- Historical Archaeology, Practice theory, African Archaeology, African etnohistory, African Diaspora Studies, Brazilian Archaeology, and 29 moreAtlantic World, Social Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Household Archaeology, Archaeology of Identity, Creolization, Plantation Archaeology, Archaeology of Slavery; Public Archeolgoy, Colonoware studies, Arqueologia historica, Material Culture Studies, Africa and its Diaspora, Archaeology of Colonialism, African Diaspora, African American Archaeology, Arqueología histórica, Archaeological Method & Theory, History of Slavery, Slavery, Archaeological Theory, Archaeology of Religion, Ethnogenesis (archaeology), Black/African Diaspora, African History, West African Archaeology, Ceramic Analysis (Archaeology), African Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, and Fascismoedit
In this chapter, we will address the issues and debates surrounding the dynamic of the material production of African diasporic populations in the Americas, focusing on three categories of evidence: the handmade ceramics found in slave... more
In this chapter, we will address the issues and debates surrounding the dynamic of the material production of African diasporic populations in the Americas, focusing on three categories of evidence: the handmade ceramics found in slave houses and in other spaces occupied by Africans, iron metallurgy, and the material structure of the maroon settlements.
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This article addresses the development of the archaeology of the African diasporas in Brazil over the last 40 years. This study begins by characterizing the field of African diaspora studies, followed by an overview of enslavement of... more
This article addresses the development of the archaeology of the
African diasporas in Brazil over the last 40 years. This study
begins by characterizing the field of African diaspora studies,
followed by an overview of enslavement of Africans in the
country, detailing the multiple origins of the enslaved people.
Next it presents the main issues and contexts that have been
addressed in the archaeological scholarship.
African diasporas in Brazil over the last 40 years. This study
begins by characterizing the field of African diaspora studies,
followed by an overview of enslavement of Africans in the
country, detailing the multiple origins of the enslaved people.
Next it presents the main issues and contexts that have been
addressed in the archaeological scholarship.
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This study refers to the archaeometric analysis of ceramic fragments found in archaeological excavations around slave quarters of Colégio dos Jesuítas and São Bento plantations, both located in Campos dos Goytacazes RJ. The question... more
This study refers to the archaeometric analysis of ceramic fragments found in archaeological excavations around slave quarters of Colégio dos Jesuítas and São Bento plantations, both located in Campos dos Goytacazes RJ. The question whether handmade ceramics were produced by the slaves themselves or acquired through local trade networks is an open and important question in the African diaspora. Samples of clay sources and the ceramic fragments, were analyzed using the EDXRF technique with the aid of multivariate statistical analysis.
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Article available at
https://rdcu.be/cc8dG
https://rdcu.be/cc8dG
Research Interests: Historical Archaeology, Archaeology of Gender, Immigration Studies, Fascism, Archaeology of Religion, and 10 moreArqueología, História do Brasil, Arqueología histórica, Italian fascism, Post processual archaeology, Fascismo, Arqueologia Histórica, Italian American Immigration history, Imigração italiana no Brasil, and Social Archaeology of Gender
Archaeological research carried out in the slave quarters of two coffee plantations in the Paraíba Valley, Southeastern Brazil, revealed a material scarcity that is highly contrastive with the material abundance found on slave quarters in... more
Archaeological research carried out in the slave quarters of two coffee plantations in the Paraíba Valley, Southeastern Brazil, revealed a material scarcity that is highly contrastive with the material abundance found on slave quarters in sugar plantation regions. In this article, we first discuss the reasons for these differences, arguing that they are related to a tight control over the enslaved foodways. Although this control could have suppressed an important feature of the African cultural practices, we argue that these groups adopted other material resources that expressed values widely shared among the Central African societies from which most of them came. These items very likely recalled a general Central African cosmology regarding the role of iron and beliefs in supernatural powers associated with blacksmiths. In the final section, we discuss the crucial role that these belief systems played in the slave rebellions that arose in this region.
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Archaeological studies of African diasporic contexts in Brazil have expanded significantly in the last 15 years. While earlier studies in the 1980s and 1990s focused on maroon settlements, a wider diversity of contexts have been studied... more
Archaeological studies of African diasporic contexts in Brazil have expanded significantly in the last 15 years. While earlier studies in the 1980s and 1990s focused on maroon settlements, a wider diversity of contexts have been studied in the last 15 years. This broad spectrum of subjects includes plantations’ slave quarters, urban spaces, cemeteries, religious houses, and contemporary maroon settlements. This introduction presents an overview of these recent developments and of earlier studies to better locate the contributions of the articles in this thematic collection within this expanding field of research.
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In the region of Chapada dos Guimarães, Western Brazil, planters relied heavily on slave labor during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In this article, we examine the locally produced pottery found on slaves contexts in five rural... more
In the region of Chapada dos Guimarães, Western Brazil, planters relied heavily on slave labor during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In this article, we examine the locally produced pottery found on slaves contexts in five rural sites of this region. Based in data from probate inventories and the pottery decorative
variability we suggest that slaves used decorated pottery to express cultural and social differences.
variability we suggest that slaves used decorated pottery to express cultural and social differences.
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Archaeological research on two sugar plantations of the Chapada dos Guimarães region of West Brazil, the engenhos (sugar mills) of Rio da Casca and Água Fria, has provided an opportunity to study the organization and use of these... more
Archaeological research on two sugar plantations of the
Chapada dos Guimarães region of West Brazil, the engenhos
(sugar mills) of Rio da Casca and Água Fria, has provided an
opportunity to study the organization and use of these spaces
by planters, free laborers, and slaves. Planters organized the
plantations according to a rigidly hierarchical model in which
the planter’s house was the central location. They distributed
European-produced goods among free laborers and slaves,
aiming to reaffirm this hierarchical order. Though the slaves, in
turn, had to live within this hierarchical system, they were also
able to take advantage of opportunities to subvert this space,
using it according to their own practices and traditions. In
this sense, they invested the locally produced low-fired earthenware with sign-values and symbols related to their African
backgrounds. Thus, two sets of discourses were fitted into the
same landscape, composing a dialectic that characterized the
multicultural space of the plantations.
