Pesquisa histórica e arqueológica dos engenhos de cana-de-açúcar da Amazônia: relações sociais e escravidão no Grão-Pará dos séculos XVII ao XIX

Abstract

The sugarcane agroindustry was distributed throughout several regions of the Portuguese colonial territory from the 15th and 16th centuries on, including America, where it had large production centers, notably characterized by the sugar mills. The Amazon was also part of this production and the present work is a rescue of the memory of these agro-industries in the region through the systematic search of information about them in manuscripts and bibliographies specialized on the subject. It was found the presence of a relative documentation about the Amazonian sugar mills in the codices of the Public Library and Archive of Pará, among them we can highlight: a population map of 1785 of the parish of Sé, in the city of Belém, which contains the name of the owners, their possessions and their annual production, and a series of manuscripts, copies of those existing in the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino of Lisbon, which indicates the donation of land by the Portuguese government to the lords who own sugar mills. At Centur's Library, in microfilms of 19th century newspapers such as "13 de Maio" and "Diário de Belém", we found information about the sale of sugar mills and the escape of slaves. The analysis of these data made it possible not only to identify probable locations for sugar mill sites, but also to make a comparison with the data already obtained in previous archaeological research, facilitating a greater understanding of this model of agriculture, its technology, and its era.