A song of earth and water: Burial caves as sacred and animated Southern Jê deathscapes in Brazil

Abstract

In this article, we examine existing data on Southern Jê burial caves (SJBCs) in the Southern Brazilian Highlands to discuss their spatiality, chronology, symbolic aspects, and relation to mound and enclosure complexes (MECs), another Southern Jê burial practice. Through map creation and temporal analysis, we explore chronological and hierarchical hypotheses previously used to explain the dynamic relationship between these funerary practices. Our findings suggest that SJBCs are older than MECs. Additionally, around 1000 CE—coinciding with the emergence of MECs—the expansion of the Araucaria forest and the intensification of interethnic contacts influenced changes in SJBCs, such as the incorporation of hearths and pottery. Ethnographic analysis of the Kaingang and Laklãnõ peoples (modern Southern Jê) indicates that burial caves were integral parts of deathscapes, representing cosmogonic myths, serving as interaction points between humans and non-humans, and boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead. Finally, visibility analysis of the Perau das Cabeças burial cave suggests that MECs and SJBCs represent opposing strategies for managing the dangers of the liminal phase: MECs are situated in prominent landscape positions, while Perau das Cabeças remains hidden from surrounding pit house villages.