Chapada dos Guimarães region of West Brazil, the engenhos
(sugar mills) of Rio da Casca and Água Fria, has provided an
opportunity to study the organization and use of these spaces
by planters, free laborers, and slaves. Planters organized the
plantations according to a rigidly hierarchical model in which
the planter’s house was the central location. They distributed
European-produced goods among free laborers and slaves,
aiming to reaffirm this hierarchical order. Though the slaves, in
turn, had to live within this hierarchical system, they were also
able to take advantage of opportunities to subvert this space,
using it according to their own practices and traditions. In
this sense, they invested the locally produced low-fired earthenware with sign-values and symbols related to their African
backgrounds. Thus, two sets of discourses were fitted into the
same landscape, composing a dialectic that characterized the
multicultural space of the plantations.
Research Interests: Historical Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Black/African Diaspora, Cultural Memory, African Diaspora, and 15 moreAfro-Brazilian Culture, Archaeology of Identity, Arqueología histórica, Arqueología del Paisaje, Plantation Archaeology, Middle Passage, Atlantic World Slavery, African Diaspora, Slavery and Medicine, Black Women's History, Violence Studies, Caribbean History, Arqueologia Histórica, African American Archaeology, Social Identity and Inequality (Race, Black Aesthetics, Critical Archaeologies of Race, Class and Gender, Landscape, Language and Material Culture, Religious and Utopian Communities, Contemporary Interpretations of the Past, and African and African-american Literature
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This chapter discusses the processes of cultural exchange between Portuguese, Portuguese–Brazilian, Amerindians, and mestizos based on the analysis of the material culture from households of Santarém (PA), in the north of Brazil. These... more
This chapter discusses the processes of cultural exchange between Portuguese, Portuguese–Brazilian, Amerindians, and mestizos based on the analysis of the material culture from households of Santarém (PA), in the north of Brazil. These groups manipulated material culture aiming to express distinct sets of values, related to hierarchy, social segmentation, and affirmation of identities, but an important feature of these household assemblages is ambiguity, expressed in the co-occurrence of local and imported items. This material ambiguity informs about the mixtures of both practices and cultural references that brought about the building of a mestizo society in northern Brazil.
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RESUMEN En este artículo discutimos las formas en que los hábitos alimentarios se relacionaron con el proceso de construcción social de la diferencia en el interior de la comunidad esclavizada del Colegio de los Jesuitas de Campos dos... more
RESUMEN En este artículo discutimos las formas en que los hábitos alimentarios se relacionaron con el proceso de construcción social de la diferencia en el interior de la comunidad esclavizada del Colegio de los Jesuitas de Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ). Para esto, analizamos los restos faunísticos provenientes de dos sectores de la referida barraca de esclavos ocupados durante el siglo XIX. Palabras Clave: Arqueología histórica, esclavitud, zooarqueología, alimentación en plantation, arqueología de la diáspora africana. RESUMO Neste artigo pretendemos discutir as formas como os hábitos alimentares relacionaram-se ao processo de construção social da diferença no interior da comunidade de senzala do Colégio dos Jesuítas de Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ). Para tanto, analisamos os restos faunísticos provenientes de dois setores da referida barraca de esclavos ocupados durante o século XIX. Palavras chave: Arqueologia histórica, escravidão, zooarqueologia, alimentação em plantation, arqueologia da diáspora africana ABSTRACT In this article we discuss the ways in which foodways can be related to the process of social construction of difference through the case study of the slave quarters of the Colégio dos Jesuitas, located in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro. To do so we analyze the faunal remains from two distinct sectors occupied by enslaved families in the nineteenth century.
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Los últimos veinte años testificaron un gran desarrollo de la arqueología histórica de Sudamérica en general y, particularmente, de Brasil. Hemos visto la emergencia y consolidación de este campo de investigación... more
Los últimos veinte años testificaron un gran desarrollo de la arqueología histórica de Sudamérica en general y, particularmente, de Brasil. Hemos visto la emergencia y consolidación de este campo de investigación que, después de uno penoso proceso de madurez, fue gradualmente pasando de una práctica arqueográfica, colgada a informes de excavación, a descripciones y clasificaciones de estructuras y artefactos, a una ciencia socio-histórica, con aportes originales y únicos al pensamiento social y a la producción del conocimiento histórico. Esto desarrollo se debe, en buena medida, al cambio de foco de los investigadores: de la fascinación inicial con los monumentos y edificaciones del orden colonial y de las élites, a la preocupación con la agencia de los grupos subordinados y relaciones de poder que caracterizaron aquel orden en el pasado y que continúan operativas en el presente (Lima, 1993; Symansk, 2009). Es en este contexto crítico-reflexivo que las contribuciones de los cuatro artículos de este dossier organizado por Lúcio Menezes Ferreira deben ser entendidos.
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Pretendo, neste texto, defender uma perspectiva disciplinar da prática arqueológica, reconhecendo o potencial único da arqueologia na produção de conhecimento sócio-histórico com base no estudo da materialidade humana em suas dimensões... more
Pretendo, neste texto, defender uma perspectiva disciplinar da prática arqueológica, reconhecendo o potencial único da arqueologia na produção de conhecimento sócio-histórico com base no estudo da materialidade humana em suas dimensões espacial e temporal. Na primeira parte, busco caracterizar, sucintamente, as perspectivas teóricas radicais que embasam as críticas mais vorazes que têm sido feitas à prática arqueológica, e levanto alguns questionamentos sobre os fundamentos e o alcance dessas críticas. A seguir, revisito algumas noções básicas sobre a identidade disciplinar da arqueologia e suas especificidades com relação às nossas disciplinas irmãs da antropologia e história. Por fim, busco explorar, com base em alguns exemplos das pesquisas que venho conduzindo desde 2012 no norte fluminense, o que considero o potencial único da pesquisa arqueológica histórica na produção de conhecimento sócio-histórico sobre o nosso passado recente. Link para dowload: https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/vestigios/article/view/41730/32494
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During the twentieth century, North American archaeology was marked by a debate concerning its goals: should it restrict itself to the production of historical knowledge, restraining the explanations to the particularities of each case of... more
During the twentieth century, North American archaeology was marked by a debate concerning its goals: should it restrict itself to the production of historical knowledge, restraining the explanations to the particularities of each case of analyses? Or should it search for a wider goal, trying to extract from the unique events more general regularities about human behavior, thus producing a kind of knowledge considered as truly anthropological? Although this debate has been more commonly related to the emergence of the new archaeology during the sixties, it was actually recurring in North-American anthropology and archaeology since, at least, the second third of that century. Indeed, the pendular movement between the particularistic and the generalizing goals has marked not only the Americanist archaeology, but also the anthropology during the twentieth century. This article aims to analyze, at first, the origins and development of this debate, whose positions are translated in the polarization between explanation and interpretation, and, second, to discuss the more recent theoretical approaches, which have tried to surpass this dichotomy through the use of the methodological relationism of practice theories.
