Preliminary thoughts about the occurence of violence among the Brazilian shellmound builders: analysis of the skeletons from Cabeçuda (Santa Catarina) and Arapuan (Rio de Janeiro) sites.

Abstract

This research was to test the initial hypothesis that shellmound builders of brasilian seashore were not usually involved in physical violence. Sixty two skulls from the Cabeçuda site (Santa Catarina) and eleven skeletons from the Arapuan site (Rio de Janeiro) were analysed in order to search for typical lesions that could be associated to episodes of violence. A revision about this topic in the littérature was also performed, including the post-cranial traumatic lesions data observed for the Cabeçuda Site. Low prevalence (4.8 %) for the Cabeçuda skeletons, and the absence of violent trauma for the Arapuan skeletons, confirm the proposed hypotesis. Socio-cultural, economic and environmental factors could explain this behaviour, although methodological factors cannot be excluded.