Ancient Brazil Communities Thrived on Maize-Based Polyculture, New Study Finds
For decades, archaeologists have debated how Indigenous societies living across Brazil’s vast Cerrado supported some of South America’s largest precolonial settlements. Were these communities primarily hunter-gatherers who relied on wild resources, or did they practice intensive maize agriculture similar to other ancient civilizations?
A groundbreaking new study now suggests that neither explanation tells the full story.
Instead, researchers have found that many of the region’s largest communities flourished through a sophisticated form of maize-based polyculture, combining cultivated crops with wild food resources to create resilient agricultural systems capable of sustaining large populations for centuries.
Published in Science Advances, the research provides the first large-scale direct evidence that maize served as a dietary staple for some of the Cerrado’s largest villages during the Late Holocene while neighbouring communities followed entirely different subsistence strategies.Image Credit : Mariane Pereira Ferreira
The findings significantly reshape archaeologists’ understanding of Indigenous agriculture in tropical South America.
Long-Standing Debate Over Ancient Cerrado Agriculture
The Brazilian Cerrado is one of the world's largest tropical savannas, covering more than two million square kilometres across central Brazil.
Although today it is known for its extraordinary biodiversity, the region also supported numerous Indigenous societies long before European contact.
For years, archaeologists have disagreed about how these communities produced enough food to sustain permanent villages.
One theory argued that the inhabitants were primarily hunter-gatherers who depended heavily on wild plants and animals.
Another suggested they practiced intensive maize cultivation similar to agricultural societies elsewhere in the Americas.
The new research indicates that reality was considerably more complex.
Rather than relying exclusively on either hunting or monoculture farming, many communities developed diversified agricultural systems that balanced cultivated maize with numerous other food resources.
Scientists Examined More Than 100 Ancient Individuals
To better understand ancient diets, researchers analysed stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotopes preserved in the bones and teeth of more than 100 individuals recovered from 37 archaeological sites across three major Brazilian biomes:
- Cerrado
- Caatinga
- Atlantic Forest
The international team combined isotope evidence with radiocarbon dating, archaeobotanical remains, faunal isotope data and palaeoecological records.
Together, these methods allowed researchers to reconstruct ancient food production and dietary patterns across thousands of years during the Late Holocene.
Because isotopes preserve chemical signatures of foods consumed during life, they provide one of archaeology's most reliable methods for identifying long-term dietary habits.
Large Villages Relied Heavily on Maize
The results revealed striking contrasts between neighbouring communities living under nearly identical environmental conditions.
Residents of large open-air villages obtained a significant proportion of their diet from maize, indicating that cultivated crops played a central role in supporting sizeable populations.
Meanwhile, people living in nearby rock shelters showed little evidence of intensive maize consumption.
Instead, their diets remained far more diverse, incorporating a broader mixture of wild plants, fruits, animals and cultivated resources.
Since both groups occupied similar landscapes with comparable environmental opportunities, researchers concluded that these dietary differences reflected cultural traditions rather than ecological limitations.
Polyculture Created Resilient Food Systems
Perhaps the study's most important finding is that ancient Cerrado societies did not rely on maize alone.
Instead, maize formed part of diversified farming systems that integrated multiple domesticated crops alongside naturally available wild resources.
This agricultural strategy—known as polyculture—offers several advantages.
Growing different crops together improves resilience against drought, pests and seasonal fluctuations while maintaining soil fertility and biodiversity.
Researchers believe Indigenous farmers combined generations of ecological knowledge with careful land management to create productive agricultural landscapes capable of supporting permanent settlements without exhausting natural resources.
Lead author Eliane Chim explained that the findings fundamentally change current interpretations of Indigenous food production in central Brazil.
Challenging Traditional Views of South American Agriculture
The discovery also challenges long-held assumptions about how agriculture developed across tropical South America.
Discussions of Indigenous farming have often focused heavily on the Amazon Basin, while the Cerrado has received comparatively little archaeological attention.
The new evidence suggests the Cerrado should instead be recognised as another important centre of agricultural innovation.
Patrick Roberts of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology noted that maize was cultivated within resilient food-production systems that combined domesticated crops with local ecological knowledge and wild plant resources.
Rather than replacing natural ecosystems, Indigenous farming practices appear to have worked alongside them.
Ancient Knowledge Offers Modern Lessons
Beyond resolving an important archaeological debate, researchers believe the study carries broader significance for modern environmental management.
For centuries, Indigenous communities shaped the Cerrado landscape through sustainable agricultural practices that maintained biodiversity while supporting growing populations.
Understanding these ancient systems could provide valuable insights for modern conservation strategies as governments seek more sustainable approaches to farming and ecosystem management.
Traditional ecological knowledge preserved through archaeology may help address present-day challenges involving food security, biodiversity loss and climate resilience.
Rewriting the History of Indigenous Brazil
The study demonstrates that precolonial societies in Brazil's Cerrado developed sophisticated agricultural systems adapted specifically to their environment.
Rather than fitting neatly into categories of hunter-gatherers or intensive farmers, these communities created flexible food-production strategies capable of sustaining some of tropical South America's largest villages.
As archaeological research continues across the Cerrado, scientists expect further discoveries will reveal even greater complexity in the agricultural traditions that flourished across central Brazil long before European colonisation.
Conclusion
The new research fundamentally reshapes our understanding of ancient agriculture in Brazil's Cerrado. By combining maize cultivation with diverse crops and wild resources, Indigenous communities developed resilient polyculture systems that supported large settlements for centuries. The findings highlight the sophistication of precolonial land management and reinforce the importance of Indigenous ecological knowledge in both understanding the past and informing future conservation efforts.