Funerary taphonomy in the Serra das Confusões: The processes for the formation of mortuary deposits in Toca do Enoque, Middle Holocene, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

This article presents an interpretation of the funerary and post-funerary practices of the archaeological site Toca do Enoque, located in the Serra das Confusões National Park (Piauí, Brazil). Archaeological excavations have made it possible to discover three burials at the site. Through a new lecture on the mortuary contexts excavated at the site, it was possible to propose the presumed reconstruction of each mortuary deposit formation processes through a taphonomic approach. Two burials were individual, the first primary and undisturbed, while the third had post-depositional natural and cultural disturbances. In addition, the second burial, an ongoing tomb use, contained ten individuals and complex characteristics of the mortuary deposit formation, use and reuse. Indirect burial dates place the funerary use of the shelter by indigenous groups, pre-ceramic hunter-gatherers, during the Middle Holocene (c. 6,000 – 5,000 years before the present).