Fauna malacológica em dois sambaquis do litoral do Estado do Paraná, Brasil

Resumo

The shell mounds are artificial formations consisting mostly of mollusc shells fed to the prehistoric people who inhabited the coast. These sites are found throughout the Brazilian coast, where in Paraná hundreds were cataloged from the 1940s. The fragility of these sites, their importance as evidence of our early history and its rapid disappearance, justifies the need for new research that help to contextualize and draw up plans to preserve this heritage. The works related to mollusc fauna found in the shell mounds are restricted to citations of the most common and sometimes just their names. A greater understanding of the prehistoric inhabitants diet allows a better understanding of ancient ecosystems. The research was conducted in the shell mounds of Guaraguaçu and Boguaçu, municipalities of Paranagua and Guaratuba, respectively. The choice of these sites was due to their large size, ease of access and relative condition, despite the large amount of material extracted from both of them in past decades. The survey of the molluscs was carried out through field observations, specialized bibliography and comparison with previous work on the fauna of the molluscs on the coast of Parana.