English: Lapa do Santo. South-North section showing the spatial distribution of key elements from the site. The continuous thin black line indicates the original surface of the archaeological deposit before excavations. The continuous and pointed thick black line indicates observed and inferred rockshelter’s floor and walls, respectively. Red, green and blue dots are dated charcoal belonging to Lapa do Santo Period (LSP) 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The number next to the dots indicates the radiocarbon non-calibrated age and the unit where the charcoal was located. The numbers in the left frame indicate the z-values in meters. Black rectangles show the position and dimensions of the burials and their respective identification is indicated by the white number. The picture in the detail was taken from a similar angle as the one of the profile and the yellow arrows point to the rock that is also represented in the schematic profile. Note the presence of a steep transition in the surface of the site between the south (right side from the rock in the picture) and the north (left side of rock in the picture) regions. This is exactly where the fallen stalagmite was located, which was removed for excavation under it. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the northern part of the Lagoa Santa karst, in the state of Minas Gerais in east-central Brazil. Lithic technology, zooarchaeology, and multi-isotopic analyses indicate typical groups of hunter gathers with low mobility and a subsistence strategy focused on gathering plant foods and hunting small and mid-sized mammals. The use of Lapa do Santo as an interment ground started between 10.3-10.6 cal kyBP with primary burials. Between 9.4-9.6 cal kyBP the reduction of the body by means of mutilation, defleshing, tooth removal, exposure to fire and possibly cannibalism, followed by the secondary burial of the remains according to strict rules, became a central element in the treatment of the dead. In the absence of monumental architecture or grave goods, these groups were using parts of fresh corpses to elaborate their rituals, showing this practice was not restricted to the Andean region at the beginning of the Holocene. Between 8.2-8.6 cal kyBP another change occurred whereby pits were instead filled with disarticulated bones of a single individual without signs of body manipulation, showing that during the early Archaic, Lagoa Santa was a region inhabited by dynamic groups that were in constant transformation over a period of centuries.