Inside and outside the urn: funerary deposits from the Guarani archaeological unit at the Uruguai 1 site, in Foz do Chapecó, Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Recent discoveries of funerary depositions at the Uruguay 1 site provide new elements on the mortuary behavior related to the Guarani archaeological unit. Five burials including one urn deposition and at least four directly in the ground were discovered. This last behavior had not yet been documented for the upper Uruguay river. The Guarani occupation of this site dates from the first half of the 15th century to the 18th century (510 ± 20 and 240 ± 30 years 14C AP). This site is inserted in the context of the archaeological area of Foz do Chapecó, which has been studied in the last two decades and in which at least seven other burials in urns have already been documented. In this article we present new field and laboratory findings on depositions from the Uruguai 1 site, as well as new radiocarbon dates for the level analyzed. The data contribute not only to regional archaeology, but also provide new elements for the understanding of the mortuary behavior of this archaeological unit along the De La Plata basin.

Keywords
Guarani archaeology; Uruguai 1 site; Mortuary behavior; La Plata Basin; Upper Uruguai