Pescadores da Barra do João Pedro, um estudo etnoarqueológico

Abstract

The north coastline of Rio Grande do Sul has a long bond of union with fishing. Since the pre-historic era, human groups have been using this resource as a way to survive in the region. Nowadays, several fishermen communities are spread in the gaúcho north coastline, showing that the exploration of that resource keeps being an important activity for the survival of those communities now. Nevertheless, the lack of ethno-archaeological research in the region is not compatible with the historical, cultural and material richness of those communities. Therefore, this research aims to develop a deep study about the way of life of the fishermen from the community of Barra do João Pedro. We intend to stand out, in this study, the search for relations between the practice of fishing and the areas of activities, which can be observed through an ethno-archaeological study, combining archaeological methodologies with the ethnographic observations. The archaeological work was characterized by the intervals of the areas of activity, searching, through that, for the understanding of the behaviors that were accomplished there and how they were materially recorded. Starting from the ethnographic observations, it was possible to record those behaviors that, as stated before, were defined as practice of fishing. Thus, it was established a relation of reciprocity between the practice of fishing and the areas of activities, where one is defined according to the other. That relation was impelled by the climatic changes that occured during the year, which were observed in two different periods, the era of the floods and the era of the low water-mark.