Pedro Paulo A. Funari

Archaeology and slave resistance and rebellion

The archaeology of New World slavery has exponentially expanded during the past two decades to become perhaps the most influential area within todays historical archaeology. As part of this research endeavour, archaeologists have examined many kinds of sites and have made diverse and important contributions to the literature. Sites associated with fugitive slaves have been studied, but not as frequently. We argue that the archaeology of slave resistance and rebellion should be a key element of New World slave archaeology, and we promote the excavation of runaway polities, or maroons, as excellent arenas for such a study. We present an example from Palmares in northeastern Brazil as part of this exploration.

Archaeology, History, and Historical Archaeology in South America

This paper discusses the relationship between history and archaeology in general, their common concerns and links with historical archaeology. It deals with the development of historical archaeology in three related South American countries, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, and pays attention to recent trends in the theory and practice of the discipline in the area.

Public archaeology from a Latin American perspective

Abstract The paper deals with public archaeology in Latin America, understood as an enquiry: who benefits from archaeology? It focuses on the relationship between archaeologists and indigenous peoples and their rights. Countries with a majority of non-Indian population traditionally excluded natives from the nation building discourse, whilst some others forged idealised natives in the so-called Indigenismo ideology. Nationalism strongly enforced national, non-native ethos and mores. Archaeologists are usually unaware of Indian issues and contract archaeology has further complicated the situation in the recent decades. Indigenous groups are often restricted by the authorities with the assistance of archaeologists. Recently though several archaeologists have been challenging oppressive discourses and practices and are now interacting with natives.

Social archaeology of housing from a Latin American perspective A case study

This article discusses the structuring of domination in everyday life, studied through private housing material culture, over a period of several centuries. Our case study deals with the processes of use of space and the changes in middle-class households in Buenos Aires since the late eighteenth century, highlighting both world and Latin American contexts. We show how morphological and spatial changes in households are related both to the wider world capitalist context and to local conditions, shaping people’s lives. We focus on the controlling features of housing, affecting not only the middle classes, but potentially the whole spectrum of social classes. Capitalism tends to individualize space, create private environments, restrict movement and control movement in general, and houses as material artifacts reflect these tendencies. We conclude that the study of Buenos Aires housing enables us to note that there has been a growing tendency to restrict circulation within the house, enforcing a controlling, bourgeois way of life.

Conflict and the Interpretation of Palmares, a Brazilian Runaway Polity

In recent years, historical archaeologists have become increasingly interested in exploring how to use material culture to study conflict and how the interpretation of their sites is affected by modern perception. Grounded in a dialectical epistemology, the experience of past peoples is considered part of an ongoing social confrontation between social actors. Archaeologists tend to consider cultures as neatly bounded homogeneous entities. The holistic, monolithic nature of cultures has been put into question by several empirical and theoretical studies. In northeastern Brazil, a large maroon kingdom called Palmares developed in the 17th century, and people have often interpreted it in two ways. Some prefer to stress the African character of the polity, while others emphasize the diversity within the community. Archaeological research at Palmares produced evidence of a heterogeneous society, an interpretive model that does not follow dominant epistemological schemes and prejudices.

Class Interests in Brazilian Archaeology

Archaeology is a practice that exists within various social contexts. As such, the way it is practiced is dependent upon the class interests of those who fund and undertake archaeological investigations. These interests in turn can be influenced by existing political regimes. In this article, I discuss how class interests have influenced the direction of Brazilian archaeology for the past century and a half.

The Uses of Roman Heritage in Brazil

Abstract Over the past two decades Public Archaeology has helped shape new approaches to the past. The idea that archaeology helps to foster a sense of modern identity and different types of nationalisms has challenged archaeologists to rethink their epistemological approaches and enabled them to consider the political and social aspects of their practices. In this context, the aim of this paper is to examine the practical value of the Roman past in shaping Brazilian identities. The Roman world has long been interpreted in ways that have shaped contemporary social practices and power relations. In Brazil, the Roman past is used not only in the academy, but also in museums such as MAE/USP (the São Paulo University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology) and the Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro National Museum). Considering heritage-inspired identity and the relationship between feelings of heritage identity and modern behavior, we explore how the Roman world has been used to shape Brazilians place in western culture, and how a more critical approach to the Roman past can help us to improve educational programs. We argue that by constructing new ways of understanding the Roman past, it is possible to awaken empathy in young people towards those with different backgrounds and lifeways, and demonstrate that the relationship between the past and the present is not simply one of continuity.

Lingüística e arqueologia

A retrospectiva lancara luz sobre as relacoes entre a Linguistica e a Arqueologia, chamando atencao para a Historia da Arqueologia e a influencia dos modelos linguisticos para o desenvolvimento dos esquemas interpretativos da Arqueologia. Sera feita referencia a teoricos historico-culturais, como Gordon Childe, a arqueologos processuais influenciados pelo Estruturalismo e a analise de discurso pos-processual. O artigo concluira ressaltando a importância da Linguistica para o pensamento arqueologico.

Desaparecimento e emergência dos grupos subordinados na arqueologia brasileira

This paper explores the ways subordination has been sidelined in the archaeological interpretation of the evidence, in both prehistoric and historical archaeologies, and the recent, less restrictive, developments in the discipline in Brazil and how national identity has been shaped by material culture study and display. It deals with an Imperial discourse on the origins of civilisation, followed by the demise of Imperial archaeology and the early twentieth century and the scholarly archaeology from the 1940s.

The Archaeology of Conflict in Brazil

The recent history of archaeology in Brazil has been troubled. Brazilian archaeology emerged in the nineteenth century. However, it was only after World War II that it acquired academic status, especially thanks to Paulo Duarte’s initiative. The military coup in April 1964 marked a turning point for the discipline, which tended to follow French humanism inspired by Leroi-Gourhan and human rights respect. From that moment on, the country suffered at the hands of an increasingly repressive regime. At first, many politicians, trade union leaders and intellectuals were dismissed. Finally, political violence gave way to the Ato Institucional N° 5 (Institutional Act Number 5)1 (1968), military government (1969), and the exile, detention and murder of political opponents. In 1964, the political alliance between the United States and Brazil encouraged the creation of a Programa Nacional de Pesquisas Arqueologicas (National Program of Archaeological Research) with headquarters in Washington. In 1969, the promotion of pro-government researchers proved to be connected with the dismissal of critical thinkers such as Paulo Duarte and the intention to destroy the Instituto de Pre-Historia da Universidade de Sao Paulo (Institute of Prehistory of the University of Sao Paulo – Duarte 1994).