The man of Rio das Almas: human skeletal remains of the Abrigo Tuvira site (GO-Ni.217).

Résumé

The man of Rio das Almas: human skeletal remains of the GO-Ni.217, Sitio Abrigo Tuvira, stems from systematic research - both field and laboratory - carried on by an interdisciplinary team in order to give attention to the commitment of the archaeological discipline with the community, in the extroversion of acquired knowledge concerning past burials. One deals with biological material constituted by inorganic components, mainly calcium phosphate and carbonate, as well as organic: ossein. These reacting components are responsible for the formation of the various structures of the bone. Considered as an anisotropic material, the archaeological bones, in this case, suffer complex and manifold chemical and physical alterations. The degree of deterioration presented by them results from different factors related not only with its structure, chemical composition and actions previous to the burial, but also to environmental conditions and to how long they remained buried. In this way, the human skeletal specimens, relatively rare archaeological registers in the internal context of small farms of the Brazilian hinterland, represent potential sources of answers to questions of economical and socio-cultural order about past populations and require previous studies, analyses and handling for the consolidation, preservation, storage and exhibition.