INTRODUCTION

Sambaquis (the Brazilian term for shell mounds, derived from the Tupi language) are widely distributed along the shoreline of Brazil and were noted in European accounts as early as the sixteenth century. They typically occur in highly productive bay and lagoon ecotones where the mingling of salt and fresh waters supports mangrove vegetation and abundant shellfish, fish, and aquatic birds. More than one thousand sambaqui locations are recorded in Brazil’s national register of archaeological sites [Note 1], but represent a fraction of the original number because colonial through modern settlements coincide with these favorable environments. Although sambaquis are of variable scale overall, massive shell mounds are characteristic of Brazil’s southern coast (Figure 18.1).

The term “sambaqui” is applied to cultural deposits of varying size and stratigraphy in which shell is a major constituent, undoubtedly encompassing accumulations with a range of functions and origins. Proportions of soil, sand, shell [Note 2], and the kinds of cultural inclusions and features in sambaquis also are variable. Small sambaquis often consist of shell layers over sandy substrates or sequences of shell and sand layers, with or without signs of burning or significant numbers of artifacts. Larger shell mounds typically have horizontally and vertically complex stratigraphy, including alternating sequences of shell deposits, narrower and darker layers of charcoal and burned bone that mark occupation surfaces, and clusters of burials, hearths, and postholes descending from these surfaces.

Food refuse is present in sambaquis, along with a set of several feature types that are commonplace in residential occupations. Recognizable dwellings have not been encountered, however, nor do arrangements of features and distributions of artifacts indicate sustained domestic activity, with very few exceptions (e. g., around lakes in the state of Rio de Janeiro: Barbosa et al. 1994; L. Kneip 1992). In some cases, small sambaquis with

Handbook of South American Archaeology, edited by Helaine Silverman and William H. Isbell.

Springer, New York, 2008

Figure 18.1. Sambaqui da Figuierinba, Santa Catarina. (Maria Dulce Caspar)

Less complex stratigraphy and minimal features or artifacts may represent campsites or processing stations. Most others serve mortuary functions, particularly the massive ones with complex stratigraphy. These rise tens of meters (maximum height today, after historic mining of shell, is approximately 50 m) and cover hundreds of square meters. They are monumental in their scale and visual obtrusiveness in flat coastal settings and are noteworthy for pervasive burials. It is clear that sambaquis do not represent ordinary habitation, but rather are specialized elements of settlement systems in which very little is known about the other kinds of sites. The lack of a well defined settlement context that includes habitation sites reflects the very limited amount of survey in damp and heavily vegetated coastal zones, combined with the difficulty of finding and identifying contemporary site types that are not similarly marked by heaped shell, have no ceramics, little diagnostic chipped or ground stone, non-durable shell and bone tools, and perishable structures.