Born in São Paulo, Paulo DeBlasis obtained his Master’s degree in Social Anthropology studying hunter-gatherer societies from southern Brazil, and his doctoral research, defended in 1996, approaches the spatial and cultural features of different occupations in a deep vertical study of a unique hinterland basin. He conducted research on riverine and coastal shellmounds (sambaquis) for more than two decades, while also developed research on hunter-gatherer occupations and rock art on several locations throughout Brazilian Central Plateau. Throughout his career, he advocated the fundamental importance of territorial approaches and landscape studies, successfully integrating
cross-disciplinary methods and researchers from different areas, such as geology and geophysics, into his research, particularly as regards the understanding of the monumental sambaquis from the southern Atlantic shore. He advises students throughout the country on subjects ranging from rock art to heritage, ceramist societies, funerary rituals and art, settlement patterns, lithic studies and hunters and gatherers societies.