The team analyzed hundreds of cetacean bone remainsas well as bone tools from middens in Babitonga Bay, which are preserved at the Sambaquis Archaeological Museum, Brazil.
Indigenous communities in southern Brazil hunted large whales 5,000 years ago, around a thousand years earlier than previously thought, according to research by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).
O published in the journal Nature Communications and cited by the Efe agency, states that the people of the Babitonga Bay region (Brazil), who built sambaquis – mounds of monumental shells that served as housing or cemeteries – along the coast, had specific technologies for hunting these cetaceans much earlier than archaeological investigations indicated.
Num the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) highlighted that this study “redefines the role of South American communities in the emergence of complex maritime cultures, since until then it was believed that the origins of whaling occurred among post-glacial societies in the Northern Hemisphere, between 3,500 and 2,500 years ago”.
The investigation is the result of work by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology and the Department of Prehistory at UAB, and was led by scientists Krista McGrath and André Colonese.
The team analyzed hundreds of cetacean bone remainsas well as bone tools from sambaquis (fishing sites) in Babitonga Bay, which are preserved at the Sambaquis Archaeological Museum, in Joinville, Brazil.
This collection is considered a unique archive of indigenous history, as the sites no longer exist and could not otherwise be reconstructed.
Until the beginning of hunting activity, they were identified remains of southern right whales, humpback whales, blue whales, sei whales, sperm whales and dolphinsmany with clear cut marks associated with slaughter, and large harpoons made from whale bone have been documented.
“The data clearly demonstrate that these communities developed the knowledge, tools and specialized strategies needed to hunt large whales thousands of years earlier than we thought,” emphasized Krista McGrath.
The study also concluded that the historical distribution of large cetaceans extended much further south than the main breeding areas off the coast of Brazil today.
Study co-author Marta Cremer noted that “the recent increase in the number of sightings in southern Brazil may therefore reflect a historical process of recolonization, with implications for conservation.”
Furthermore, the research offers new insights into the economies, technologies and ways of life of post-glacial societies along the Atlantic coast of South America.
“This opens up a new perspective on the social organization of the Sambaqui people. It represents a paradigm shift; we can now see these groups not only as shellfish gatherers and fishermen, but also as whalers”, highlighted the study’s senior author, André Colonese.
The Sambaqui peoples developed a sophisticated maritime culture characterized by specialized technologies, collective cooperation, and ritual practices associated with the capture of large marine animals.
