BONE REMAINS OF DEER IN HOLOCENE DEPOSITS OF CUVIERI CAVE, LAGOA SANTA REGION, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZI

Abstract

During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, there was a significant increase in the amount of Cervidae remains in deposits in the Lagoa Santa region, state of Minas Gerais. The Cuvieri Cave has a diverse collection of mammalian bone remains from this period, with Cervidae being the most common in Holocene deposits. The most common and abundant species in the deposits is Subulo cf. gouazoubira Fischer, 1814, with at least 77 articulated or disarticulated individuals found throughout the deposit. The data indicate that this distribution was variable through time. It was observed a decrease in the amount of Cervidae bone remains during the Middle Holocene, followed by an increase around six thousand years ago. These data corroborate observations made in other mammalian clades from the Cuvieri Cave and are correlated with the first phase of the Archaic Gap, a period marked by the decrease or disappearance of human groups in Lagoa Santa. The presence of the species Subulo cf. gouazoubira suggests that environmental changes were not extreme, still maintaining characteristics of the Cerrado Biome that existed in the region during the Middle Holocene, allowing the survival of this taxon in the region.