Género y poder entre los awá (Maranhão, Brasil). Utilidad de la etnoarqueología para una reflexión sobre las representaciones del pasado

The Awá are a group of hunters-gatherers that having been moved to an indigenous reservation by the Brazilian government to guarantee his protection have begun to transform the way of life they had before the contact. Basically, they have reduced their mobility and began to cultivate. Although this fact is affecting to the social function of women, we can study yet the power relationships that have defined traditionally this society. This analysis makes clear that the relations between awá men and women are much more complex that the simple projection of our current gender categories would allow supposing. Archaeology works with representations of the past that, in most of the cases, do not challenge the universality of gender categories corresponding to later historical moments. Hence, we consider that the analysis of the gender relations in Awá society could provide a valuable source of suggestions in order to construct more open and complex representations of the past than those that have been used by archaeologists.Los awá son un grupo de cazadores-recolectores que, al ser trasladados a una reserva indígena por el gobierno brasileño para garantizar su protección, han comenzado a transformar las pautas de vida que tenían antes del contacto. Básicamente, han reducido su movilidad y están comenzando a cultivar. Aunque esto está afectando a la función social de las mujeres, aún pueden estudiarse las relaciones de poder que han definido tradicionalmente a esa sociedad. Su análisis pone de manifiesto que las relaciones entre hombres y mujeres awá son mucho más complejas que lo que una simple proyección de nuestras actuales categorías de género permitiría suponer. La arqueología trabaja con representaciones del pasado que, en la mayor parte de los casos, no ponen en cuestión la universalidad de un tipo de categorías de género que corresponden a momentos históricos mucho más tardíos. De ahí que consideremos que el análisis de las relaciones de género en una sociedad como la de los awá puede constituir una rica fuente de sugerencias para construir una representación del pasado más abierta y compleja que la que la mayor parte de los arqueólogos ha utilizado hasta ahora

Automatización de ensayos de lámparas de descarga de gas

Se describe un sistema de automatización de ensayos de lámparas de descarga de gas. Este sistema comprende los ensayos de medida de características eléctricas, cebado y establecimiento de régimen de lámparas de descarga de gas de vapor de mercurio y sodio. Para ello se diseñó y construyó un sistema de administración y control basado en un computador personal, el cual integra una serie de instrumentos de precisión mediante una red de comunicación IEEE488 y un controlador de magnitudes eléctricas diseñado para satisfacer los requerimientos eléctricos especificados en las normas. La administración del ensayo es realizada por una aplicación software desarrollada sobre Windows 95, la cual almacena los resultados de los ensayos en una base de datos y produce reportes de los mismos

Etno-arqueologia do descarte de pontas de flecha entre os Awá

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Ontology of the self and material culture: Arrow-making among the Awá hunter-gatherers (Brazil)

The Awá are a group of hunter-gatherers in transition to agriculture living in the Brazilian Amazon forest. After contact with mainstream society from the 1970s onwards, their culture, and especially their material culture, has undergone important transformations. Many traditional technologies and artifacts have been lost, especially those related to women. In this context, the persistence of arrow-making, although threatened by the spread of shotguns, is remarkable. During ethnoarchaeological work conducted between 2005 and 2009, we have been able to observe that the everyday making and use of arrows cannot be explained in neither functional nor symbolic terms alone. From our observations, we conclude that making and using arrows is indissolubly woven with the self of Awá men and, for that reason, we consider that only a relational-ontological approach can help us understand the deep relationship between men and arrows. Finally, we argue that the Awá case offers new possibilities to investigate technologies of the self in other non-modern societies. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.The project “Ethnoarchaeology of the Awá (Guajá) – Maranhão, Brazil, a group of hunter–gatherers in transition to agriculture” was funded between 2007 and 2009 by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (HUM2006-06276) and between 2005 and 2006 by the Spanish Ministry of Culture.Peer Reviewe

Ontologia da pessoa e cultura material: manufatura de flechas entre os caçadores-coletores Awá

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Ontology of the self and material culture: Arrow-making among the Awá hunter-gatherers (Brazil)

The Awá are a group of hunter–gatherers in transition to agriculture living in the Brazilian Amazon forest. After contact with mainstream society from the 1970s onwards, their culture, and especially their material culture, has undergone important transformations. Many traditional technologies and artifacts have been lost, especially those related to women. In this context, the persistence of arrow-making, although threatened by the spread of shotguns, is remarkable. During ethnoarchaeological work conducted between 2005 and 2009, we have been able to observe that the everyday making and use of arrows cannot be explained in neither functional nor symbolic terms alone. From our observations, we conclude that making and using arrows is indissolubly woven with the self of Awá men and, for that reason, we consider that only a relational-ontological approach can help us understand the deep relationship between men and arrows. Finally, we argue that the Awá case offers new possibilities to investigate technologies of the self in other non-modern societies.Fil: González Ruibal, Alfredo. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Hernando, Almudena. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Politis, Gustavo Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Arqueología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Domestic space and cultural transformation among the Awá of Eastern Amazonia

This World Archaeological Congress Inter-Congress was held at the University of Lódz, Poland in September 2007.Peer Reviewe

Gênero, poder e mobilidade entre os Awá-Guajá

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Espaço doméstico e transformaçao cultural entre os Awá da Amazônia oriental

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Gender, power, and mobility among the Awá-Guajá (Maranhão, Brazil)

The Awá (also known as Guajá) are hunter-gatherers whose way of life prior to their first contact with Brazilian society has been altered after relocation to a reservation. Basically, their mobility is reduced and they have been forced to start cultivation. Although these changes are beginning to affect women's social role, the traditional power relationships can still be inferred from the present conditions. The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to argue that, in otherwise >egalitarian> societies, the differences in physical mobility involved in the complementary tasks carried out by men and women may account for gender inequality on the symbolic domain, given that mobility is a key factor in the construction of personhood in contexts of >relational,> non-individualized identity; and (2) to check the validity of that assumption in the light of fieldwork data about gender relationships among the Awá-Guajá. Copyright © by The University of New Mexico.Peer Reviewe