Evidence of artefacts made of giant sloth bones in central Brazil around the last glacial maximum

The peopling of the Americas and human interaction with the Pleistocene megafauna in South America remain hotly debated. The Santa Elina rock shelter in Central Brazil shows evidence of successive human settlements from around the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the Early Holocene. Two Pleistocene archaeological layers include rich lithic industry associated with remains of the extinct giant ground sloth Glossotherium phoenesis. The remains include thousands of osteoderms (i.e. dermal bones), three of which were human-modified. In this study, we perform a traceological analysis of these artefacts by optical microscopy, non-destructive scanning electron microscopy, UV/visible photoluminescence and synchrotron-based microtomography. We also describe the spatial association between the giant sloth bone remains and stone tools and provide a Bayesian age model that confirms the timing of this association in two time horizons of the Pleistocene in Santa Elina. The conclusion from our traceological study is that the three giant sloth osteoderms were intentionally modified into artefacts before fossilization of the bones. This provides additional evidence for the contemporaneity of humans and megafauna, and for the human manufacturing of personal artefacts on bone remains of ground sloths, around the LGM in Central Brazil.

Automated summary

Using various methods including optical microscopy, non-destructive scanning electron microscopy, UV/visible photoluminescence, and synchrotron-based microtomography, researchers have found that three giant sloth osteoderms discovered at the Santa Elina site in Central Brazil were intentionally modified by humans. This study provides further evidence for the coexistence of humans and megafauna during the last glacial maximum and demonstrates human manufacturing of personal artifacts on ground sloth bones in Central Brazil.