News
JULY 2024 | RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL
Palynological analysis and excavation Guarani sites
The second phase of the project *Climate Change, Landscapes, and Settlement of the Guaíba River Basin During the Late Holocene* took place in Lajeado, funded by CNPq. Activities included sediment collection for palynological analysis and excavation of the Guarani site (RS-T-138) in Roca Sales, Rio Grande do Sul. This site was significantly impacted by historic flooding of the Taquari River in April-May 2024.
2024 | BRAZIL - ITALY
Exchange program
The Ph.D. Candidate Bruna Schneider from the Environmental Sciences Graduate Program, received funding through the Fapesc Call for Proposals No. 07/2024 to visit Italy to participate in excavations and gained experience in osteoarchaeological and paleoanthropological analysis techniques.
MAY 2024 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
Book launch
We present the 'Catalog of Guarani Archaeological Ceramics of the Upper Uruguay River Valley', which brings together a vast collection of Guarani ceramics from southern Brazil that until today was practically unknown. The objective of this book is to make available to the educational, academic, artistic, and general public communities the main pieces from seven museum collections of great heritage value. The work focuses on the visual presentation of the pieces, grouping them by the institutions that safeguard them, including information on their origin and their main measurements. In addition to complete pieces, we have included painted sherds that show the remarkable development of Guarani pictorial art. The work was funded by the 'Elizabete Anderle Prize for the Promotion of Culture and Popular Arts'/2022.
APRIL 2024 | BOLOGNA, ITALY
University of Bologna
Mirian Carbonera (Unochapecó) and Daniel Loponte (CONICET) were invited to deliver a lecture at the University of Bologna on the archaeology of Southeastern South America. They then participated in a seminar at the Ravenna campus of the university to discuss the progress of the overarching project. Following this, they met with Drs. David Caramelli, Stefano Benazzi, Giulia Marciani, and Martina Lari, along with Ph.D. candidate Micaela Ciervo, at the University of Florence to review ongoing DNA studies within the project. Their academic agenda concluded at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where they met with Drs. Tommaso Giovanardi and Cinzia Scaggion to outline the next steps for the project's isotopic studies.
MARCH 2024 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
Bioanthropological record of Encosta da Lagoa site
During this month, the bioanthropological record of the Encosta da Lagoa site began to be analyzed, with the participation of Drs. Bárbara Mazza (Conicet/Argentina), Vittória Bianchi (Bones Lab/University of Bologna), Mirian Carbonera (Unochapecó), and Ph.D. candidate Bruna Schneider (PPGCA-Unochapecó/Arqueoeste). This site holds a significant collection of human, faunal, and artifactual remains from populations adapted to the coastal environment of Santa Catarina
JANUARY 2024 | ARGENTINA
Fieldwork
During the months of December and January, fieldwork was conducted at the sites Cerro Lutz, Cerro Las Moras, and Cerro Toro in the Paraná Delta. Researchers from Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina participated in the excavations. These works allowed for the recovery of important materials related to technology, exchange systems, the presence of domestic animals, and mortuary behaviors.
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FEBRUARY 2024 | ARGENTINA
International cooperation
During the months of January and February, biological surveys were carried out over a large sector of the final stretch of the Plata Basin and the Pampa Ondulada, aiming to advance in the construction of isotopic landscapes to understand human mobility of the pre-Hispanic populations and the structure of the faunal resources in these regions. The studies in the field were led by Drs. Tommaso Giovardini from the University of Bologna, Mirian Carbonera from the Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó-Unochapecó, and Daniel Loponte from CONICET - INALP.
OCTOBER 2023 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
International cooperation
During the month of October, researchers involved in the project and based at the University of Bologna, Stefano Benazzi, Giulia Marciani, and Antonino Vazana, visited the Universidad Comunitária de la Região de Chapecó, giving lectures on various aspects of their research activities. The visit also provided an opportunity to coordinate research efforts, analyze archaeological collections in different museums and institutions in Santa Catarina, and visit some of the most prominent archaeological sites in the state.
OCTOBER 2023 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
Member of the ASSA is awarded in Brazil
With great pleasure, we announce that Dr. Mirian Carbonera has been awarded with the prize “Pesquisadora Destaque” (Outstanding Researcher) in the field of Humanities in the first edition of the Fritz Müller Award for Research by the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (Foundation for Research and Innovation Support of the State of Santa Catarina - FAPESC). The award ceremony took place on October 30th, 2023, at the congress of Santa Catarina State, in the city of Florianópolis, and was attended by FAPESC President Fabio Pinto and officials from this institution.
OCTOBER 2023 | BOLOGNA, ITALY
In search of the last Neanderthals: the Universities of Bologna, Siena, and Haifa will conduct a new ERC-funded project with 13 million euros
The extinction of the Neanderthal remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the evolutionary path followed by the Homo genus. What are the causes that led to the disappearance of this species? What was the timeframe and spatial context? What was the chain of events that led to the development of this phenomenon? LAST NEANDERTHALS is the new major research project funded with 13 million euros by the European Research Council (ERC), which will seek answers to these questions by expanding archaeological research beyond the context of Western and Central Europe. Led by Principal Investigators Stefano Benazzi, Francesco Berna, and Omry Barzilai, the project is an ERC Synergy Grant, an initiative aimed at expanding our knowledge through synergies among different research groups, each coordinated by a Principal Investigator with a significant scientific track record.
