Complexidade na arqueologia do Jê Meridional: a contribuição de São José do Cerrito

Abstract

In this dissertation, archeological structures related to the Jê Meridional people, from the municipality of São José do Cerrito, in the state of Santa Catarina, will be analyzed. The analysis aims to identify traces of complexity in settlements corresponding to different periods of occupation of the group. These settlements, when compared to each other in a same process, reveal differences in the structuration of the settlements, which can contribute to a larger understanding of this process. Three different moments of occupation were identified which we can relate to environmental changes in the region. At the first moment, there are speedy settlements, on the open air, on campo’s areas, in a general environment with scattered resources. At a second moment, the settlements are more stable and lasting, with pit houses, still without pottery, in an environment where the resources of the Araucaria tree start to concentrate. At a third moment, the settlements are more sedentary and even more lasting, with pit houses, ceremonial structures and the use of pottery, in an environment with plentiful and stable resources. In this last period, the pit houses change from large to geminate and smaller structures. This observed dynamicity relativizes the conceptions that try to associate all the sites with the mentioned structures of the Jê Meridional to the same chronological period. This diversification questions the view that all these structures are part of a single stage of occupation.