Human and natural agency: some comments on Pedra Furada.

Human and natural agency: some comments on Pedra Furada. In the December 1994 issue, we published a view by Meltzer, Adovasio& Dillehay of Pedra Furada Pedra Furada is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Barcelos. It has a population of 466 inhabitants and a total area of 2.10 Km2.••, the large cave-shelter in northeastBrazil whose deposits may show a precocious human occupation of the NewWorld. This further comment addresses natural and human agencies there,and how the research community can choose between severalinterpretations becoming available.The case of Pedra Furada highlights the subject of verification ofarchaeological claims. I agree that visiting sites is important, but Icannot subscribe to the canon of 'officialization' of sites byhaving specialists examining the controversial ones (all expenses paidby excavators, as it usually goes). In relation to the internationalmeeting at Pedra Furada, and after sustaining the notion 'there isnow solid evidence for a human presence in the New World tens ofthousands of years ago', Paul G. Bahn wrote that 'seeing maythen be believing' (1993: 115). There is a point at which thisstrategy amounts to authority appeal. Will the archaeological communityaccept or reject a site because one or more well-known archaeologistssay 'yes' or 'no'? Detailed publications, withcomplete stratigraphic stra��tig��ra��phy?n.The study of rock strata, especially the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rocks.strat diagrams, are needed: in other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , evidencethat may be accessible to everyone in the archaeological community.On the other hand, there is much to gain from the visit ofspecialists, in the form of insights that can be offered by researchersworking with similar problems. This is a very different approach, inthat it is not an appeal to authority to produce confirmation (Guidon gui��don?n.1. A small flag or pennant carried as a standard by a military unit.2. A soldier bearing such a flag or pennant. & Arnaud 1991: 172), but it is the requirement of advice about waysof doing research. It is in that sense that the paper by Meltzer et al.should be used by researchers in Pedra Furada, since they offer usefuland necessary advice. As for verification, it should be confined totransmissible evidence in the archaeological literature. If that mediumis not sufficient, then the existence of some problem must be presumed.It is in that vein that I will offer a few comments.As for Pedra Furada itself, the thorough review by Meltzer et al. isimpressive, and is honestly pointed towards what should be clarified inforthcoming publications. Given French standards, it is remarkable tosee the lack of 'attention to any internal stratification' inthe Pedra Furada research design (Meltzer et al. 1994: 704). This,together with changes of assignation ASSIGNATION, Scotch law. The ceding or yielding a thing to another of which intimation must be made. of radiocarbon determinations fromone sub-phase to another, or even in the number of sub-phases, point toarbitrariness and problems in the organization of strata, materials anddates. This situation is not recognized by Guidon & Arnaud (1991:169): 'after discovering a mass of fallen rocks almost directly incontact with the rocky floor . . . we were able to understand how thesite had been formed. This basic discovery allowed the certainty that wehad primary archaeological layers which had not been disturbed byerosion.' They claim that their work 'allow us to interpretthe totality of the depositional processes' (1991: 172), and thatoccupations are 'preserved intact' (1991: 172). These immodest im��mod��est?adj.1. Lacking modesty.2. a. Offending against sexual mores in conduct or appearance; indecent: a bathing suit considered immodest by the local people.b. claims are, of course, difficult to sustain.The charcoal particles on which radiocarbon dates were produced maybe derived from hearths or from forest fires. The excavators dismiss thesecond alternative by claiming that they are uncommon in the zone. Whatis 'uncommon'? Once every 10, 20 years? 100 years? For aputative formation history of about 50,000 radiocarbon years, onenatural fire every 100 years is more than enough to produce apalaeo-ecological signal in the deposits. In addition, there is evidenceof large boulders destroyed by fire at the base of the sequence (Guidon& Arnaud 1991: 170). The lack of concentration of charcoal outsideof the drip-line in the talus (Guidon & Arnaud 1991: 176) isirrelevant, since the deposits are more exposed to erosion than thoseinside the drip-line.'The position of the object in the rock-shelter' isincluded by Parenti as a property related to the artificial status ofthe rock specimens from Pedra Furada. This is not a valid property, asthe mass of boulders recovered within the cave amply testify. Inaddition I want to emphasize that the concept of 'manuport'used to suggest that certain cobbles cob��ble?1?n.1. A cobblestone.2. Geology A rock fragment between 64 and 256 millimeters in diameter, especially one that has been naturally rounded.3. cobbles See cob coal.tr. were artificially introduced to thesite (Guidon & Arnaud 1991: 176) may be useful to separate verylocal from foreign rocks, but it is irrelevant when all the specimensare of local quartzite quartzite,usually metamorphic rock composed of firmly cemented quartz grains. Most often it is white, light gray, yellowish, or light brown, but is sometimes colored blue, green, purple, or black by included minerals. (see also Meltzer et al. 1994).In sum, the question of the 'Pre-Clovis' rotule is notreally the issue. I cannot agree, for example, with the scepticism ofSchmitz (1987: 63), because it is derived mainly from the antiquity ofthe dates. The fact that 'stratigraphy, artefacts and carbonsamples are all subject to misinterpretation' (Schmitz 1987: 63) isindependent of antiquity. If the materials under discussion were only5000 radiocarbon years old, the same doubts would have arisen. The issueis one of how to distinguish human from natural agency.Since we know so little, we should always expect the unexpected fromthe archaeological record, but the suggestion of Homo sapiens sapiens sa��pi��ens?adj.Of, relating to, or characteristic of Homo sapiens.[Latin sapi living in technological stasis for more than 40,000 years in Piaui needsmuch more published support than the one already available.ReferencesBAHN, P.G. 1993. 50,000-year-old Americans of Pedra Furada, Nature362: 114-15.GUIDON, N. & B. ARNAUD. 1991. The chronology of the New World:two faces of one reality, World Archaeology 23: 167-78.MELTZER, D.J., J.M. ADOVASIO & T.D. DILLEHAY. 1995. On aPleistocene human occupation at Pedra Furada, Brazil, Antiquity 68:695-714.SCHMITZ, I. 1987. Prehistoric hunters and gatherers of Brazil,Journal of World Prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to 1: 53-126.