With the participation of traditional researchers, Programa Parinã carries out an archaeological excavation in the most indigenous city in Brazil and finds ceramics and terra preta that indicate occupation of up to 2.000 years ago.
Archaeological excavation in public space and visits by indigenous and non-indigenous researchers to landscapes that are part, at the same time, of the narratives of origin of the peoples of Rio Negro, colonial history and their present. These activities were carried out in São Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM), in the Alto Rio Negro region, during the first face-to-face workshop of the Intercultural Archaeological Program of the Northwest Amazon (Parinã), held at the headquarters of the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) between the 10th and 20 of May.
In the excavations, ceramics and artifacts were found that indicate indigenous occupations of up to 2.000 years, and research carried out in 2019 shows that the settlement may be older, up to 2.700 years.
“This area has the history of our existence. We can see in the concrete the stories we tell orally”, said indigenous expert Arlindo Maia, from the Tukano people, about the landscape of São Gabriel. He was one of the participants in the Parinã workshop, which was attended by non-indigenous and indigenous researchers from different ethnic groups, such as Baré, Baniwa, Piratapuya, Desana and Tukano.
“It is a meeting of great importance, which brings exchanges of various ethnic groups, with clarifications between us. There's a lot to be passed on for the future. It increases the hope of preserving the identity and culture of the people”, added Maia.
Even with the different languages and approaches, it is possible to find a point of convergence pointed out by the members of Parinã: São Gabriel da Cachoeira – known as the most indigenous municipality in Brazil – is a place that connects narratives of indigenous peoples to the colonial history of past centuries and contemporary experiences. In addition, the indigenous peoples who live today in the Upper Rio Negro may be the descendants of the people who left the archaeological remains.
These characteristics are present in urban areas and in indigenous communities, being a reason for special attention for public policies that recognize, protect and preserve the territory and the narratives in their different forms. One of the points of the program is to propose, together with the indigenous people, an intercultural reconstruction of the meaning of cultural heritage beyond what is defined in the legislation.
The historian, anthropologist and researcher at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), Márcio Meira, is part of the Parinã team and reinforces the importance of an interdisciplinary approach. “We did not come to teach the indigenous people about history. On the contrary, we are here more to learn than to teach. Indigenous connoisseurs have knowledge that needs to be valued. Therefore, Parinã proposes intercultural research, mixing indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge and perspectives”, he explained.

An archaeological and heritage exhibition is scheduled to take place in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, next September, at the end of the first stage of the Parinã Program.
The organization will be in charge of the Museu da Amazônia (Musa), with collaborative curation involving program participants and partners.
Objects, narratives and documents gathered within the scope of the project can be seen in the exhibition. The filmmaker and communicator of the Wayuri Network, Moisés Baniwa, filmed narratives by indigenous connoisseurs so that these stories are also part of the show.
The Parinã program started in 2018 and involves several partners, such as ISA, the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), the Museu da Amazônia (Musa), the Institute of Archeology at University College London (UCL) and the Federal University of São Paulo. Carlos (UFSCar), with the participation of professor, researcher and anthropologist Geraldo Andrello. The Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Rio Negro (Foirn) also supports the initiative.
Archaeological discoveries
The archaeological excavations carried out within the Parinã Program took place in an area of 16m2 in the square in front of the Diocese and the Cathedral of São Gabriel. During the work, ceramic fragments of objects such as plates and stoves were found, as well as axes and lithic instruments that indicate settlements up to 2.000 years old.
Also found was the so-called "terra preta de Índio", a type of soil enriched by human activity and present in other parts of the Amazon. “It is a legacy of ancient peoples for the composition of the forest”, says archeologist and professor Helena Pinto Lima, a researcher at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, who is participating in the excavations in São Gabriel.
She explains that the excavation site has strategic characteristics for locating an indigenous settlement, such as being in an area of natural elevation, with a wide view of the Rio Negro.
Also participating in the excavations were the coordinator of Parinã, the archaeologist Manuel Arroyo-Kalin, from the Institute of Archeology at University College London (UCL); Musa's deputy scientific director, archaeologist Filippo Stampanoni Bassi; the coordinator of the Archeology and Ethnography nucleus at Musa, Meliam Gaspar, and the coordinator of the Archeology Laboratory at Musa, Iberê Martins.

The excavation work at the archaeological site was accompanied by students of the archeology course at the State University of Amazonas (UEA) – Campus São Gabriel.
One of the students is Junildo Rezende Costa, from the Tukano ethnic group, who observed similarities between objects taken from the archaeological excavation and narratives he hears at home, told by his parents and grandparents.
“Terra preta is in some swiddens. Hatchets and ceramics are similar to the ones my grandparents say were used around here,” the student recalled.
Filippo informs that in the area of São Gabriel there is an extensive archaeological site, with parts occupied by constructions of public agencies and others.
He participated in the excavations in front of the Diocese of São Gabriel and, in 2019, excavated the area of the local office of the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), where terra preta and artifacts dating back 2.700 years were found.
“These are initial researches, in an archaeological site that is still little known. It may be that the occupations are older.”
Manuel explains that studies indicate that in São Gabriel there was once an indigenous settlement, and the city has the important characteristic of possibly having among its residents the descendants of the people who lived here in a remote past.
“We have a justified hope that today's indigenous peoples are descendants of the people who were responsible for creating the archaeological remains, the ancient sites. It is a reasonable hypothesis”, maintained the archaeologist.

