Between 2,300 and 1,200 years ago, precolonial peoples gathered in the summer months to feast on fish and alcoholic beverages. Researchers from the UK, Spain, and Brazil (the Federal University of Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul) found traces of drinks made from vegetables and the cooking of fish in 54 fragments of pottery buried in mounds of earth called cerritos, built by ancestors of the Charrúa and Minuane Indigenous peoples, near the Patos lagoon in Rio Grande do Sul. The study supports the idea that precolonial peoples gathered to celebrate around the mounds—which had symbolic meaning as burial sites, territorial markers, and monuments. “We see examples of such practices around the world, often related to the seasonal abundance of migratory species. These events provide excellent opportunities for social activities, such as funerals and marriages, and hold great cultural significance,” said lead author Marjolein Admiraal in a statement released by the University of York, UK, where she examined the ceramics from Brazil (PLOS ONE, February 5).
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