From bodies in hammock bundles to commingled burnt remains: an archaeothanatological case study of a two-stage burial cycle at Toca do Alto da Serra do Capim (Middle-Late Holocene, Northeastern Brazil)

Abstract

Two contrasting deposits of human remains, a semi-articulated skeleton in a plant funerary container and numerous burnt commingled human remains, were discovered at the archaeological site of Toca do Alto da Serra do Capim in Serra das Confusões National Park, Piauí State, Northeastern Brazil. This cave has evidence of ritual and ceremonial use dating to the Middle-Late Holocene, from 3750 ± 30 (4154–3960 cal BP) to 8590 ± 60 (9670–9490 cal BP) years BP. A mortuary analysis, focused on an archaeothanatological approach, allowed us to understand the deposit’s formation process and to reconstruct the atypical funerary pattern present in this cave. This case study included the individual primary/temporary burial of a body wrapped in a hammock bundle made of plant fibres, which was subsequently placed within a “straw nest” funerary container, while additional empty plant containers suggested exhumation of other corpses after passive natural decay, and lastly, the scattering all over the cave of burnt bones and ashes after the secondary cremation of several skeletons. Taking into account other similar Recent Holocene discoveries from various archaeological sites outside the study area and ethnographic narratives from indigenous groups of the Macro-Jê linguistic trunk, the taphonomic methodology used here allowed us to infer the sequential stages of a secondary funerary practice: involving temporary inhumation of bodies, exhumation of clean dry bones and cremation with redeposition of skeletal burnt remains. Finally, this case study shows that an archaeothanatology approach is a key tool for interpreting mortuary behaviour in certain complex and atypical archaeological bone deposits.