The Guarani material culture of the Jesuit Reductions of the Province of Paraguay (1610-1768) and the influence/interference in archaeological sites in the state of São Paulo

• Grant number: 24/10151-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Neide Barrocá Faccio
• Grantee: Beatriz Mercês de Souza dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to identify, analyze and map the Jesuit Reductions of the former Province of Paraguay, as well as investigate their material culture, especially ceramics, in order to compare them with ceramic materials from archaeological sites in the state of São Paulo, with the hypothesis that these materials may attest to European interventions in Guarani culture. After the Treaty of Tordesillas, in 1498, the dispute between Portugal and Spain over land ownership began. Due to the divergence of the two Catholic crowns, a Pontiff was appointed as mediator, who favored Spanish interests, through the "Inter Certera" bull, with the condition of taking missionaries to the "New World", to catechize the indigenous people who they called Guarani. In 1607, the Province of Paraguay was created, being occupied by members of the Society of Jesus until 1768 with the Jesuit Reductions. Thus, a new organization of space affected the Guarani way of living, altering the social structure of the villages, the division of labor and even the material culture of the indigenous people. Given the above, we will investigate the material culture of the Jesuit Reductions of the Province of Paraguay, to compare it with the ceramic materials of archaeological sites that have characteristics of Jesuit influence/interference in the state of São Paulo, through technotypological analysis, in addition to analyzing the territory and settlement pattern of these Reductions, in order to establish territorial strategies, in the face of the advance of the São Paulo flags. For this research, the following methodological procedures will be used: bibliographic survey and review, document analysis, analysis of ceramic materials, exploratory fieldwork, analysis of the settlement pattern and mapping. (AU)