As cidades lacustres do Maranhão: As estearias sob um olhar histórico e arqueológico

Abstract

Stilt houses must have occurred frequently in American Prehistory. Some ethnohistorical documents during the process of Conquest in America do mention about these dwellings. Since the wood used for the construction of these houses was rapidly degraded, and in the tropical region, much more because of the acid soil, the only pile dwellings that have weathered throughout the American continent are located in Baixada Maranhense. This article examines the context in which these indigenous dwellings appear in the historical documentation and then presents the unpublished results of an archaeological academic project that focuses on the study of kind of houses.