A History of Archaeology in Brazil (2001).

The history of archaeology in Brazil has been divided into phases following different criteria. Most authors consider that archaeology should have its own disciplinary history, not tied to the overall political history of the country. A. Prous (1992) identified five periods and A. Mendonça de Souza (1991) followed the same disciplinary history approach, but proposed only four periods. The history of archaeology in Brazil should not, however, be considered independent from Brazilian history. Because the development of archaeology’s practice, theory, and methodology depends directly on the socio-political conditions in a given country, it is possible to relate the social practice of archaeology and political changes. As with any intellectual endeavour, archaeological activities are the result of social conditions and relations prevailing in different periods. Thus we can say that archaeology in Brazil went through seven phases: the colonial period (1500–1822); the Brazilian empire (1822–89); the early republic (1889–1920s); the formative period (1920–49); the inception of university research (1950–64); the military period, and the constitution of an archaeological establishment (1964–85); and current trends, democratic and pluralist archaeology (1985 onwards). There are few references in colonial sources to archaeological sites, although F. Cardim (1925) notes that shell mounds were identified in Brazil by their Tupi name sambaquis as early as 1583, and F. Coelho’s soldiers, as early as 1598, mention rock inscriptions (Prous 1992: 5). However, travellers and writers such as Y. d’Euvreux (1985), G. Soares (1944), G. Carvajal (1942), A. Thevet (1944) and H. Staden (1930), among others, described native inhabitants and their culture, furnishing a lot of data on Indian material culture. Thanks to these sources, it is possible to study native settlements while taking into full account the historic evidence relating to the following areas: the East Amazon basin area, Porro 1992; Taylor 1992; Erikson 1992; Wright 1992; the North Amazon region, Farage and Santilli 1992; Menéndez 1992; Amoroso 1992; the South Amazon area, Perrone-Moisés 1992; Franchetto 1992; Lopes da Silva 1992; the north-east, Paraíso 1992; Dantas, Sampaio, and Carvalho 1992; the south-west, Carvalho 1992; the south, Monteiro 1992; Kern 1982; the entire country, Fausto 1992.