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Since the discovery of human bones on land in the coastal city of São Luis, Brazil, archaeologists have combed more than six hectares for four years. Nearly 100,000 ancient objects have been found, but most of the treasure is still underground, according to experts.
Workers had been attacking the construction of an apartment complex in northeastern Brazil when they came across human bones and pottery shards. They were not yet at the end of their surprises.
On-site excavations in the coastal city of São Luis quickly uncovered thousands of ancient objects that could be up to 9,000 years old. A treasure that, according to archaeologist Wellington Lage, who is leading the excavations, “could completely change the history not only of the region but of Brazil as a whole”. The archaeologist admits he had no idea what to expect when Brazilian construction giant MRV hired his company W Lage Arqueologia to carry out a survey of the site in 2019, a standard procedure before housing construction.
Covered with tropical vegetation and bordered by the ever-growing urban fabric of São Luis, capital of the state of Maranhão, the land extends over six hectares. During his research, Mr. Lage learned that fascinating discoveries had been made there in the 1970s, including a piece of a human jaw in 1991. His team quickly found much more: tons of stone tools, ceramic and bone shards. According to the Brazilian Institute of History and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), which announced this discovery, four years of excavations unearthed 43 human skeletons and more than 100,000 ancient objects “terrific” A few days earlier.
“We’ve been working for four years now and have barely scratched the surface. »
Wellington location
The researchers will now inventory the objects, analyze them in detail, exhibit them and publish their discoveries. “We’ve been working for four years now and have barely scratched the surface”, emphasizes Mr. Lage, a 70-year-old native of São Paulo whose wife and two children are also archaeologists. The first discoveries are already attracting the attention of the scientific community.
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Mr Lage explains that his team – now 27 members including archaeologists, chemists, a historian and a documentary filmmaker – have cataloged four different eras at the site. The top layer was left by the Tupinamba people, who lived in the area when European settlers founded São Luis in 1612. Next comes a layer of ancient objects typical of the peoples of the Amazon rainforest, followed by a “sambaqui”, a pile of ceramics, shards and bones used by certain indigenous communities to build their houses or bury their dead become. Even below, about two meters deep, is another layer that is estimated to have been left by a group that made rudimentary pottery and lived there 8,000 to 9,000 years ago.
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It is much older than the oldest “Sambaqui” found so far in the region, which is around 6,600 years old, emphasizes Mr. Lage. Scientists have long debated the question of when and how the first people from Asia came to America. This specialist’s discoveries suggest that they settled in this region of modern-day Brazil at least 1,400 years earlier than previously thought.
Archaeologists plan further analysis to date the objects more precisely. The site already represents “a milestone in Brazilian prehistory”, explained Iphan in a press release. For this organization “It is a testament to the long history of human settlement” In the region, “Revealing an earlier past” partly already documented.
Archaeologist Arkley Bandeira from the Federal University of Maranhão, who is building a laboratory and museum to preserve this treasure with funds from the MRV Group, also points out that the site provides valuable information about the culture and history of the ancient peoples who lived under water for so long could . According to him, it is these discoveries “Play a critical role in telling the story of our long history.”.
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