On the role of shell mounds as paleo-sea-level indicators

Abstract

Shell mounds have traditionally been regarded as paleo-sea-level indicators, either by geologists as by archaeologists. Several authors have already proposed their use for this purpose. By the 1980’s they were systematically used for constructing sea-level fluctuation curves for the Brazilian coast during the Holocene. These works were based on the premises, common at that time, that sambaquis were mere waste dumps, mollusks were their builders’ dietary basis, and, consequently, the sites were necessarily built close to areas providing an abundant mollusks supply for a long period. None of these presumptions have proven to be true. The knowledge about sambaqui builders significantly increased by the last decades, and now it is recognized that the sites were deliberate constructions, built by sedentary fishers with high demographic parameters and much more complex socio cultural patterns than initially admitted. This paper presents a brief outline of the research on sambaquis and discusses the premises adopted for their use as paleo-sea-level indicators. We argue that shell mounds cannot be summarily discarded as sea-level markers, but this investigation line depends on a deeper integration between coastal Quaternary specialists and the archaeological community