Feasting on fish. Specialized function of pre-colonial pottery of the Cerritos mound builders of southern Brazil
Admiraal, Marjolein (University of York. Department of Archaeology)
Colonese, Andre Carlo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Milheira, Rafael (Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Departamento de Antropologia e Arqueologia)
Di Muro, Alice (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Talbot, Helen Marie (University of York. Department of Archaeology)
Lucquin, Alexandre (University of York. Department of Archaeology)
Craig, Oliver E. (University of York. Department of Archaeology)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Some of the oldest coastal pottery in South America is found in the Pampas region of southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. In the region's extensive estuarine systems pre-colonial indigenous groups built earthen mounds, known as Cerritos, from ca. 4700 BP. The Cerritos have multifunctional purposes, and while pottery was widely used, its role in the economic or ritual life of the mound builders remains uncertain. Intriguingly, molecular and isotopic characterization of food residues from Cerritos ceramics shows that vessels were used for either cooking estuarine fish, or plant products. Microbial-derived lipids were predominantly associated with the latter, suggesting that plants were fermented, presumably to make alcoholic beverages. We suggest that dispersed communities were drawn to the mounds seasonally to exploit and celebrate the return of migrating fish. This finding is supported by the diversity of stable isotope values of human remains recovered from Cerritos and sheds new light on the lifeways of these pre-colonial groups.
Grants:	European Commission 817911 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00527 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	PloS one, Vol. 20, Issue 2 (February 2025) , art. e0311192, ISSN 1932-6203

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311192
PMID: 39908222

14 p, 1.5 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles