Brazilian Archaeology, the Last Two Decades

Abstract

The paper aims at discussing Brazilian archaeology and its trajectory, paying particular attention to recent developments. It starts by stating the stand adopted here, from an externalist, social history of the discipline, to then turn to a brief overview of the history of archaeology in the country since the nineteenth century. Then there is a discussion of the main developments in the last two decades in the main fields of the discipline and in relation to the main subjects such as early human settlement, rock art, other prehistoric issues, historical archaeology, classical archaeology, underwater archaeology, and public archaeology, followed by a note on the role of women in Brazilian archaeology. It concludes by discussing the outlook of the discipline.