Integrating communities from the perspective of continuous archaeology: a case study of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In: https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/41837/1/IntegratingCommunities.pdf

Open Access

Abstract

Archaeological research done in the port region of Rio de Janeiro has revealed the presence of a complex and well-preserved juxtaposing of building structures in the city's underground. Dated since the 16th century, when Rio de Janeiro became the center of political occupation for the Portuguese Crown, these remains are representative of colonial and post-colonial Brazilian history. The port region of Rio de Janeiro is currently undergoing intense urban remodeling with a large volume of ongoing engineering work. At the same time, in 2012 Rio de Janeiro became the first city in the world to receive UNESCO's title of World Heritage as an Urban Cultural Landscape. It is important to remember the specificity of Brazil's situation. Since a national society was formed greatly through a drastic separation between indigenous occupations and the European element, later enriched by African and other cultures, the current community often does not recognize its ties to the archaeological (and even historical) context. As a result, studies must not only reveal aspects connected to the country's past, but also include historical and cultural aspects of the current communities to ensure that the work incorporates the way in which each social group relates to heritage and what each group observes and recognizes as being heritage. Among the great variety of social groups involved in this Program, we will highlight the African-descendant community since the research is being done in archeological sites that corresponds to the largest necropolis of African slaves in Latin America. Therefore, the Program deal with dramatic events that still occupy a special place in the living history of current communities, requiring the development of procedures considering the strong cultural and social sensitivity of the African-descendant groups present in this area. This exposition aims to analyze researches developed from the perspective of Continuous Archaeology, integrating communities with their past and expand their cultural identity. ...