Gestos e ferramentas dos tratadores e tratadoras de pescado de Santarém, dialogando com a Arqueologia pré-colonial Santarena

Abstract

The present study aims to record the fish butchering in public markets in Santarém (Mercado 2000 and Porto dos Milagres Markets) and to compare this butchering with archaeological bone remains of the suckermouth catfish (also knwon as acari, Loricariidae) from pre-Columbian sites. Firstlly, we analyzed the current gestures and tools involved in the butchering and also the burn and cutmarks left on the bones. Secondlly, we compared these marks with h those left in the archaeological bones. Our research allowed to show that there are specific places in markets where people treat fish. And also that there are different ways to cut the acari (to roast, to stew), however, in general, the cutmarks locations and the forms of treatment (the direction of the cut and the location on the bones) are similar in the past and in the present. From an archaeological point of view, at everyday scenes of fish treatment, this research demonstrates that the knowledge of fish handlers and keepers and the gestures used in the treatment of fish are transmitted over time. This know-how shows the “archaeological” extrapolates the material and manifests itself in the daily gestures of Santarém's people in public markets.