A Report on Recent Archaeological Investigations in the Lagôa Santa Region of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Extract

As a supplement to the recent review of H. V. Walter's book, The Prehistory of the Lagôa Santa Region, some additional information about the nature of his recent archaeological work is of interest. After the completion of our own year of archaeological field work in the Lower Amazon, three days were spent in the Lagôa Santa Region, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais with Mr. H. V. Walter studying his collections, and visiting and excavating with him some of the rock shelters and caves. Two sites, not mentioned in his report, are of such archaeological importance in the preceramic cultural history of South America that they should be brought to the attention of other archaeologists.

By way of introduction, it should be stated that Mr. Walter, the British Vice-Consul in Belo Horizonte, is primarily interested in paleontological data, a quest which for fifteen years has led him to extensive exploration at his own cost in the caves in and around the Lagôa Santa region.