Sambaquis As A Proxies Of Late Holocene Mollusk Diversity On The Coast Of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Efficiency of archaeozoological vestiges from shell mounds to recover biodiversity patterns were tested using a meso-scale inventory (150 archaeological sites from Rio de Janeiro Coast) of malacological vestiges from sambaquis against an inventory of present times mollusk species recorded for the same area. Statistical analysis were done using Taxonomic Distinctness tests and Trophic Diversity inferences. No statistical significant differences were found between past (sambaquis) and present day inventories of malacofauna. It is concluded that sambaquis can be valuable proxies of mollusks biodiversity from Late Holocene. Furthermore, it is supported that the incorporation of information from archaeozoological vestiges to biodiversity studies can bring a historical and evolutionary perspective for the field.