Niède Guidon at the American Man Museum in São Raimundo Nonato, PiauíNiède Guidon at the American Man Museum in São Raimundo Nonato, PiauíNiède Guidon at the American Man Museum in São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí
French-Brazilian archaeologist Niède Guidon, former director of the American Man Museum Foundation (FUMDHAM), won the 36th edition of the Admiral Álvaro Alberto Award for Science and Technology, which this year was awarded for humanities, social science, literature, languages, and arts. The honor is awarded annually by Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), in partnership with the Brazilian Navy. The ceremony at which the medal, certificate, and R$200,000 prize will be awarded is set to be held at the Rio de Janeiro Naval School on May 8. Guidon, 91, was born in Jaú, in the interior of São Paulo State. She earned her degree in natural history from the University of São Paulo (USP) and specialized in prehistoric archaeology with an emphasis on cave paintings. In 1986, she created FUMDHAM in São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí, which was responsible for protecting the Serra da Capivara National Park. Guidon identified more than 700 prehistoric sites in the park, including 426 cave paintings and evidence of ancient human habitation. Based on the material she found, she hypothesized that Homo sapiens arrived in the region more than 100,000 years ago, arriving from Africa via the ocean, contrary to the traditionally accepted theory that humans migrated to the Americas from Asia around 13,000 years ago via the Bering Strait.
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