Mobility, subsistence and appropriation of the environment: zooarchaelogical contributions on the Sambaqui do Bacanga, São Luís, Maranhão

Abstract

Human patterns of subsistence and/or mobility may be reflected in the zooarchaeological record from estuarine mangrove shell mounds and other coastal ecotones. In a biogeographical domain, such as mangroves and their associated ecotones, the availability of much of the animal resources may increase due to seasonality and life cycle of organisms and become more accessible within an area of resource capture. Thus, the record of shell mounds, characterized by a large number of remains of molluscs and fish in relation to other taxa, may indicate either a taphonomic bias, as well as issues related to the calculation of the biomass in the laboratory and/or changes in subsistencedue to modifications of the landscape in the annual cycle. This work aims to address the questions and hypotheses about patterns of mobility tied to models of subsistence and ownership of the environment by pasthuman societies in coastal shell mounds from Maranhão, with special emphasis on the Sambaqui do Bacanga, inserted in a context of mangrove estuary. So far it could be concluded that there were no significant taxonomic changes over the archaeological strata.

Keywords
Zooarchaeology; Subsistence strategies; Optimal foraging; Taphonomy in Zooarchaeology