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Artigo publicado em 1996 que faz uma revisão dos temas e discussões até então vigentes sobre a análise e interpretação de louças de sítios históricos.
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Este é um texto simples, publicado em uma época em que havia poucas referências sobre teoria arqueológica em português. Considero que deve ser útil somente para estudantes que estão se iniciando na teoria arqueológica. Eu retornei a este... more
Este é um texto simples, publicado em uma época em que havia poucas referências sobre teoria arqueológica em português. Considero que deve ser útil somente para estudantes que estão se iniciando na teoria arqueológica. Eu retornei a este tema, tratando-o de uma forma muito mais profunda no artigo "Arqueologia: Antropologia ou História?" que pode ser encontrado esta página do Academia.
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This article presents an overview of the main issues that have been discussed on the subject of Archaeology of African Diaspora in the United States and in Brazil, adding, when pertinent, information on the contexts of the Caribbean. The... more
This article presents an overview of the main issues that have been discussed on the subject of Archaeology of African Diaspora in the United States and in Brazil, adding, when pertinent, information on the contexts of the Caribbean. The goal is to furnish a wide overview on the development of the field over the last forty years, as well as to discuss the changes in the theoretical models used to explain the social dynamics of African populations within the diaspora.
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In this article we discuss the possible theoretical and methodological connections between approaches to the material culture of slavery and the postemancipation period. Based on the thematic bibliography, we both evaluate the current... more
In this article we discuss the possible theoretical and methodological connections between approaches to the material culture of slavery and the postemancipation period. Based on the thematic bibliography, we both evaluate the current stage of studies in historical archeology and present an ongoing research project that is excavating archaeological sites on farms in the slaveholding Southeast of Brazil.
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This article addresses the circulation of material culture in Campos dos Goytacazes in the 19th century through the analysis of archaeological and written sources. The archaeological data concern the domestic ceramics (imported and... more
This article addresses the circulation of material culture in Campos dos Goytacazes in the 19th century through the analysis of archaeological and written sources. The archaeological data concern the domestic ceramics (imported and locally-produced) exhumated from the
planter´s house and slave quarters of the Fazenda do Colégio between 2012 and 2016.The remarkable differences between the assemblages found in these contexts indicate that the ceramic consumption was linked to the social and economic position of the agents who
conformed these archaeological deposits. Next, we address the news and announcements in the newspaper Monitor Campista between 1834 and 1887 to characterize the production, circulation, and consumption of both locally and regionally-made pottery and imported wares.
We also examine the Monitor Campista´s entries on pottery workshops and pottery-makers to discuss the pottery-making cultural exchanges in Campos dos Goytacazes in the nineteenth century. The final section confronts historiographic and archaeological sources to first address the
ways in which they differentially inform the ceramic consumption between elite and subordinated, particularly enslaved, groups; and then the material and immaterial circulations orbiting the domestic ceramics in Campos dos Goytacazes.
Link para o download completo do artigo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/anaismp/article/view/194139
planter´s house and slave quarters of the Fazenda do Colégio between 2012 and 2016.The remarkable differences between the assemblages found in these contexts indicate that the ceramic consumption was linked to the social and economic position of the agents who
conformed these archaeological deposits. Next, we address the news and announcements in the newspaper Monitor Campista between 1834 and 1887 to characterize the production, circulation, and consumption of both locally and regionally-made pottery and imported wares.
We also examine the Monitor Campista´s entries on pottery workshops and pottery-makers to discuss the pottery-making cultural exchanges in Campos dos Goytacazes in the nineteenth century. The final section confronts historiographic and archaeological sources to first address the
ways in which they differentially inform the ceramic consumption between elite and subordinated, particularly enslaved, groups; and then the material and immaterial circulations orbiting the domestic ceramics in Campos dos Goytacazes.
Link para o download completo do artigo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/anaismp/article/view/194139
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Este artigo discute os modos nos quais os grupos escravos dos engenhos de Chapada dos Guimarães (MT) utilizaram cerâmicas localmente produzidas visando a afirmar identidades diferenciadas. A análise explora as dimensões de variação dessas... more
Este artigo discute os modos nos quais os grupos escravos dos engenhos de Chapada dos Guimarães (MT) utilizaram cerâmicas localmente produzidas visando a afirmar identidades diferenciadas. A análise explora as dimensões de variação dessas peças considerando as flutuações nas origens dos escravos entre 1790 e 1888. As correlações observadas sugerem que: (a) cerâmicas decoradas produzidas localmente foram usadas para expressar identidades diferenciadas entre os escravos africanos; (b) alguns significados amplamente difundidos na África subsaariana, relacionados ao simbolismo da cerâmica, foram reproduzidos em Chapada; e (c) o nível de significância que os escravos africanos atribuíram a essas peças não foi mantido pelos escravos afro-brasileiros. Essas evidências sugerem que, nessa região, o processo de crioulização foi generacional, só se consolidando quando uma população afro-brasileira, culturalmente mais homogênea do que a africana, tornou-se demograficamente dominante. É então discutida a distribuição das cerâmicas e de outras categorias de artefatos nos engenhos como uma estratégia através da qual os escravos se reapropriaram simbolicamente desses espaços de acordo com suas próprias percepções, impregnando-os com memórias e representações de origem africana.
Palavras-chave: cultura material escrava, identidades africanas, crioulização.
Palavras-chave: cultura material escrava, identidades africanas, crioulização.
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The article analyzes bonfire features and the artifacts and ecofacts contextually associated with them from five sites occupied by African-diasporic groups in Southeastern and Western Brazil. The interpretations proposed are based on a... more
The article analyzes bonfire features and the artifacts and ecofacts contextually associated with them from five sites occupied by African-diasporic groups in Southeastern and Western Brazil. The interpretations proposed are based on a bibliographical survey on practices and symbologies linked to the fire in African societies and in African-diasporic contexts. It emphasizes the central role of bonfires in the daily practices of these groups; their importance both for the maintenance of memories related to an African past and for the formation of new identities based on African-diasporic experiences; and their role in the resistance to the conditions of oppression to which these peoples were subjected.
