Quaternarian Seridó

Abstract

The territory known as Seridó, located in Septentrional Northeastern Brazil, corresponds to one of the most severe semi-arid climate conditions in the country. Archaeological evidence, such as sites near drainage channels and rock art depicting river boats, point to milder climatic conditions in the past. Isotopic data on speleothems, bones, and charcoal have recorded the installation, during the Holocene, of the Caatinga biome, adapted to dry and hot climatic conditions. The occurrence of now extinct Pleisto-Holocene fossiliferous associations typical of aquatic environments (e.g., Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris and Tapirus terrestres), archaeological remains, and radiocarbon dating confirm paleoecological relationships and position the changes in space in deep time. This paper attempts to make the state of the art of paleoenvironmental information about the territory and, based on geological, archaeological, paleontological, palaeohydrological, speleological, and eustatic evidence, project the evolution of the Seridó landscape in a global perspective over the last 13 thousand year.