Sujeitos e materialidade coloniais: uma investigação sobre os domicílios de Santarém no início do século XIX

Abstract

This work investigates the way of life of families in Santarém from 1801 to 1823 based on the material culture present in the households, identifying the different economic activities carried out by the subjects and observing how these activities reflect on the daily lives of these families. We used the concept of Material Culture spread since the 1980s, which understands it as the production of individuals and that has the potential to inform about the social relations of a given period. The main sources of this work are 29 post mortem inventories produced in Santarém, provided by the Centro de Documentação Histórica do Baixo Amazonas, corresponding to the time frame addressed, together with the 19th century works by Spix and Martius (2017), Florence (2007), Bates (1944) and Baena (2004). The materiality of the houses in Santarém is undeniably linked to the purchasing power of the families, and the main concern of Santarém families was to ensure the subsistence of the family nucleus and maintain their standards of living.