Neste trabalho são analisadas estruturas de fogueira de cinco contextos relativos a populações afro-diaspóricas do século XIX do Sudeste e Centro-Oeste do Brasil, bem como os artefatos e ecofatos a elas associados. As interpretações propostas são embasadas em um levantamento bibliográfico sobre práticas e simbologias relativas ao fogo em sociedades africanas e em contextos afro-americanos. É destacado o papel central das fogueiras nas práticas cotidianas desses grupos; sua importância tanto como fomentadoras de memórias que remeteriam a um passado africano quanto na formação de novas identidades fundadas na experiência afro-diaspórica; e seu papel na resistência às condições de opressão às quais essas pessoas estavam submetidas.
Neste trabalho são analisadas estruturas de fogueira de cinco contextos relativos a populações afro-diaspóricas do século XIX do Sudeste e Centro-Oeste do Brasil, bem como os artefatos e ecofatos a elas associados. As interpretações propostas são embasadas em um levantamento bibliográfico sobre práticas e simbologias relativas ao fogo em sociedades africanas e em contextos afro-americanos. É destacado o papel central das fogueiras nas práticas cotidianas desses grupos; sua importância tanto como fomentadoras de memórias que remeteriam a um passado africano quanto na formação de novas identidades fundadas na experiência afro-diaspórica; e seu papel na resistência às condições de opressão às quais essas pessoas estavam submetidas.
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This paper aims to discuss the maintenance of African-derived religious practices on the plantations of Chapada dos Guimarães (MT) based on the material culture recovered from contexts related to slaves and planters. It is affirmed that... more
This paper aims to discuss the maintenance of African-derived religious practices on the plantations of Chapada dos Guimarães (MT) based on the material culture recovered from contexts related to slaves and planters. It is affirmed that this material culture played a major role on the reproduction of these systems of beliefs in such a way that their structure still conforms the traditional religious practices of the local peasant
population.
population.
Research Interests: Historical Archaeology, African Diaspora Studies, Archaeology of Religion, Archaeology, Historical Archaeology. Medieval Archaeology, Anthropology, Social Identities, Material Culture, Artefact Studies, Diaspora Studies, Trade and Exchange, African American Archaeology, and 5 moreSocial Identity and Inequality (Race, Critical Archaeologies of Race, Class and Gender, Landscape, Language and Material Culture, Religious and Utopian Communities, and Contemporary Interpretations of the Past
Research Interests: Archaeology, Black/African Diaspora, African Diaspora Studies, Archaeology of Identity, Arqueología, and 5 moreArchaeology, Historical Archaeology. Medieval Archaeology, Anthropology, Social Identities, Material Culture, Artefact Studies, Diaspora Studies, Trade and Exchange, Arqueología histórica, Plantation Archaeology, Arqueologia Histórica, and Comunidades Locais E Arqueologia
It is our goal, in this article, to discuss the process of ethnogenesis of the African-Brazilian population that inhabits the Guaporé valley, between the states of Mato Grosso and Rondônia, since the eighteenth century. In the beginning... more
It is our goal, in this article, to discuss the process of ethnogenesis of the African-Brazilian population that inhabits the Guaporé valley, between the states of Mato Grosso and Rondônia, since the eighteenth century. In the beginning of the nineteenth century the Portuguese-Brazilian elite abandoned this region, leaving a material complex related to the colonization process that was gradually reappropriated by the local African and African-descent population, composed mostly by freed slaves and maroons. This population conformed an African-Brazilian territory throughout the Guaporé valley. Simultaneous to this territoriality process was the building of a maroon identity, strongly based on central-African cultural references. Based on written records, oral tradition, ethnographic studies, and archaeological data, we discuss how this process of ethnogenesis occurred.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Black/African Diaspora, Archaeology of Maroon Societies (quilombos, palenques etc.), Etnohistoria, and 8 moreArqueología histórica, Quilombos, Etnoarqueologia, Arqueologia Histórica, Archaeology of Slavery; Public Archeolgoy, Archaeology of Colonialism, Comunidades Quilombolas, and Comunidades Locais E Arqueologia
ABSTRACT This article approaches the refuse discard practices of enslaved groups who lived in the Jesuit Plantation of Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ). Archaeological excavations carried out in the slave quarters and in the planters' refuse... more
ABSTRACT This article approaches the refuse discard practices of enslaved groups who lived in the Jesuit Plantation of Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ). Archaeological excavations carried out in the slave quarters and in the planters' refuse disposal areas revealed similarities and differences in the ways of treating the daily garbage. The evidence suggests that enslaved groups were able to keep, in some contexts, traditional African discard practices, modifying these practices in other contexts according to the planters' hygienic precepts. In this sense, refuse discard was one of the several tactics that enslaved groups applied to keep a culture of their own and, thus, to challenge the social rules that planters tried to impose on them.
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This article approaches the cultural formation processes that acted upon the archaeological record in the area of a slave quarter from the Colégio dos Jesuítas, a sugar plantation located in Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ). This space has been... more
This article approaches the cultural formation processes that acted upon the archaeological record in the area of a slave quarter from the Colégio dos Jesuítas, a sugar plantation located in Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ). This space has been recently impacted by plowing for agricultural purposes. In this study, we evaluate the differential impact of plow over three material categories – bones, pottery and ceramics (refined earthenware and majólica). This evaluation considered three occupational levels and two distinct contexts, the first one characterized by primary discard and the second by secondary discard. In the first case, the material suffered a considerable
impact still during the formation of the archaeological record, as the result of the constant use of the space for daily activities. The second context, in turn, consisted in a concavity used for refuse disposal. In this case the material presented a higher integrity level in the deeper levels, whereas in the upper levels the fragmentation patterns corresponded to those ones verified on the former context. The differences in the
integrity patterns indicate that the archaeological record was differentially impacted by cultural formation processes.
impact still during the formation of the archaeological record, as the result of the constant use of the space for daily activities. The second context, in turn, consisted in a concavity used for refuse disposal. In this case the material presented a higher integrity level in the deeper levels, whereas in the upper levels the fragmentation patterns corresponded to those ones verified on the former context. The differences in the
integrity patterns indicate that the archaeological record was differentially impacted by cultural formation processes.
