Formation Processes of the Late Pleistocene Site Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião – Piauí (Brazil)

ABSTRACT Archaeological research of late Pleistocene sites in northeastern Brazil has rarely analyzed site formation processes from a geoarchaeological perspective. This has contributed to the long-held debate over the reliability of Pleistocene ages and the anthropic origin of stone tools and combustion features. In this work, we combine high-resolution geoarchaeological methods to study the formation processes of the Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião North site (TJBA-North), located in a surface karst about 12 km northeast of the classical site of Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Serra da Capivara, Piauí). The site contains stone tools and megafauna remains in sedimentary levels that have been dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) as more than 20,000 years ago up to the early Holocene. Using micromorphology, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), micro-FTIR on the micromorphology thin sections, and magnetic analyses, we carried out a comprehensive study of the climatic conditions during the late and terminal Pleistocene and investigated the depositional history of the site.