The comprehension of the Kaingang territory in the West of the State of São Paulo based on the material culture: interpretative possibilities in the archaeological analysis

Abstract

The study of the material culture of contemporaneous indigenous populations is a privileged object of research and learning for the archaeologists, for it allows the comprehension of the dynamics of the production processes of material tems as well as the usage of these in the cultural construction of a group. During the historical process, the Kaingang, due to inter-ethnic contact, drastically diminished their pottery production, as well as the way they occupied and utilized the space and system of their settlements. With the intention of building interpretative models about the behavioral aspects and past social dynamics, and at the same time understand how different historic elements that come from the capitalist expansion process provoked alterations on the indigenous way of life, the approach I have been conducting my research defines a scenery of the Kaingang occupation in the West of the State of São Paulo based on data generated by archaeological interpretations on the analyses of material culture and historical documentation identified during researches in indigenous territory.the analyses of material culture and historical documentation identified during researches in indigenous territory.