O Lugar Antes de Mim - Ep.01 Gruta das Pedras Brilhantes

Archaeology, rock art, documentary: The Place Before Me is a documentary television series aimed at disseminating audiovisual records about the peoples who inhabited Brazilian territory before the arrival of Europeans. The episodes of the series revisit an archaeological period, showing that the history of Brazil has roots in a very remote past. The Gruta das Pedras Brilhantes Archaeological Site, in São Desidério, in western Bahia, is the subject of the first episode of the series. The chosen location features a limestone shelter richly decorated with rock art, being an example of a cave with stable sedimentary dynamics and greater potential for the horizontal conservation of remains. Named due to the presence of shiny stones, the cave intrigues archaeologists, who have not yet reached a consensus on this characteristic. Three hypotheses are considered to explain the shine of some stones: a natural chemical reaction, a "polishing" resulting from human action, or a combination of both factors. In the Gruta das Pedras Brilhantes (Cave of Shining Stones), chipped stones made from different raw materials were identified, representative of the production of tools; in addition to classic cave formations, such as the famous stalactites, stalagmites, and the lesser-known coralloids, which are small mineral deposits along the cave wall. Thus, the archaeological site in focus is discussed based on the following aspects: geomorphological unit, occurrence of rock shelter, types of rock art, presence of material on the surface, and characteristics of the archaeological remains. The episode is guided by testimonies from researchers who start from the role of archaeology in understanding society, move on to the types of sites common in western Bahia, and arrive at the characterization of the Gruta das Pedras Brilhantes. With a fundamental role in the narrative, the documentary's soundtrack opted for minimalism and tribal sounds, using rhythmic drums and flutes, reminiscent of the first manifestations of man on our soil. These tribal references were blended with more modern rhythms and synthesized sounds, proposing a fusion between past and present, as a synthesis to represent human evolution. The episode has the support of the Government of the State of Bahia @govba, through the State Secretariat of Culture and the Bahia Culture Fund @secultba; and the Institute of Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Bahia (Ipac) @ipac.ba @prefsaodesiderio @saodesiderioturismo @prefeituradebarreirasoficial