Isotopic evidences regarding migration at the archeological site of Praia da Tapera: New data to an old matter

Abstract

The present study aims to elucidate, using δ13C, δ15N and 87Sr/86Sr analysis of tooth enamel and dentin, some aspects of the geographic origin and the dietary habits of 42 individuals associated with a ceramic group buried in the coastal shallow site of Praia da Tapera, located on the island of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil. The ceramic shreds found on this site would be associated with groups that inhabited the Southern Brazilian Plateau, and the presence of this evidence at Praia da Tapera and some other coastal sites raises important questions, not yet resolved, about the origin and the way of life of these pre-Columbian coastal groups that emerged in the region around 1500yearsBP.The isotopic results suggest that none of the analyzed individuals would have come from the Plateau region. They probably were born and raised on the coast, including the site area. The wider 87Sr/86Sr variation found in the women may be signifying a patrilocal post-marital residential system to this group. The isotopic results also suggest that marine resources such as fish were the main food source. Despite the terrestrial fauna not being an important part of the protein diet, the boars analyzed from the site presented strontium values incompatible with the local geology, suggesting that these animals were hunted on the continent. This first isotopic study on a shallow coastal site with ceramic reinforces the idea of complexity regarding migration and trade networks between groups that inhabited the coast and the Plateau of Serra Geral around a thousand years before the arrival of Europeans in the region.