Contributions of the Southern Jê Ethnography to Archaeology.

Abstract

The Kaingang and Xokleng are the ethnic groups that constitute the Southern Jê branch. Despite their cultural transformations over time, deep and core conceptions of cultural identity are persistent – the case of the Kaingang who are extremely ingrained in some of their cultural referents. This text deals with some aspects of the cosmology and sociality of the Kaingang and emphasizes the relation of these two aspects with the construction of dwellings, ritual spaces and funerary monuments. The author seeks to emphasize that aspects of the use of space of the Kaingang and Xokleng can be identified by archaeological research.