Understanding the presence of early humans in northeastern Brazil: Synthesis of paleoenvironmental reconstructions
Abstract
Northeastern Brazil (NEB), one of the earliest human settlements in South America, is mainly covered by the semi-arid deciduous forest Caatinga and the semi-deciduous forest Cerrado. Despite extensive archaeological data advocating human presence in the Serra da Capivara throughout the last 40 kyr, archeological investigations lack integration of paleoenvironmental reconstructions, limiting a comprehensive understanding of human occupation. Open vegetation seemed to dominate during the last glacial period, interrupted by millennial-scale increases of mesophyllous taxa linked to enhanced precipitation. We synthesized 18 paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental publications, based on pollen, charcoal, isotopic and geochemical proxies from 6 marine and 8 continental archives, covering the end of the last glacial period and the Holocene to better understand early human resilience throughout the last 40 kyr. Ethnobotanical, archeobotanical and zooarcheological studies were integrated to assess the nature and availability of NEB natural resources under varying climatic conditions. Intermittent occupation at the sites's scale and continuous occupation at the scale of the Serra da Capivara throughout the Late Pleistocene climatic and environmental variations suggest that human occupation was not restricted to intervals of increased humidity. Pollen and anthracological records document the occurrence of native food plants (e.g. Byrsonima, Hymenaea and Mauritia) yet, it remains difficult to quantitatively assess their availability through time. Megafauna assemblages advocate for diversified environments and resources availability until the end of the Pleistocene. We discuss the contribution of these finding to broader global discussions regarding human resilience in semi-arid environments.
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BibTeX
@article{hautlabourdette2026understanding,
title = {{Understanding the presence of early humans in northeastern Brazil: Synthesis of paleoenvironmental reconstructions}},
author = {Marie Haut-Labourdette and Marie-Pierre Ledru and Aline Govin and Christine Hatté and Eric Boëda},
journal = {Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113367},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05468680v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Understanding the presence of early humans in northeastern Brazil: Synthesis of paleoenvironmental reconstructions
AU - Marie Haut-Labourdette
AU - Marie-Pierre Ledru
AU - Aline Govin
AU - Christine Hatté
AU - Eric Boëda
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
DO - 10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113367
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05468680v1
AB - Northeastern Brazil (NEB), one of the earliest human settlements in South America, is mainly covered by the semi-arid deciduous forest Caatinga and the semi-deciduous forest Cerrado. Despite extensive archaeological data advocating human presence in the Serra da Capivara throughout the last 40 kyr, archeological investigations lack integration of paleoenvironmental reconstructions, limiting a comprehensive understanding of human occupation. Open vegetation seemed to dominate during the last glacial period, interrupted by millennial-scale increases of mesophyllous taxa linked to enhanced precipitation. We synthesized 18 paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental publications, based on pollen, charcoal, isotopic and geochemical proxies from 6 marine and 8 continental archives, covering the end of the last glacial period and the Holocene to better understand early human resilience throughout the last 40 kyr. Ethnobotanical, archeobotanical and zooarcheological studies were integrated to assess the nature and availability of NEB natural resources under varying climatic conditions. Intermittent occupation at the sites's scale and continuous occupation at the scale of the Serra da Capivara throughout the Late Pleistocene climatic and environmental variations suggest that human occupation was not restricted to intervals of increased humidity. Pollen and anthracological records document the occurrence of native food plants (e.g. Byrsonima, Hymenaea and Mauritia) yet, it remains difficult to quantitatively assess their availability through time. Megafauna assemblages advocate for diversified environments and resources availability until the end of the Pleistocene. We discuss the contribution of these finding to broader global discussions regarding human resilience in semi-arid environments.
SN - 0031-0182
SN - 1872-616X
ER -