Corpos de barro: análise das estatuetas antropomorfas e antropozoomorfas das estearias sob a ótica da Fabricação do Corpo.

Abstract

The figurines from the Maranhão stilt villages are ceramic artifacts originating from the archaeological sites of pre-colonial stilt settlements located in the anciet Baixada Maranhense region. These settlements are characterized as lacustrine occupations built on wooden stilts — the origin of their name — and date from the beginning of the Christian Era to approximately 1200 AD. The analyzed figurines are small-scale objects displaying characteristics analogous to the bodily features of human beings (anthropomorphic) and hybrid beings (anthropozoomorphic), blending human and animal elements, as well as other mystical, supernatural, or fantastical beings. This research sought to study these artifacts as objects endowed with agency and autonomy in their material basis, conceived, manufactured, adorned, and understood as bodies. Thus, the study was grounded in the understanding that ceramics constituted a means of visual and bodily expression for the peoples of the stilt villages and that, just as human beings shape their bodies daily, individually or collectively, through psychological, cultural, social, and aesthetic processes, imprinting upon them the indelible marks of these experiences, the figurines were likewise produced with the intention of reflecting this same logic of fabrication. Hence, the need to study them through the category of “Body Making”. Furthermore, these artifacts are understood as being embedded within the cultural and symbolic universe of Amazonian conceptions of the body, enabling reflections on social dynamics, as well as on gender within these societies. The methodology combined quantitative and qualitative approaches, employing the analysis of ceramic material through digital cataloging forms specifically designed for this type of artifact, aiming to identify morphological, stylistic, and technological elements. In addition, a bibliographical review of the extensive specialized literature on Amazonian figurines, such as those from the Santarém archaeological complexes and the Marajoara society, was conducted in order to identify similarities and differences in ceramic production methods, as well as possible dynamics of cultural exchange with the peoples of the stilt villages.This research is situated within a transdisciplinary framework between Archaeology and History, defending the premise that everything produced by human beings, whether a text or the act of shaping clay, constitutes a legitimate historical source for understanding societies.