title: Understanding the Chronology and Occupation Dynamics of Oversized Pit Houses in the Southern Brazilian Highlands.
abstract: A long held view about the occupation of southern proto-Jê pit house villages of the southern Brazilian highlands is that these sites represent cycles of long-term abandonment and reoccupation. However, this assumption is based on an insufficient number of radiocarbon dates for individual pit houses. To address this problem, we conducted a programme of comprehensive AMS radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling at the deeply stratified oversized pit House 1, Baggio I site (Cal. A.D. 1395-1650), Campo Belo do Sul, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. The stratigraphy of House 1 revealed an unparalleled sequence of twelve well preserved floors evidencing a major change in occupation dynamics including five completely burnt collapsed roofs. The results of the radiocarbon dating allowed us to understand for the first time the occupation dynamics of an oversized pit house in the southern Brazilian highlands. The Bayesian model demonstrates that House 1 was occupied for over two centuries with no evidence of major periods of abandonment, calling into question previous models of long-term abandonment. In addition, the House 1 sequence allowed us to tie transformations in ceramic style and lithic technology to an absolute chronology. Finally, we can provide new evidence that the emergence of oversized domestic structures is a relatively recent phenomenon among the southern proto-Jê. As monumental pit houses start to be built, small pit houses continue to be inhabited, evidencing emerging disparities in domestic architecture after AD 1000. Our research shows the importance of programmes of intensive dating of individual structures to understand occupation dynamics and site permanence, and challenges long held assumptions that the southern Brazilian highlands were home to marginal cultures in the context of lowland South America.
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gregorio de Souza
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo (MAE-USP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corteletti
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Macarena Lucia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cárdenas
authors.affiliation: Centro Universitário Univates, Lajeado, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sidnei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iriarte
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mayle
authors.affiliation: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo (MAE-USP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: DeBlasis
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001938:Brazil; D002516:Ceramics; D005843:Geography; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006798:Housing / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011336:Probability; D055110:Radiometric Dating