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These preliminary research notes present theoretical and methodological questions regarding a recently inaugurated investigation in historical archeology that intends to analyze daily life under slavery, demographic regimes, cultural... more
These preliminary research notes present theoretical and methodological questions regarding a recently inaugurated investigation in historical archeology that intends to analyze daily life under slavery, demographic regimes, cultural practices, and so on. A survey of archeological sites on former 'senzalas' (slave quarters) and slave-owning fazendas in the Paraíba Valley and northern part of the state of Rio de Janeiro is currently in progress. With the cooperation of historians, archeologists, and anthropologists, records of the material culture of slave populations, which originally comprised indigenes and later Africans, are being located at excavations underway on the fazenda that is part of the Jesuit school in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, first run by the clergy and later by members of the laity in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
Keywords: historical archeology; slavery; material culture; sugar plantations; Campos dos Goytacazes.
Keywords: historical archeology; slavery; material culture; sugar plantations; Campos dos Goytacazes.
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Artigo de divulgação publicado na Revista de História da Biblioteca Nacional
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This article discusses the processes of cultural exchange between Portuguese, Portuguese-Brazilian, Amerindians, and mestizos based on the analysis of the material culture from households of Santarém (PA), occupied during the eighteenth... more
This article discusses the processes of cultural exchange between Portuguese, Portuguese-Brazilian, Amerindians, and mestizos based on the analysis of the material culture from households of Santarém (PA), occupied during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Although these social groups manipulated material culture aiming to express different values, related to hierarchy, social segmentation, and affirmation of identities, ambiguity also
characterizes these assemblages. This material ambiguity informs about the mixtures of both practices and cultural references that brought about the building of a mestizo society.
KEYWORDS: Material culture. Identities. Cultural exchanges. Mestizage. Amazon. Santarém Archaeology."
characterizes these assemblages. This material ambiguity informs about the mixtures of both practices and cultural references that brought about the building of a mestizo society.
KEYWORDS: Material culture. Identities. Cultural exchanges. Mestizage. Amazon. Santarém Archaeology."
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Archaeological research in two peasant households, located on the sertão do Cariri /CE, furnished important information on both the social and economic practices of the Brazilian backlands population. Using an economic anthropology... more
Archaeological research in two peasant households,
located on the sertão do Cariri /CE, furnished important information on both the
social and economic practices of the Brazilian
backlands population. Using an economic anthropology
conceptual framework, based on
the idea of artifacts as commodities (Orser
1992), the artifact variability in these sites was
understood as indicating different spheres of
social interaction, going from the local scale,
related to inner group social relationships,
to the international, regarding the role played
by imported items in these communities. The
economic logic of these communities seems to
have been predominantly non-capitalist, typical
of those societies characterized by Dumont
(1977) as intrinsic. The diachronic analysis, in
its turn, pointed out to a remarkable maintenance
of these groups’ material life patterns,
indicating that the regional hierarquical social
structure kept unaltered throughout the nineteenth-
century.
located on the sertão do Cariri /CE, furnished important information on both the
social and economic practices of the Brazilian
backlands population. Using an economic anthropology
conceptual framework, based on
the idea of artifacts as commodities (Orser
1992), the artifact variability in these sites was
understood as indicating different spheres of
social interaction, going from the local scale,
related to inner group social relationships,
to the international, regarding the role played
by imported items in these communities. The
economic logic of these communities seems to
have been predominantly non-capitalist, typical
of those societies characterized by Dumont
(1977) as intrinsic. The diachronic analysis, in
its turn, pointed out to a remarkable maintenance
of these groups’ material life patterns,
indicating that the regional hierarquical social
structure kept unaltered throughout the nineteenth-
century.
Research Interests:
O livro está disponível para a venda no link: https://caravanagrupoeditorial.com.br/produto/engenhos-e-escravidao-em-mato-grosso-uma-arqueologia-das-identidades/ Este livro representa um esforço debruçado de, por intermédio da... more
O livro está disponível para a venda no link: https://caravanagrupoeditorial.com.br/produto/engenhos-e-escravidao-em-mato-grosso-uma-arqueologia-das-identidades/
Este livro representa um esforço debruçado de, por intermédio da Arqueologia, apresentar novos dados e reflexões sobre a vida dos africanos que viveram no Brasil na condição de cativos. Por meio do estudo de engenhos dos séculos XVIII e XIX localizados em Mato Grosso, e fortemente amparado por dados arqueológicos e documentais, o autor examina as condições de existência nessas propriedades. Na sua análise, aborda uma diversidade de temas e questões de interesse, incluindo a organização social e espacial dos antigos engenhos, relações de poder estabelecidas entre proprietários e cativos, e a manutenção de práticas culturais próprias pelos indivíduos que viveram sob o regime da escravidão. Por meio de uma narrativa densa e envolvente, apresenta algumas das muitas trajetórias de sobrevivência cultural, social e espiritual dos africanos escravizados no Brasil e seus descendentes. Marcos André Torres de Souza.
Este livro representa um esforço debruçado de, por intermédio da Arqueologia, apresentar novos dados e reflexões sobre a vida dos africanos que viveram no Brasil na condição de cativos. Por meio do estudo de engenhos dos séculos XVIII e XIX localizados em Mato Grosso, e fortemente amparado por dados arqueológicos e documentais, o autor examina as condições de existência nessas propriedades. Na sua análise, aborda uma diversidade de temas e questões de interesse, incluindo a organização social e espacial dos antigos engenhos, relações de poder estabelecidas entre proprietários e cativos, e a manutenção de práticas culturais próprias pelos indivíduos que viveram sob o regime da escravidão. Por meio de uma narrativa densa e envolvente, apresenta algumas das muitas trajetórias de sobrevivência cultural, social e espiritual dos africanos escravizados no Brasil e seus descendentes. Marcos André Torres de Souza.
