In October 2021, researchers from the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE, Gif-sur-Yvette), the Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (ISEM) and the Federal University of Ceara (Brazil) travelled across the state of Piauí to collect lake sediment cores and surface samples. The aim is to reconstruct the evolution of environmental conditions (climate, vegetation) associated with the first human settlements in South America.

On their return to the laboratory, the sediment cores were dated and analysed using various tracers (pollen, geochemical analyses, etc.).

This mission is part of the ANR ‘SESAME’ project (Human paleoecology, Social and cultural Evolutions among first Settlements in Southern AMErica), led by Eric Boëda (Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité, Paris).

On returning from the mission, Edouard Régnier (LSCE) edited the footage into a roadtrip video.

Project website : https://sesame.hypotheses.org