Santa Elina is an archaeological site located deep inland, roughly 100 km (60 mi.) from Cuaiba, the capital of the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, close to the border with Bolivia (see Google map) it is a rock shelter that has provided evidence of human presence there 25,000 years ago, or more.
See: Vialou D, Benabdelhadi M, Feathers J, Fontugne M, Vialou AV. Peopling South America’s centre: the late Pleistocene site of Santa Elina. Antiquity. 2017;91(358):865-884. doi:10.15184/aqy.2017.101
Having mentioned in a previous post the recent article that suggests a recent (4-8 ky) age for the Monte Verde site in Chile, which had been dated to 18.5 ky, I am glad that there are many more older sites in America that suggest an early date for human colonization.
Early and distant Population
It is located far from the Atlantic and Pacific coastal routes, deep inside Brazil, in an area south of the Amazon forest, yet covered with thick jungles. It is near the Cuaiba River, which forms part of the Paraná-Río de la Plata Basin, and could have helped people move through the region.
Excavations began here in 1984 and yielded remains of a giant sloth (Glossotherium) whose bone osteoderms (that formed part of its thick protective hide) have been dated to 27,000 ±2000 years ago. Charcoal remains have also been dated to 23,120±260 years ago.
There have been later occupations (~9,000 to 10,000 years ago), with more tools, ornaments, and sloth remains. Researchers conclude that: " The dates indicate two periods of human occupation, with a date of 23120±260 BP for the first, and a date of 10120±60 BP for the beginning of the second. These dates confirm the association between archaeological artefacts and Glossotherium bones. Subsequent occupations terminated around 2000 BP.!
From Rita Scheel-Ybert and Caroline Bachelet, 2020
A study of the ecology and plants of the site by Rita Scheel-Ybert and Caroline Bachelet, 2020 gives information about the climate conditions during the occupation periods mentioned further up: "Since it was first occupied, the Santa Elina rock shelter has been part of the cerrado biome [Cerrado is a tropical savanna located in Central Brazil, with grasslands, forests, and shrublands]. At about 27,000 cal BP (AZ-1) the site was surrounded by a forested environment. The small charcoal sample does not allow for further climatic inferences, but previous paleoecological studies corroborate the existence of a cold and humid climate in Central Brazil between about 27,000 and 20,000 BP (Salgado-Labouriau et al. 1997). This same study demonstrated a decrease in humidity from about 18,500 BP onward, with a very dry climate until about 11,500 BP (Salgado-Labouriau et al. 1997). During this interval, evidence of human occupation in Santa Elina shelter is scarce or nonexistent (Vialou et al. 2017)... Between about 11,000 and 10,000 cal BP (AZ-2) the occupation resumes; "
Charcoal remains in the cave mean that there was fire, and fire seems to imply human presence, although natural fires are not uncommon and don't require a human agent. Sheel-Ybert and Bachelet write that "Fire is an ancient and important ecological agent in the cerrado (Coutinho 1990). Natural and anthropogenic fires have coexisted in its domain for thousands of years (Miranda et al. 2009): cerrado fire events have been recorded in Central Brazil since 32,400 yrs BP (Salgado-Labouriau et al. 1997). Some authors question the human presence in this region before about 11,000 yrs BP (e.g., Schmitz 1990), thus precluding the possibility of human-induced fires before the Holocene, but the chronology of the earlier occupation in Santa Elina pushes back the antiquity of human colonization."
But, regarding the cave's charcoal, they state that "The anthracological assemblage of the earliest occupation of Santa Elina rock shelter (SU-III), dated at about 27,000 cal BP, consists of a set of 16 samples, each one presenting between one and six taxa. This result is consistent with short-term human occupations, in which case temporary combustion activities would have likely produced these charcoal samples. Yet, we cannot exclude the possibility that this evidence could also have been produced by natural fires... [However,] We therefore argue that the charcoal retrieved in this unit was produced in short-term combustion features related to episodic and sporadic human activities, one of which might have involved the butchering of giant sloths."
Conclusions
The evidence seems to suggest ancient human presence. Of course, human remains would be much better, but fire, tools and butchered giant sloths are strong evidence of an early human presence in south-central South America. It also prompts us to explore and find more similar places. There must be many undiscovered sites hiding in plain site in the jungles of South America, possibly even older than Santa Elina.
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