Research Interests: Arqueología, Arqueología, Arqueología histórica, Arqueología histórica, Arqueologia, and 14 moreArqueologia, escravidão no Brasil, Diáspora Africana, Diáspora Africana, Arqueologia Histórica, Arqueologia Histórica, História da escravidão no Brasil, História da escravidão no Brasil, COLONIZAÇÃO EM MATO GROSSO, Estado de Mato Grosso, História de Mato Grosso, Escravidão africana, Engenhos de Açúcar, and Capitania de Mato Grosso
Livro à venda na Editora do UFMG, no link: https://www.editoraufmg.com.br/#/pages/obra/948
Research Interests:
Este livro é resultado de um intenso debate, promovido pelo Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade federal de Minas Gerais, sobre a significância da materialidade para o entendimento da trajetória histórica e cultural das populações... more
Este livro é resultado de um intenso debate, promovido pelo Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade federal de Minas Gerais, sobre a significância da materialidade para o entendimento da trajetória histórica e cultural das populações africanas e afro-diaspóricas. Trata-se de esforço pioneiro realizado no Brasil de unir arqueólogos e historiadores da África, do Brasil e do Caribe que têm se dedicado à produção de conhecimento histórico e cultural sobre a África e a diáspora africana com base na cultura material e no papel ativo por ela exercido na construção da
memória e das identidades.
Nesse sentido, a cultura material abordada nas contribuições deste livro engloba aquela recuperada em escavações arqueológicas em contextos como cemitérios, senzalas, quilombos e portos – em países como Gana,
Estados Unidos, Suriname e Brasil –, exposta em museus e guardada em acervos pessoais em Angola, descrita em documentos do Brasil colonial, e expressa em ruínas, monumentos e paisagens dos dois lados do Atlântico que foram conectados pela experiência africana. Este foco na materialidade permite aos autores resgatar a capacidade de agência dos africanos e de seus descendentes, e, assim, colocá-los no centro de suas próprias histórias, contribuindo, desta forma, para a construção de uma
história Atlântica multivocal e descolonizada.
memória e das identidades.
Nesse sentido, a cultura material abordada nas contribuições deste livro engloba aquela recuperada em escavações arqueológicas em contextos como cemitérios, senzalas, quilombos e portos – em países como Gana,
Estados Unidos, Suriname e Brasil –, exposta em museus e guardada em acervos pessoais em Angola, descrita em documentos do Brasil colonial, e expressa em ruínas, monumentos e paisagens dos dois lados do Atlântico que foram conectados pela experiência africana. Este foco na materialidade permite aos autores resgatar a capacidade de agência dos africanos e de seus descendentes, e, assim, colocá-los no centro de suas próprias histórias, contribuindo, desta forma, para a construção de uma
história Atlântica multivocal e descolonizada.
Research Interests:
O livro discute os significados e práticas vinculadas à cultura material exumada da senzala da Fazenda do Colégio de Campos dos Goytacazes, com ênfase nas louças, cerâmicas, restos faunísticos e ornamentos exumados de diferentes áreas da... more
O livro discute os significados e práticas vinculadas à cultura material exumada da senzala da Fazenda do Colégio de Campos dos Goytacazes, com ênfase nas louças, cerâmicas, restos faunísticos e ornamentos exumados de diferentes áreas da senzala. Também discute as implicações da variabilidade desses itens em termos de práticas cotidianas, subsistência e processos identitários dos grupos escravizados.
Research Interests: Historical Archaeology, Zooarchaeology, African Diaspora Studies, History of Slavery, African Diaspora, and 12 moreCeramics (Archaeology), Arqueología, Arqueología histórica, Arqueologia, Cultura Material, escravidão no Brasil, Escravidão, Arqueologia da Escravidão, Arqueologia Histórica, history of slavery and freedom in the empire of Brazil, História da escravidão no Brasil, and African Diaspora Archaeology
O arquivo trás informações sobre o livro, incluindo índice e autores, bem como o capítulo introdutório, de autoria de Vanicléia Silva Santos e de Luís Cláudio P. Symanski, no qual são discutidas as relações entre arqueologia e história,... more
O arquivo trás informações sobre o livro, incluindo índice e autores, bem como o capítulo introdutório, de autoria de Vanicléia Silva Santos e de Luís Cláudio P. Symanski, no qual são discutidas as relações entre arqueologia e história, as questões que têm sido abordadas nas pesquisas que têm como objeto a cultura material na África e na diáspora africana, e a caracterização das temáticas discutidas no livro - Paisagens, lugares e cultura material nas sociedades atlânticas, Religiosidades, cosmologias e memórias no Atlântico negro, Ornamentos e simbolismos na diáspora africana, e Cultura material e espaço doméstico na comunidade africana e afro-descendente. Por fim, é brevemente detalhado o conteúdo de cada um dos 15 capítulos que compõem o livro. O livro está disponível para venda no link: https://aeditora.com.br/produto/arqueologia-e-historia-da-cultura-material-na-africa-e-na-diaspora-africana/
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Libro compilado por Lourdes Domínguez y Pedro Paulo Funari desde comienzos del siglo XXI sobre la Arqueologia del Contacto. Por dificultades prácticas, quedo por finalizarse la edición en 2015. Para beneficio de los lectores, se publica... more
Libro compilado por Lourdes Domínguez y Pedro Paulo Funari desde comienzos del siglo XXI sobre la Arqueologia del Contacto. Por dificultades prácticas, quedo por finalizarse la edición en 2015. Para beneficio de los lectores, se publica en Academia Edu.
Research Interests: Latin American Studies, Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Latin American and Caribbean History, Cuban Studies, and 15 moreCaribbean Studies, Maya Archaeology, Cuban History, Californian archaeology, Caribbean Archaeology, California History, Prehistory, Arqueología, California, Arqueología histórica, California Archaeology, Prehistoria, América Latina, Archaeology of Human Contacts, and Cuban Archaeology
Research Interests:
O início do século XXI tem testemunhado um processo de crescimento sem precedentes da arqueologia histórica em nosso país. Se durante a segunda metade do século XX a sub-disciplina gradualmente se conformava e buscava um lugar legítimo,... more
O início do século XXI tem testemunhado um processo de crescimento sem precedentes da arqueologia histórica em nosso país. Se durante a segunda metade do século XX a sub-disciplina gradualmente se conformava e buscava um lugar legítimo, não somente no quadro mais amplo das ciências humanas, mas mesmo dentro do próprio establishment arqueológico nacional - sendo considerada como desnecessária ou supérflua por uma parcela significativa de nossos acadêmicos - no início deste novo milênio finalmente teve a sua importância plenamente reconhecida.
