Mudanças paleoecológicas nos últimos seis mil anos na região costeira do Nordeste paraense: reconstruindo o Sambaqui Porto da Mina pela integração de dados ambientais (Quatipuru, Brasil).

Abstract

The Porto da Mina shellmound is an archaeological site located in Quatipuru, Pará State, which shows records of continuous occupation and abundant zoological material dating back to approximately 5,280 years BP. This work aimed to reconstruct the existing environment during the establishment of this shellmound. For this, bio-anthracological profiles were elaborated, with sediment samples and zoological material collection. The research had a multidisciplinary character, including geological, chemical (X-ray diffraction and fluorescence), biological and isotopic (δ13C, δ15N and δ18O) analyzes. Ecological, climate and land use simulation modeling were also performed. The results showed that the archaeological site consists of silt and clay granulometry containing predominance of quartz, hematite, kaolinite and calcite. These constituents corroborated the shellmound presence in the study area, which was also evidenced by the presence of carbonate invertebrate fossils such as oysters, cockles, mussels and crabs. In addition, temperature variations of around 10 °C were recorded, which although high, was not a sudden climate change for the Holocene. Analysis of the land use and land cover changes evolution suggests that regardless of the increasing and continuous land use, the rate of deforestation is considered relatively low for the Porto da Mina shellmound’s area. Therefore, it is argued that anthropogenic deforestation in the surrounding region of the site did not play a significant role in climate change occurring during site activity.