Entre pessoas e artefatos : boleadeiras e bolas líticas na arqueologia brasileira

Final papel - History (B.A.) - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Brazilian archeology is fundamental in the study of the Ancient History of Brazil. In the South
American archaeological record, there is an important spatial and temporal distribution of
artifacts recurrently classified in Brazilian archeology as “bolas, bola stones, bolas de
boleadeira/boleadora and boleadeiras/boleadoras”. Furthermore, there is a predominantly
descriptive-classificatory character centered on such objects without further reflections about
their meanings to the people of the past and present related to them. This final paper, through
the analysis of the concepts linked to the aforementioned artifacts; the history and
characteristics of Brazilian archeology; a broader geographical and temporal view of its
possible vestiges in South America; and more fruitful contacts with neighboring archeology
aims to contribute to the development of new analytical perspectives and (re)constructions of
the human past concerning the bola stones and boleadeiras/boleadoras found in the current
territory of Brazil. Finally, we conclude that it is important to have a clearer separation of the
morphological and functional classifications intended for such archaeological artifacts, a
critical review of the main theoretical inspirations originally developed in the northern
hemisphere (United States and Europe) and a closer approximation of scientific publications
from the South America.

Brazilian archaeology; boleadora; bolas; bola stones; lithic technology