Eighth Millennium Pottery from a Prehistoric Shell Midden in the Brazilian Amazon

13 December 1991

journal article
other
Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science

Vol. 254 (5038) , 1621-1624
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.254.5038.1621

Abstract

The earliest pottery yet found in the Western Hemisphere has been excavated from a prehistoric shell midden near Santarém in the lower Amazon, Brazil. Calibrated accelerator radiocarbon dates on charcoal, shell, and pottery and a thermoluminescence date on pottery from the site fall from about 8000 to 7000 years before the present. The early fishing village is part of a long prehistoric trajectory that contradicts theories that resource poverty limited cultural evolution in the tropics.

Keywords

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