Paisagem sambaquieira do holoceno recente: sambaquis do Paty e Ilha das Vacas, Baía de Todos os Santos, Bahia, Brasil

Abstract

This research had as a geographic cut the Bay of All Saints (BTS), Bahia, specifically the shell middens of Paty and Ilha das Vacas, and aimed to understand this landscape constructed by human groups from the articulation of environmental information and archaeological remains, while elements of relevance in the landscape. The methodology included data collection in the field, ranging from zooarchaeological, paleobotanical, lithic and ceramic data. The results indicate occupation during the recent Holocene, with 2.050 and 2.520 years +/- 30 B.P, for the occupations of the sites Ilha das Vacas and Paty, respectively. Among the zooarchaeological traces, are recorded in both shell middens, edible molluscs such as Crassostrea rhizophorae (Guilding, 1828), Strombus pugilis (Linnaeus, 1758), Lucina pectinata (Gmelin, 1971) and others, as well as ornamental species such as Arca Imbricata (Bruguiere, 1789) in large quantities. Only one species of mollusk is present in Paty and absent in Ilha das Vacas, Ostrea cristata (Born, 1778). Crabs occur in both locations, but fish and small bone fragments of animals occur only in Paty. With respect to paleobotanical remnants, pollen grains were recovered in both shell environments, resulting in the identification of plant species of constructive use (wood), for the production of straw utensils, for medicinal and psychoactive use. On the high concentration of arboreal-shrub species it is possible to infer about the unoccupation of these environments and the high density of herbaceous types indicates anthropization of these two shell middens. In relation to the lithic elements, in the Paty there are small lytic flakes, already in Ilha das Vacas, perhaps because it is more preserved, occurs in addition to the lytic flakes, a partially broken artifact, identified as a "quebra-coquinhos" and 239 ceramic fragments varying between treatment aesthetic smooth and incised, ungulate and corrugated decoration similar to those already described for the shell midden the Pedra Ôca and also in other shell middens of the Northeast. It is observed that these shell middens were based in strategic places of the landscape, as well as realized the exploration of the BTS, including underwater environment and in the woods, in order to obtain raw material for the production of artifacts and utensils, as well as varied biological resources, among which, psychostimulant vegetables, many of them used in today's mystical rituals.