Between the Serra do Mar and the Atlantic Ocean, the Guanabara Bay

considerations abour its occupation, exploration and environmental effects in modernity

Abstract

Climate change, accelerated by human actions, is severely impacting the planet, threatening the existence and preservation of cultural and environmental heritage. This is a reality, and we must confront it. Against this backdrop, this paper proposes a reflection on the occupation and exploitation of Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, which intensified after European contact in the 16th century. It highlights the changes wrought in this environment by economic and political orientations, resulting in side effects that continue to resonate today. Focusing on the pathways used in this process, both by water and land, I intend to highlight the technology employed in the circulation and consumption of goods and how it interacted with the genesis and abandonment of localities surrounding the Recôncavo, especially after the gradual entanglement of capitalist practices throughout the 19th century. Advancing the process of territorial seizure, this paper presents an analysis of the rampant population density and the predatory effects it has had on the water bodies that feed the bay, reverberating in the impacted landscape we experience daily. Proposing an assessment of a local process and its relationship to the global context, this work highlights Historical Archaeology and its potential to contribute to debates on this topic.