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Pansani TR, Pobiner B, Gueriau P, Thoury M, Tafforeau P, Baranger E, Vialou ÁV, Vialou D, McSparron C, de Castro MC, Dantas MAT, Bertrand L, Pacheco MLAF. Evidence of artefacts made of giant sloth bones in central Brazil around the last glacial maximum. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230316. [PMID: 37434527 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The peopling of the Americas and human interaction with the Pleistocene megafauna in South America remain hotly debated. The Santa Elina rock shelter in Central Brazil shows evidence of successive human settlements from around the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the Early Holocene. Two Pleistocene archaeological layers include rich lithic industry associated with remains of the extinct giant ground sloth Glossotherium phoenesis. The remains include thousands of osteoderms (i.e. dermal bones), three of which were human-modified. In this study, we perform a traceological analysis of these artefacts by optical microscopy, non-destructive scanning electron microscopy, UV/visible photoluminescence and synchrotron-based microtomography. We also describe the spatial association between the giant sloth bone remains and stone tools and provide a Bayesian age model that confirms the timing of this association in two time horizons of the Pleistocene in Santa Elina. The conclusion from our traceological study is that the three giant sloth osteoderms were intentionally modified into artefacts before fossilization of the bones. This provides additional evidence for the contemporaneity of humans and megafauna, and for the human manufacturing of personal artefacts on bone remains of ground sloths, around the LGM in Central Brazil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thais R Pansani
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo 13565-905, Brazil
- Laboratório de Paleobiologia e Astrobiologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Sorocaba, São Paulo 18052-780, Brazil
- Université Paris-Saclay, ENS Paris-Saclay, CNRS, PPSM, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Briana Pobiner
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
| | - Pierre Gueriau
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, ministère de la Culture, UVSQ, MNHN, Institut photonique d'analyse non-destructive européen des matériaux anciens, 91192 Saint-Aubin, France
| | - Mathieu Thoury
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, ministère de la Culture, UVSQ, MNHN, Institut photonique d'analyse non-destructive européen des matériaux anciens, 91192 Saint-Aubin, France
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 38043 Grenoble, France
| | - Emmanuel Baranger
- Université Paris-Saclay, ENS Paris-Saclay, CNRS, LMPS, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Águeda V Vialou
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
- Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Denis Vialou
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Cormac McSparron
- School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT9 5AG, UK
| | - Mariela C de Castro
- Laboratório de Biologia Integrativa e Conservação, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, IBiotec, Universidade Federal de Catalão, 75704-020 Catalão, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Mário A T Dantas
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Geociências, Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia - Campus Anísio Teixeira, 45029-094 Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Loïc Bertrand
- Université Paris-Saclay, ENS Paris-Saclay, CNRS, PPSM, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Mírian L A F Pacheco
- Laboratório de Paleobiologia e Astrobiologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Sorocaba, São Paulo 18052-780, Brazil
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