More of the same.

Dias, Adriana Schmidt ; Bueno, Lucas

The number of radiocarbon dates for the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods in South America has greatly increased in recent years, due to the widespread availability of AMS dating, and the growth of academic research done by South American archaeologists. A recent review of the period between 13 000 and 8000 [sup.14]C years BP showed the continuous occupation of major biomes and the emergence of regional cultural and economic variation. Before this period the evidence is weak, sparse and discontinuous. It comes from sites that exist in spatial and temporal isolation from the surrounding regions, and invariably are subjected to intense debate. The critical approach to this data is not a simple signal of a 'curse' or an ideological barrier to be fought, as suggested by Boeda and colleagues. It simply demonstrates the difificulty or incorporating this data into a geographically comprehensive demograpnic model for the early peopling of South America (Bueno et al. 2013a & b).

Pleistocene radiocarbon dates have been obtained for several sites in Brazil (Schmitz 1990; Prous & Fogaca 1999). Although the validity of these data had been questioned for many reasons, Boqueirao da Pedra Furada, in Piaui State, and Santa Elina, in Mato Grosso State, remained key pieces in this puzzle, justifying the importance of the continuing investigation of these areas (Parenti 1992; Vialou 2003). heir importance goes beyond the dates of over 20 000 years BP obtained for both sites. They represent the first clues to the pioneering phase of the colonisation of South America. This process would have created an archaeological record of low population density, but concentrated in physically distinctive places that could have been frequently re-occupied. Boqueirao da Pedra Furada and Santa Elina also point to the importance of the riverine routes, such as the Sao Francisco and La Plata basins, in this initial settlement process, connecting the continental interior to other contemporaneous settlement routes of the North Atlantic coast and the eastern side of the Andean chain (Dias & Bueno 2013).

The article by Boeda and colleagues summarises the research conducted in the Vale da Pedra Furada open-air site; and it can be compared to other two Pleistocene sites recently investigated by the authors in the same region, Toca da Tira Peia and Sitio do Meio (Boeda et al. 2013; Lahaye et al. 2013). The preliminary results presented in these papers have the same problematic, unresolved issues as those that the Boqueirao da Pedra Furada debate brought to light in the pages of Antiquity in the 1990s: a) a lack or information about the contextual relationship between dated samples and artefacts; and b) a lack of specific palaeoenviromental, geoarchaeological and formation process studies to support a better understanding of the cultural and natural differences between the occupational phases of the Serra da Capivara region (Meltzer et al. 1994; Guidon et al. 1996; Parenti et al. 1996).

Besides, the authors do not analyse how other Pleistocene findings in South America, and in particular in Brazil, can be related (or not) to Pedra Furada, arguing that geographical distances or the low densities of artefacts make comparisons difficult.

The discussion presented by the authors is mainly focused on the criticism raised about the archaic nature of the lithic industries of Pedra Furada (and, by extension, of other non-bifacial/pre-Clovis industries in the Americas). Arguments are presented extensively in the supplementary material to 'prove' the human origin of the materials. Yet it is not clear to us why Boeda and collegues did not use the abundant Holocene data from the Sao Francisco Basin to support their hypothesis. One example is the Lagoa Santa region, at Minas Gerais State, where quartz was used as the main raw material between 10 000 and 8000 BP. Furthermore, the same technological strategies related to the exploitation of local raw materials are present at Santa Elina, suggesting a similar cultural strategy for the pioneering exploitation of new territories.

A true dialogue with the 'native' academic community would have certainly added more interesting arguments to this debate than the validity of dating methodologies, the expertise of the 'technologists' in charge of the analysis, or the comparisons with ancient East Asian and African technologies. As presented here, the new data from Pedra Furada are old news for us: it is just more of the same old game between rocks and dates. It has little to say about how people creatively made their living in new territories, but says a lot about how modern academic politics works.

References

BOEDA, E., A. LOURDEAU, C. LAHAYE, G. FELICE, S. VIANA, I. CLEMENTE-CONTE, M. PINO, M. FONTUGNE, S. HOELTZ, N. GUIDON, A.-M. PESSIS, A. DA COSTA & M. PAGLI. 2013. The late-Pleistocene industries of Piaui, Brazil: new data, in K. Graf, C. Ketron & M. Waters (ed.) Paleoamerican odyssey. 445-66. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

BUENO, L., L. PRATES, G. POLITIS & J. STEELE. 2013a. A late Pleistocene/early Holocene archaeological [sup.14]C database for South America and the isthmus of Panama: paleoenvironmental contexts and demographic interpretations. Quaternary International 301: 1-2. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.04.008

BUENO, L., A.S. DIAS & J. STEELE. 2013b. The late Pleistocene/early Holocene archaeological record in Brazil: a geo-referenced database. Quaternary International 301 74-93. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.03.042

DIAS, A.S. & L. BUENO. 2013. The initial colonization of South America eastern lowlands: Brazilian archaeology contributions to settlement of America models, in K. Graf, C. Ketron & M. Waters (ed.) Paleoamerican odyssey: 339-58. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

GUIDON, N., A.-M. PESSIS, F. PARENTI, M. FONTUGNE & C. GUERIN. 1996. Nature and age of deposits in Pedra Furada, Brazil: reply to Meltzer, Adovasio & Dillehay. Falsehood or untruth? Antiquity 70: 408-15.

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PARENTI, F., M. FONTUGUE & C. GUERIN. 1996. Pedra Furada in Brazil and its 'presumed' evidence: limitations and potential of the available data. Antiquity 70: 416-21.

PROUS, A. & E. FOGACA. 1999. Archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary in Brazil. Quaternary International 53-54: 21-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(98)00005-6

SCHMITZ, P.I. 1990. O povoamento Pleistocenico do Brasil. Revista de Arqueologia Americana 1:33-68.

VIALOU, A. 2003. Santa Elina rockshelter, Brazil: evidence of the coexistence of man and Glossotherium, in L. Miotti, M. Salemme & N. Flegenheimer (ed.) Where the south winds blow: ancient evidence of Paleo South Americans: 21-28. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

Adriana Schmidt Dias (1) & Lucas Bueno (2)

(1) Department of History, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Avemaa Paulo Gama, 110, Farropilhas, Porto Alegre--RS, 90040-060, Brazil

(2) Department of History, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitario Reitor Joao Davia Ferreira Lima, Trinidade, Florianopolis--SC, 88040-900, Brazil