áreas de campos de dunas, na costa. / In the last four decades, archaeological research (synthesized in Oliveira et al. 2003; Oliveira and Teixeira, 2005a,b; Oliveira 2006) points out that the main precolonial inhabitants of the southern coastal plains of Brazil, in the region of Santa Vitória do Palmar and Chuí, was the constructors of earth mounds, locally known as cerritos, of the Vieira tradition. However, the archaeological sites recorded by the “Banco de Dados Arqueológicos e Paleontológicos do Litoral Sudeste do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil (BDAP)”, according to Oliveira (2006) shows that there would have been another types of sites, associated to different populations and distinctive chronological moments, such as eroded sites over sand dunes (located in the coastal zone) and slope sites, located in the fringes of Lagoa Mangueira marshes. Besides of them, there are also sites that are, until now, poor known and no research have been made until now, wich are the focus of this study. The sites, located along the oriental margin of the Lagoa Mirim, are composed basically by flaked lithic material with significant presence of projectile points. The region, as a whole, is characterized (Villwock and Tomazelli, 1995) as a large coastal plain where grasslands, marshes, lagoons and moist areas conform the dominant landscape. In Santa Vitória do Palmar, the fringes of the Lagoa Mirim occupy all the extension of its territory up to Rio Grande (at North) as far as the Uruguai border (at South). Given the stablished chronologies by various authors (such as Schmitz et al., 1991; Mentz Ribeiro, 1999 and Consens, 2004 among others) to the inicial occupation of the Southern Brazil and northern Uruguai by hunters and gatherers with projectile poits, we believe that the occupation of the lithic sites in the oriental fringes of the Lagoa Mirim takes place between 10.000 to 6.000 years B. P., at the end of an intensive marine regression that reached its height at about 18/17.000 years B. P., in wich the Patos-Mirim lagune system changed into a large aluvial plain, where rivers such as Jaguarão, Cebolatti, Taquari among others run over ancients marine-lagune deposits, forming small valleys (Villwock and Tomazzelli, 1995). This groups would have stablished in the terraces of the paleovalleys that converged to the northeast of the present lake, before to drain at the Atlantic Ocean, through the present Banhado do Taim. These groups, possibly derived of the valley of Rio Negro region, have found in that place suitable conditions to develop their way of life. As from the holocenic transgressive height, at about 5.000 years B. P., the valleys are again drowned and starts a new cycle of formation of the Mirim paleolake, until it be isolated, forming the lake as we know today. From now on, a new cycle of human occupation also develops, with the cerrito builders in the marsh areas along creeks and streams, in the terraces of the newly formed Lagoa Mangueira and in the sand dune fields of the atlantic coast.

abstract: This dissertation uses a comparative approach to investigate long-term human- environment interrelationships in times of climate change. It uses Geographical Information Systems and ecological models to reconstruct the Magdalenian (~20,000- 14,000 calibrated years ago) environments of the coastal mountainous zone of Cantabria (Northwest Spain) and the interior valleys of the Dordogne (Southwest France) to contextualize the social networks that could have formed during a time of high climate and resource variability. It simulates the formation of such networks in an agent-based model, which documents the processes underlying the formation of archaeological assemblages, and evaluates the potential impacts of climate-topography interactions on cultural transmission. This research then reconstructs the Magdalenian social networks visible through a multivariate statistical analysis of stylistic similarities among portable art objects. As these networks cannot be analyzed directly to infer social behavior, their characteristics are compared to the results of the agent-based model, which provide characteristics estimates of the Magdalenian latent social networks that most likely produced the empirical archaeological assemblage studied. This research contributes several new results, most of which point to the advantages of using an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of the archaeological record. It demonstrates the benefits of using an agent-based model to parse social data from long- term palimpsests. It shows that geographical and environmental contexts affect the structure of social networks, which in turn affects the transmission of ideas and goods that flow through it. This shows the presence of human-environment interactions that not only affected our ancestors’ reaction to resource insecurities, but also led them to innovate and improve the productivity of their own environment. However, it also suggests that such alterations may have reduced the populations’ resilience to strong climatic changes, and that the region with diverse resources provided a more stable and resilient environment than the region transformed to satisfy the immediate needs of its population. / Dissertation/Thesis / Appendix_D_Sites_Dates / Appendix_E_Flowchart_Biome_Reconstruction / Appendix_H_Flowchart_ABM / Appendix_I_Flowchart_Social_Network / Appendix_J_Portable_Art_Objects / Appendix_J_Art_Characteristics / Appendix_L_Poster_Summary / Appendix_A_Prehistoric_Fauna / Appendix_B_Modern_PFT_Distribution / Appendix_C_Prehistoric_PFT_Distribution / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2017

We present newly-registered Paiján sites in the interior and upper parts of the Chicama, Moche and Virú valleys, with strong tiesto the highland region. The research indicates that Paiján hunter-gatherers were not only a coastal group whose subsistence was basedon marine resources. They also occupied diverse ecological environments preferring springs with high mobility across the Andes and exploiting diverse resources, such as white-tail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and raw materials for producing lithic tools. / En este artículo se presenta el registro de nuevos sitios paijanenses al interior y parte alta de los valles de Chicama, Moche y Virú, más vinculados con la región de la sierra, lo que evidencia, de manera consistente, que estos grupos de cazadores-recolectores no se establecieron solo en la costa y basaron su subsistencia en los recursos marinos, sino que ocuparon diversos ambientes ecológicos siempre relacionados con fuentes de agua y tuvieron un amplio grado de movilidad de manera longitudinal y transversal a lo largo de los cursos de ríos y quebradas, con lo que pudieron aprovechar una mayor diversidad de recursos, entre ellos el venado gris de cola blanca (Odocoileus virginianus) y materias primas para la elaboración de herramientas líticas.

O presente trabalho apresenta o estudo das camadas estratigráficas de três sambaquis situados nos municípios de Jaguaruna e Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Partimos do princípio de que eles são estruturas erigidas intencionalmente por uma população que habitou a região por aproximadamente 6000 anos, e que para a construção de seus cemitérios se apropriavam do material malacológico disponível na região. O desmembramento dos componentes de cada camada nos forneceu informações a respeito do material construtivo dos sítios, e a partir destes resultados foi possível testar algumas hipóteses sobre a mudança da matriz construtiva verificada nos sambaquis. / This work presents the study of stratigraphical layers of three sambaquis located on Jaguaruna and Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brazil. We assume that such structures were intentionally built by a population that inhabited the region for over 6000 years, and that for the pilling up of their burial grounds they gathered malacological material available within the area. The breakdown of the elements of each layer provided us information regarding the construction material of the sites, and based on these results it was possible to test some hypothesis regarding a change on the constructive matrix recorded on the sambaquis.