OCTOBER 2023 | ARGENTINA
Guarani mortuary record
During the second week of October, Angélica Rugeri (University of Bologna) arrived in Buenos Aires to join the research team analyzing the Guarani mortuary record. She focused on the analysis of bone pathologies and entheseal changes to conduct comparative studies with the Guarani record from southern Brazil. The researcher was welcomed by Drs. Daniel Loponte and Alejandro Acosta at the National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought.
SEPT 2023 | ARGENTINA
Pollen analysis
During September 2023, sediment core sampling for pollen analysis was conducted in the Paraná Delta. Fieldwork was coordinated by Daniel Loponte and Jefferson Radaeski in the Ibicuy area, Entre Ríos province. The fieldwork allowed the retrieval of cores up to 2.7 meters in thickness.
JUN - SET 2023 | DELTA PARANÁ, ARGENTINA
New excavations
During the months of June to September, excavations and surveys were carried out at various sites in the Paraná Delta, including Cerro Bauer, Rodeo Viejo, El Ciervo, Isla Lechiguanas site 1, Cerro Magallán, Cantera YPF, and Cerro Toro. Professionals and students from Brazil and Argentina participated, coordinated by Drs. Mirian Carbonera and Daniel Loponte. The results led to the acquisition of new collections and novel information for regional archaeology.
APRIL 2023 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
New project
During April, activities related to the project Dissemination of the Guarani history and material culture of the Uruguay River basin; were carried out. The actions consisted of the analysis and photographic recording of the Guarani ceramic collections at different institutions, among which are: CEOM/Unochapecó (Chapecó), URI-Campus Erechim (Erechim/RS), Almiro Theobaldo Muller Museum (Itapiranga), Pastor Karl Raminnger Municipal Museum (Mondaí), Antônio Selistre de Campos Museum (Chapecó). In addition, the main difficulties in the conservation of archaeological collections in the aforementioned museums were verified, and ideas were exchanged on the best methods for the conservation of large Guarani vessels. This information will soon be published in an open-access digital catalog, as well as in conferences for dissemination. The project is funded by the Fundação Elisabete Anderle de Estímulo à Cultura (Grant 001493), Government of the State of Santa Catarina, Fundação Catarinense da Cultura.
JAN 2023 | ISLA MARTÍN GARCÍA, ARGENTINA
Fieldwork
During January 2023 new fieldwork was performed at the Arenal Central site located on Martín García Island in the Río de la Plata River (Argentina). The excavations, carried out by an Argentine-Brazilian team, recovered a large number of pottery, faunal remains, carbonized plants, lithic and bone artifacts. The collection is being analyzed at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación, Buenos Aires city.
NOV 2022 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
XII SAB Sul and IV JAAG
From November 7 th to 11 th 2022, the meetings “XII SAB Sul “Arqueologias do Sul: Diálogos científicos em tempos de crise” and “IV Jornada de Atualização em Arqueologia Guarani” (Southern archaeology: scientific dialogues in times of crisis and IV update conference on Guarani archeology) were held at the Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó (Unochapecó), located in the city of the same name. This double event included debates, conferences, thematic symposiums, posters and a visit to the archaeological sites of the POPARU project. Four hundred researchers were registered, and 150 presentations were perfromed. The finantial support was given by the State of Santa Catarina through the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação de Santa Catarina; (FAPESC), which was obtained in a project approved in a public call for merits and background (Fapesc #34, 2021/2022). It also had the financing of Unochapecó and private companies such as Espaço Arqueologia, Arqueoeste, Geoestring and Aurora Alimentos.
MAY 2022 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
Sedimentary and pollen samples
During the month of May, sedimentary and pollen samples were taken in the Municipality of Campo Eré (Santa Catarina, Brazil). The sedimentary column showed a pollen record of more than 200 cm, reaching at its base an age of the end of the Pleistocene. Researchers from Brazil and Argentina participated in the field tasks.
NOV 2022 | SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL
Meeting
On November 25, the 1st Meeting of Palaeoenvironments and Human Occupations in Southern Brazil took place, held at the Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó (Unochapecó), Chapecó city, Santa Catarina State. Palynologists, archaeologists, botanists and historians met to discuss the main results of the project Climate Changes, Landscapes and Prehistoric Settlement in the Uruguay River Basin. This ongoing project is funded by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação de Santa Catarina (FAPESC) (December 2020 edition).
FEBRUARY 2022 | ARGENTINA
Cerro Mayor and Túmulo de
Campana 1 sites
During February 2022, sediment samples were taken from the Cerro Mayor and Túmulo de Campana 1 sites (Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires provinces, Argentina) with a sediment core extruder. In the first of the sites, the base level was reached at a depth of 3.5 m. Argentinian, Uruguayan and Brazilian archaeologists participated in the field tasks. The objective of the work is to resume the analysis of the formation process of these two archaeological sites.
MARCH 2022 | ARGENTINA
Relocation of the Paraná Ibicuy 2 site
At the end of 2021, the Paraná Ibicuy 2 site, which was excavated by Amanda Caggiano in the 1970s, was relocated. During March 2022, excavations were carried out at different points of the site that was occupied by pre-Columbian hunter-gatherers. The field tasks done by Argentinian and Brazilian archaeologists allowed to recover a large amount of archaeological materials that help to reconstruct a significant range of time of the regional prehistory.
