Maroons Black Earth: Archeology of the Resistance and Ethno-archeology in Mandira Territory, Lower Ribeira Valley.

Abstract

Despite the many anthropological studies of self-defined communities that are recognized as being from the remains of maroons, the ethno- archeological research about these communities is still in its begining in Brazil. The archeological work on the African slave population in the American continents study mainly the material culture, focusing on the tension between colonists and colonized, aiming to identify the agencies of this population, its intentions, types of resistance, traditions and distinct practices by which they negotiated its identities and communities. With this challenge in mind, the presented project suggests a way that will contribute to the archeology of the slave resistance; an ethno -archeological study of a community historically dedicated to the resistance: the maroon Mandira, in the city of Cananéia.This project presupposes that Archeology can contribute to the understanding of the continuation processes of changes and ruptures in the historical paths of different populations, who occupied and presently occupy the territory recognized today as Mandira´s territory. Knowing that diverse identities and history succeeded and even co-existed in this territory, it is the knowledge of this palimpsest of territory occupations, desertions and re-occupations that we aim to reach. To achieve our goal, we need to consider the interpretations of the maroon residents themselves as an indispensable factor in the analysis of explanations of this historical and cultural process, interweaving the practice of a Public and Communal Archeology, from a research proposal which is multi-voiced and interdisciplinary between archeology, anthropology and history.