Authors:Gabriela Sartori Mingatos, Simon-Pierre Gilson Pages: 01 - 06 Abstract: Thinking about disseminating the works related to South American zooarchaeology, the idea to organize a special edition focused on this theme arose. We seek to get together articles from all over the Americas. However, due to the pandemic that struck the world in 2020, many contributions were not possible.2020 was challenging in many ways; we face limitations, unforeseen circumstances and new alternatives to acquire and disseminate knowledge. We were overwhelmed with new demands; we ran out of time so that everything worked as it should be. All the researchers made every effort to carry out their research and their commitments in a time of uncertainty and loss.This edition can be considered a “warrior” edition, because it persevered despite the difficulties of such a turbulent year and despite the reduced amount of articles, the ties, contacts and kindnesses exchanged between zooarchaeologists from all over the American continent for this edition, it was an unmeasurable gain!We would like to thank everyone who contributed articles; the reviewers who were wonderful in their notes; to the editor-in-chief for the invitation to organize this edition, for his dedication and commitment to the quality of the magazine.Among the articles published in this edition, some questions concerning the interaction between humans and megafauna in Brazilian territory are taken up; always a controversial issue among the scientific community. As a bonus, a new way of interpreting Brazilian rock art is presented by Arthur Chahud, Paulo Oliveira and Mercedes Okumura, strongly linking with zooarchaeology to the interpretation of these records. Although it is a small step, we hope that this “spark” will awaken researches of this theme in Brazil. Undoubtedly, two themes of importance that deserve our attention.The articles here also speak of a more recent period covered by archeology. Zooarcheology is a discipline that has stood out as an important tool to understand how human societies of the past interacted with our planet. This role is valuable in all periods of the long history of humanity.Raúl Valadez talks about the so-called “naked dogs” or “xoloitzcuintli”, their cultural importance in Mesoamerica throughout the 5th to the 16th centuries and their anatomical differences in relation to “hairy dogs”. A real walk through the available sources from iconography to genetics, incorporating the osteological specificities of these “naked dogs”.Albérico Nogueira, Olivia Carvalho and Simone Menezes, introduce us to post-contact Brazilian zooarcheology with a particular focus on the presence of bovine animals and their interconnection with the Iberian Peninsula. The theme carried out by Prof. Dr. Albérico Nogueira team came to fill a gap in Brazilian zooarchaeology.Without a doubt, the contributions presented in this edition are of immense importance to develop and strengthen different points of South American zooarcheology.Thank you all very much and we hope you enjoy this special edition. PubDate: 2020-12-31 Issue No:Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020)
Authors:Albérico Nogueira de Queiroz, Olivia Alexandre de Carvalho, Simone Menezes Santos Pages: 07 - 18 Abstract: Historical Zooarchaeology in Brazil still needs more comprehensive studies on the importance of animals for social, cultural, and economic development in some regions in the country since there is little information about the fauna from archaeological sites during the more than five hundred years from colonial to republican periods (from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and in recent times). Archaeofaunal remains from land sites across the country indicate a certain taxonomic and chronological dichotomy. Although most of the prehistorical sites (also known as pre-Columbian/precolonial) have indicated largely native faunal osteological and dentary elements (mostly medium and small mammals, and also reptiles, amphibians) whereas the sites of colonial and subsequent chronological periods (also known as historical sites) predominates domesticated breeds, especially those of economic importance (for butchering, dairy leather cattle) and pets, resulting from Portuguese first “official” colonizers. Through some historical archaeological sites, we present some aspects of the Iberian contribution in the adoption of domesticated animals in the country. We also mention as an example the successful introduction of the domesticated cattle breed known as "Crioulo Lageano" in the state of Santa Catarina (SC), southern Brazil. The starting point would have been from the settlement of the city of Lages, founded in 1766 by the pioneer settlers. Historical records show the Iberian origin of this bovid race according to recent investigations into its genetic heritage. PubDate: 2020-12-31 Issue No:Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020)
Authors:Raúl Valadez Azúa Pages: 19 - 42 Abstract: Los perros pelones mexicanos, llamados generalmente “xoloitzcuintles” son una de las muy pocas razas nativas del continente americano y por tanto objeto de interés por numerosas ramas de investigación. En el Laboratorio de Paleozoología del Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, se han desarrollado las bases para reconocerlos en el contexto arqueológico, permitiendo que en el presente se tenga una colección de 16 individuos ubicados temporalmente entre los siglos V y XVI AD, pertenecientes a sitios del occidente, centro y sureste de Mesoamérica. Esta colección es única en el mundo y de enorme importancia, pues constituye una fuente de información de primera línea, libre de la contaminación de razas de perros de otros continentes. El estudio morfométrico de los diferentes elementos óseos y dentales de los individuos ha derivado en una base de datos que permiten reconocerlos frente a otros tipos de perros, principalmente la presencia de una diastema, una morfología dental más simple, dentario delgado, hocico comparativamente corto y un frontal más ancho con prominentes rebordes óseos. Esta misma base de datos permite generar aproximaciones biotípicas que muestran que estos xoloitzcuintles fueron una raza de talla mediana o chica; igualmente la dentición permite definir los niveles de manejo de los ejemplares, demostrándose que en la mayor parte de los casos no existía interés en las cruzas selectivas; la distribución temporal, unido a la presencia de iconografía de estos perros, posibilita ubicar al occidente de Mesoamérica como sitio de origen hace unos dos mil años, dispersándose hacia otras regiones, llegando a ocuparla por completo al inicio del segundo milenio de nuestra era. Por último, el estudio del ADN de un ejemplar cuyos progenitores eran de condición pelona, permitió reconocer que la raza procede de ancestros diferentes al resto de perros americanos, siendo hasta hoy la única evidencia confiable respecto de su ascendencia, pues procede de un ejemplar libre de la contaminación genética que tuvo lugar entre las poblaciones de perros del continente a partir del siglo XVI. PubDate: 2020-12-26 Issue No:Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020)
Authors:Artur Chahud, Paulo Ricardo Oliveira, Mercedes Okumura Pages: 43 - 58 Abstract: Rock paintings in the Northeast of Brazil depict several animal species of the local fauna. A painting described in the region of Lajedão do Riacho Largo, in the municipality of Central in the State of Bahia was identified in the mid-1980s as the hunting of a Toxodon, a large extinct animal that inhabited South America. Since then, such identification has been criticized by several researchers. We propose a new identification of the portrayed animal as an adult female of the Pantanal Deer, Blastocerus dichotomus. The presence of such deer, currently extinct in the region, would represent the most eastern occurrence of this species in the Brazilian territory. PubDate: 2020-12-31 Issue No:Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020)
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