Scientists unearth ancient Brazil’s 2,000-year-old party scene

By Stephen Beech

Carnival has been celebrated in Brazil for thousands of years, suggests new research.

Pre-colonial people in Brazil may have gathered in summer months to feast on fish and share alcoholic drinks, say scientists.

An international team – including scientists from the University of York as well as researchers in Brazil and Spain – analyzed pottery fragments dating back to between 2,300 and 1,200 years ago discovered around the Patos Lagoon in Brazil.

The shores of the Lagoon are characterized by settled earthen mounds - known as “Cerritos” - which were built by pre-colonial ancestors of Pampean Indigenous groups called the Charrua and Minuano.

The research team tentatively identified some of the earliest evidence of alcoholic drink production in the region.

State-of-the-art analysis of the pottery revealed traces of drinks made using vegetables – likely to have been tubers, sweetcorn and palm.

Other pottery fragments contained evidence of the processing of fish, according to the research published in the journal PLOS One.

The discovery adds evidence to the researchers’ belief that pre-colonial people may have gathered around the mounds – which held symbolic significance as burials, territorial markers, and monuments – to celebrate and feast on seasonally abundant fish.

An earlier study using isotope analysis of ancient human remains unearthed in the area indicated that the inhabitants had "diverse" diets, suggesting that people may have traveled to the Lagoon from the wider region.

Study lead author Dr. Marjolein Admiraal suggests seasonal gatherings at the mounds were "important" cultural events, drawing dispersed communities together to exploit and celebrate the return of migrating fish – such as the Whitemouth croaker – which likely required collective effort to process.

Dr. Admiraal, who conducted the research while at the University of York, said: “We see examples of such practices around the world, often related to seasonal abundance of migratory species.

"These events provide an excellent opportunity for social activities, such as funerals and marriages, and hold great cultural significance.

“Our findings – supported by a combination of biomolecular and isotopic approaches in organic residue analysis – provide compelling evidence for the use of fermented beverages in these ancient communities and show that pottery played a crucial role in feasting and social activities.”

Professor Oliver Craig, of the University of York, said “Through detailed chemical analysis we were able to determine what products were present in the Cerritos pottery vessels but also how people prepared these products, through heating, storage and potentially fermentation.

"This brings us one step closer to understanding the culinary role of different foodstuffs in past societies”

The research team says the discovery sheds new light on the lifestyle of the pre-colonial groups, highlighting the multi-purpose nature of the Cerritos and their role in the social and economic life of the mound builders.

Study co-author Professor Rafael Milheira, from the Universidade Federal de Pelotas in Brazil, said: “The Cerritos are a combination of ritual and domestic places, and their elevated design may have been influenced by the local environment.

"These places were likely important to the people and raising them above potential erosion by seasonal high waters would have protected them.

“We know that large gatherings and feasts were important cultural events in the past, and today, throughout the world.

"And we suggest prehistoric people in the area would have invested in pottery production in anticipation of these gatherings which drew people to Patos Lagoon to feast on seasonal aquatic resources.”

Co-author Dr. André Colonese, of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain, said: “This study reinforces the power of molecular archaeology in unlocking information from common artifacts, such as pottery sherds, that was previously inaccessible through conventional archaeological methods."

He added: "Moreover, a key message from the paper is that preserving the Cerritos as a unique Pampean cultural heritage is of high priority if we want to learn from past societies how to sustainably live in such a dynamic environment”.