Arqueologia Guarani e sistema de assentamento no extremo sul de Santa Catarina

Abstract

This work aims to contribute to the knowledge about the process of Guarani occupation on the coast of the southern end of Santa Catarina (Brazil). Within a pilot area enclosed between the municipalities of Balneario Rincão and Araranguá, we studied the variety of sites associated with the Guarani people who have occupied the region at a time near the beginning of the colonial process. Aggregating information from different moments of local archaeological research and adding new data produced in this work, we seek to elucidate, from the variety of the archaeological record, the different strategies used by these populations to dominate the coastal territory, characterized by the presence of rivers, ponds, dunes and the Atlantic Ocean. In this sense, we intend to articulate the empirical data and the archaeological, ethno-historical and historical bibliography, in order to propose a model of control and management of the local environment. Finally, we propose a delimitation of the Guarani presence in the region within a broader historical context –the Iberian colonial expansion –, demonstrating that this historical process, amply documented, can also be observed in its materiality, from specific elements of material remains associated with certain archaeological sites studied here.