Potencial arqueológico de Cruz Alta: propostas para uma arqueologia da cidade

Abstract

The city of Cruz Alta, in the northwest of the Rio Grande do Sul state, recognizes itself as a historical city. Founded in 1821 in a context of borders dispute between Portugal and Spain, the official history emphasizes some elements of its past, like the initial occupation of the area as the route of cattle trade, in a period where the indigenous populations were repelled of the region and the local history. Its history is the history of the white, rural elites; rarely that of the poor, slaves, or the everyday life. These histories are assumed as the real past, heritage of the city inhabitants. The cultural heritage of the city reproduces this logic, once it actuates basically on architectural goods which make reference to the same elites. Historical narratives and heritage discourses are the ways in which a city represents its own past, and then the city s past looks simplified, without conflict and without contemplate the diversity of settings and social actors that compose its history. An archaeology of the city can handle with the enormous archaeological potential of downtown area, and bring this other actors to the debate. A historiographical survey and the use of photos and historical maps allowed to draw the process of occupation of the city, and with this data areas with archaeological potential are identified, highlighting the interpretive possibilities of its study. The central area of the city is divided in three archaeological layers, identified by the period of occupation and, into these three layers, some specific places are identified by its potentialities. As a result, is proposed an archaeological map that allows the location of areas of archeological interest in the actual city