Research Interests:
"O presente trabalho analisa as evidências materiais resgatadas de uma unidade doméstica porto-alegrense de meados do século XIX: o Solar Lopo Gonçalves. A partir da análise das louças exumadas e da própria estrutura de habitação... more
"O presente trabalho analisa as evidências materiais resgatadas de uma unidade
doméstica porto-alegrense de meados do século XIX: o Solar Lopo Gonçalves. A partir
da análise das louças exumadas e da própria estrutura de habitação buscou-se discutir
questões relacionadas ao comportamento de consumo dos ocupantes desse sítio
doméstico e suas mudanças com o decorrer daquele século. Para tanto a amostra de
louças foi dividida em dois períodos, alusivos às duas famílias que ocuparam o solar entre
1850 e 1890. As diferenças entre o material atribuído a cada ocupação indicaram
mudanças no modo de uso desses itens de consumo que foram explicadas em função de
um contexto mais amplo: o do desenvolvimento urbano de Porto Alegre no século XIX."
doméstica porto-alegrense de meados do século XIX: o Solar Lopo Gonçalves. A partir
da análise das louças exumadas e da própria estrutura de habitação buscou-se discutir
questões relacionadas ao comportamento de consumo dos ocupantes desse sítio
doméstico e suas mudanças com o decorrer daquele século. Para tanto a amostra de
louças foi dividida em dois períodos, alusivos às duas famílias que ocuparam o solar entre
1850 e 1890. As diferenças entre o material atribuído a cada ocupação indicaram
mudanças no modo de uso desses itens de consumo que foram explicadas em função de
um contexto mais amplo: o do desenvolvimento urbano de Porto Alegre no século XIX."
Research Interests:
Neste capítulo abordaremos as questões e os debates que têm envolvido a dinâmica da produção material das populações afro-diaspóricas nas Américas, considerando três categorias de evidências: a cerâmica artesanal presente em senzalas e em... more
Neste capítulo abordaremos as questões e os debates que têm envolvido a dinâmica da produção material das populações afro-diaspóricas nas Américas, considerando três categorias de evidências: a cerâmica artesanal presente em senzalas e em outros espaços de ocupação africana, a metalurgia do ferro, e a estrutura material dos quilombos. O volume completo, organizado por Vanicléia Silva Santos, está disponível no site da UNESCO: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000387783
Research Interests:
Revisão sobre as pesquisas arqueológicas em contextos afro-diaspóricos no Brasil. Capítulo do livro Arqueologia Histórica Brasileira (2022), organizado por Symanski e Souza, e disponível para venda no site da Editora da UFMG, no link:... more
Revisão sobre as pesquisas arqueológicas em contextos afro-diaspóricos no Brasil. Capítulo do livro Arqueologia Histórica Brasileira (2022), organizado por Symanski e Souza, e disponível para venda no site da Editora da UFMG, no link: https://www.editoraufmg.com.br/#/pages/obra/948
Research Interests:
Revisão sobre a arqueologia das unidades domésticas no Brasil, considerando os principais temas, debates e perspectivas teórica que vêm sendo empregados neste campo de investigação. Capítulo do livro Arqueologia Histórica Brasileira... more
Revisão sobre a arqueologia das unidades domésticas no Brasil, considerando os principais temas, debates e perspectivas teórica que vêm sendo empregados neste campo de investigação. Capítulo do livro Arqueologia Histórica Brasileira (2022), organizado por Symanski e Souza. Disponível para venda no site da Editora da UFMG: https://www.editoraufmg.com.br/#/pages/obra/948
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Capítulo no livro Cenários da Fronteira Oeste, organizado por Nauk Maria de Jesus. O propósito deste trabalho é discutir a questão da agência feminina no Mato Grosso nos séculos XVIII e XIX, com foco nos engenhos de Chapada dos Guimarães,... more
Capítulo no livro Cenários da Fronteira Oeste, organizado por Nauk Maria de Jesus.
O propósito deste trabalho é discutir a questão da agência feminina no Mato Grosso nos séculos XVIII e XIX, com foco nos engenhos de Chapada dos Guimarães, destacando o protagonismo das mulheres pertencentes aos dois grupos extremos do espectro social daquela região: as senhoras de engenho e as escravizadas africanas. No item final eu discuto como a conformação de uma cultura local foi marcada pela interação e pelas trocas entre esses dois grupos de mulheres, conformando diferentes esferas de uma cultura crioula cujas fronteiras sociais eram permeabilizadas por hábitos, costumes e crenças compartilhadas. Link: https://www.edufmt.com.br/product-page/cen%C3%A1rios-da-fronteira-oeste-hist%C3%B3ria-e-historiografia-de-mato-grosso-s%C3%A9culos-x
O propósito deste trabalho é discutir a questão da agência feminina no Mato Grosso nos séculos XVIII e XIX, com foco nos engenhos de Chapada dos Guimarães, destacando o protagonismo das mulheres pertencentes aos dois grupos extremos do espectro social daquela região: as senhoras de engenho e as escravizadas africanas. No item final eu discuto como a conformação de uma cultura local foi marcada pela interação e pelas trocas entre esses dois grupos de mulheres, conformando diferentes esferas de uma cultura crioula cujas fronteiras sociais eram permeabilizadas por hábitos, costumes e crenças compartilhadas. Link: https://www.edufmt.com.br/product-page/cen%C3%A1rios-da-fronteira-oeste-hist%C3%B3ria-e-historiografia-de-mato-grosso-s%C3%A9culos-x
Research Interests: Archaeology of Gender, Creolization, Gender and identity (Archaeology), Arqueología, Arqueologia Brasileira (Brazilian Archeology), and 8 moreArqueología histórica, Archaeology of slavery, Plantation Archaeology, Gênero, ARQUEOLOGIA DE GENERO, Arqueologia Histórica, Arqueologia Del Genero, and Archaeology of Slavery and Plantation Life
Capítulo em livro organizado por Maria Lúcia Kern e José Rivair Macedo. https://www.editorasulina.com.br/detalhes.php?id=778
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Artigo publicado em co-autoria com Flávio Gomes no livro "Emancipação, inclusão, exclusão. Desafios do passado e do presente", organizado por Lilia M. Schwarcs e Maria Helena Machado.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, African Diaspora Studies, African Diaspora, Arqueología, and 8 moreArqueología histórica, Archaeology of slavery, Arqueologia, Escravidão, Arqueología Histórica América Del Sur, Arqueologia da Escravidão, Arqueologia Histórica, and História da escravidão no Brasil
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
"In a critical analysis about the beginning of the unilinear evolutionist anthropology, Fabian (1983) noticed that the first anthropologists adopted an intellectually conservative notion of time, based on natural history and Newtonian... more
"In a critical analysis about the beginning of the unilinear evolutionist anthropology, Fabian (1983) noticed that the first anthropologists adopted an intellectually conservative notion of time, based on natural history and Newtonian Physics. This
time’s conception equalized time with space, so that non-Western societies started to be seen not only as located on places faraway from Europe, but also inserted in primitive periods of the human history. Thus, anthropology denied coevalness to the non-Western
other, furnishing a strong justification for the expansion of the European colonialism. Although Fabian´s focus is on the practice of anthropology, on this paper I argue that the alochronic devices applied by the anthropologists to deny coevalness to the non-
European peoples was inserted in a wider discourse, which guided the impressions that people from the economically dominant nations kept about the societies of the rest of the world. This discourse is revealed on several travelers´ descriptions about
Brazilian society between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries. Following this assumptions Il argue, based on a case study of a plantation in Western Brazil, that the Brazilian dominant classes, through the manipulation of material culture, appropriated
this same set of discourses, applying them to deny coelvaness to the slaves and thus to legitimate the slavery system."