In the municipality there are about 750 communities and places where indigenous people from 23 ethnic groups live. In São Gabriel da Cachoeira, there are four co-official indigenous languages besides Portuguese: Nheengatu, Tukano, Baniwa and Yanomami.
Manuel Arroyo considers that the Rio Negro Basin, where São Gabriel is located, is a very interesting historical, ethnographic and archaeological crossroads. “This leaves us with several questions about what the past of this region was like, since when there was human occupation here, if it was a dense human occupation, if the landscape changed, if the people who lived here were related to people from other regions of the Amazon. ”
The discoveries made so far in the region are in line with other studies that indicate that, in the Rio Negro Basin, there were ancient settlements – from up to 9.000 years ago – with intense exchanges between peoples. Some of these studies were conducted by the archaeologist Eduardo Neves, who has already carried out research in the region of Iauareté.
Digital platform
Another proposal by Parinã is the development and updating of a georeferenced digital database gathering research material already produced in the Rio Negro region by ISA and collaborators for at least 20 years. This work is in progress and is being led by ecologist and geoprocessing analyst Renata Alves, from ISA, and by anthropologist Aline Scolfaro, a consultant for the program.
“We are working on a digital platform that shows the various layers of indigenous historical theories, from the pre-colonial and post-colonial period, books, photos, location, toponymy, maps and narratives. Some of the indigenous stories do not happen in this plan, and the mark is not in the landscape, but is part of their history and they need to be recorded as much as the other knowledge”, said Renata Alves.
An example of what can be found on this platform is the Ipanoré Waterfall, located on the Uaupés River, where the first ancestors emerged into this world, after a long underwater journey aboard the snake-canoe. Photos, videos, narratives and other information about the waterfall will be available on the platform.
One of the mythical narratives tells that a snake-canoe left the Guanabara Bay, climbed the Brazilian coast, reached the Amazon River and entered the Negro and other important rivers in the region, such as the Uaupés. This path is marked by places that are remembered in the narrative. Part of this story is told in the film "By the Waters of the Rio de Leite”, directed by anthropologist Aline Scolfaro.
Another proposal discussed during the Parinã workshop was the creation of a virtual museum with the Goeldi Museum's collection of pieces collected in the Northwest Amazon during Theodor Koch-Grünberg's voyage in the early years of the XNUMXth century. Images with some of these pieces were shown to indigenous researchers during the workshop by anthropologist and researcher at Goeldi, Lúcia van Velthem, conducted with André Baniwa.

During the workshop, groups of indigenous and non-indigenous researchers visited some points of the landscape of São Gabriel da Cachoeira.
One of these hikes was proposed by Márcio Meira, who led the group to Pedra da Fortaleza – today a tourist spot in the city, with a view of the sunset and the Cabari mountains and where a fort installed by Portuguese colonists was once located. .
The setting of colonial history is recorded in a watercolor from 1785 that was reproduced on a banner to be taken to the site by the group.
On the way to Pedra da Fortaleza, the indigenous people found important points of their historical narratives. One of them, a rock on the riverside street that, according to indigenous history, is part of a snake that was killed there during a battle.
Meira explains that the dialogue between different types of knowledge is essential for understanding the region. “This possibility of dialogue between history, archeology and traditional knowledge is the way we have for us to better understand this social reality in the region. There is no way to understand if there is not this dialogue between knowledge”, she stressed.
According to him, the colonial history in the region was marked by violence against the indigenous people, who were often used as slave labor for the extraction of forest products. “It was a violent and lasting process, but it was not strong enough to erase the way of life of the people who live in the Rio Negro”, he reflected.

From father to son
The Parinã team also includes indigenous scholarship researchers who work in different ways, such as activities in the archeology and translation laboratory.
The objective is for the research to also be carried out in indigenous communities, an activity that has been limited due to the pandemic.
One of the fellows is the Social Sciences student at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Juka Sarmento Fernandes, name desana Diakuru, who has been rescuing the traditional narratives told by his father, the traditional connoisseur Durvalino Moura Fernandes, name desana Kisibi.
They are Desana of the Wari Dihpotiro Porã clan. The narratives can vary according to the people and even the clan.
During the workshop in São Gabriel, Durvalino Moura pondered that some objects and documents will appear during the researchers' work, but others are not visible, as they only exist in sacred narratives that reach other spheres.
“This is a meeting to rescue some knowledge. But there is knowledge that we do not reveal, that are only passed on between family members”, explained the expert.