COLONIAL REGISTRATIONS OF THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE COAST OF PARAÍBA AND THEIR CURRENT CONFIGURATIONS: A INTERDISCIPLINARY PROPOSAL OF RESEARCH

Abstract

The main objective of the present work is the proposition of a new interdisciplinary approach of research, through comparative studies among old registrations of the morphologic configuration of the Brazilian coast, such as textual descriptions and cartographic products of the colonial period, and their current configurations, through the contemporary cartography, satellite images and field researches. Inside of that new study perspective, the article tries to accomplish that proposal analyzing the coast of the current State of Paraíba through registrations of the centuries XVI, XVII and XVIII, going from the Descriptive Treaty of Brazil 1587, of Gabriel Soares of Sousa, going by the cartography of Marggraf and Vooght and reports of Herchmans and Dussen of the Dutch Period (1630-1654), until a map of the end of the century XVIII, and comparing them with cartographic elements, orbital satellite images and recent field observations, looking for to notice the most significant changes of the coastal strip in a secular chronological scale.