time’s conception equalized time with space, so that non-Western societies started to be seen not only as located on places faraway from Europe, but also inserted in primitive periods of the human history. Thus, anthropology denied coevalness to the non-Western
other, furnishing a strong justification for the expansion of the European colonialism. Although Fabian´s focus is on the practice of anthropology, on this paper I argue that the alochronic devices applied by the anthropologists to deny coevalness to the non-
European peoples was inserted in a wider discourse, which guided the impressions that people from the economically dominant nations kept about the societies of the rest of the world. This discourse is revealed on several travelers´ descriptions about
Brazilian society between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries. Following this assumptions Il argue, based on a case study of a plantation in Western Brazil, that the Brazilian dominant classes, through the manipulation of material culture, appropriated
this same set of discourses, applying them to deny coelvaness to the slaves and thus to legitimate the slavery system."
Research Interests: Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Material Culture Studies, Arqueología, Arqueología histórica, and 8 moreArqueologia, Arqueología Social, Archaeology of Colonialism, African American Archaeology, Social Identity and Inequality (Race, Critical Archaeologies of Race, Class and Gender, Landscape, Language and Material Culture, and Contemporary Interpretations of the Past
Research Interests: Historical Archaeology, Black/African Diaspora, African Diaspora, Caribbean Archaeology, História do Brasil, and 14 moreArchaeology, Historical Archaeology. Medieval Archaeology, Anthropology, Social Identities, Material Culture, Artefact Studies, Diaspora Studies, Trade and Exchange, Arqueología histórica, História e Cultura Afro-Brasileira, Arqueologia Pré-Histórica, Bioantropología, África, Arqueologia Brasileira, Diáspora Africana, Arqueologia da Escravidão, Cemetery Studies, Escravidão Nas Américas E No Brasil, African American Archaeology, Enslaved African Cemeteries, and African Diaspora Archaeology
Refined earthenwares, domesticity and identities in Brazil.
Research Interests:
A proposta deste artigo nos colocou o desafio de refletir a respeito da presença africana e de afro-brasileiros na História de Mato Grosso, no período colonial. Esta preocupação está relacionada às inquietações surgidas em função da... more
A proposta deste artigo nos colocou o desafio de refletir a respeito da presença africana e de afro-brasileiros na História de Mato Grosso, no período colonial. Esta preocupação está relacionada às inquietações surgidas em função da aprovação das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para a Educação das Relações Étnico-Raciais e para o Ensino de História da Cultura Afro-Brasileira e Africana que tornou obrigatório o ensino da História e da Cultura africana e dos afro-descendentes nos meios escolares e acadêmicos. Com esta medida, procura-se ampliar o foco dos currículos escolares incluindo questões referentes à diversidade cultural, racial, social e econômica brasileira, assim como combater o racismo e as discriminações. Além disso, as Diretrizes fazem parte das políticas de ações afirmativas, isto é, políticas de reparações e de reconhecimento e valorização da história, cultura e identidade da população afro-descendente. No entanto, tais políticas têm como meta, não apenas o reconhecimento dos direitos dos negros, mas de todos os cidadãos brasileiros, sejam descendentes de africanos, europeus, asiáticos ou povos indígenas.
Research Interests:
It is estimated that about 40% of the Africans sent to the Americas during the age of the Atlantic slave trade had Brazil as their final destination. For this reason, Brazil has the largest African-descent population outside the African... more
It is estimated that about 40% of the Africans sent to the Americas during the age of the Atlantic slave trade had Brazil as their final destination. For this reason, Brazil has the largest African-descent population outside the African continent and, consequently, a central importance for the study of the African diaspora. This course will focus on two major themes regarding the African experience in Brazil: 1-the role of slavery in the economic and social formation of Brazil and its lasting impact on the lives of African-Brazilian population, considering, thus, the racialization process that took place in the country during the last centuries; and 2-the origins and transformations of African cultures in Brazil. These issues will be addressed through historical and archaeological studies. Anthropological literature will be approached to discuss both the issues regarding race and the dynamics of African identities and their transformations in Brazil over the last centuries. Special attention will be given to anthropological theories of cultural exchange and identity formation, such as acculturation, creolization, and mestizage, and the ways that they have been applied to explain the process of formation of African diasporic communities in Brazil. Course Goals: It is expected that after taking this course students will be able to:-identify the societies and cultures of those African regions that furnished large numbers of enslaved people to Brazil and their impact on the formation of African-Brazilian cultures;-understand the ways in which the institution of slavery was articulated to the economy in Portuguese America and Imperial Brazil;-develop a critical understanding of the process of racialization of African-Brazilian populations, considering the ways in which skin color differences were rationalized and how racism still operates as a structuring principle in the reproduction of social inequalities;-recognize the basic assumptions behind the cultural exchange theories that have been applied to explain the cultural dynamics and the emergence of African Brazilian cultures;-appreciate the role of religiosity in the process of construction of identities in Afro-diasporic communities;-understand the major issues that have been addressed in the archaeology of African diasporas in Brazil. The course is organized around lectures, class presentations, and critical discussions, with the occasional addition of selected documentaries. The professor will introduce each subject through lectures, which will be followed by students' class presentations of assigned readings. Occasionally the professor will present the results of his own and of other Brazilians' archaeological research, opening the