Chronicling Amazon Town

A long-term view of continuity and change in a rural Amazonian community

In Chronicling Amazon Town, Richard Pace and Helena Lima bring together the work of researchers from a variety of fields to provide a comprehensive synthesis of local and regional studies in the town of Gurupá in Brazil, ranging from archaeological findings to ethnohistory and sociocultural anthropology.

Building upon and critiquing Charles Wagley’s 1955 book Amazon Town, the authors in this volume focus on Gurupá as a crossroads of sociocultural changes in the lower Amazon region. Drawing on continuous research in this location since the publication of Wagley’s book, they use a longitudinal approach to examine archaeological, historical, and contemporary cultural patterns, situating their investigations within the greater Amazonian context. These chapters examine topics including race and identity, kinship and marriage, gender roles, migration patterns, and religious and political social movements. They also address challenges facing sustainable development and conservation efforts in the Amazon rainforest, including extractive economies and struggles over land tenure.

Chronicling Amazon Town adds an important long-term historical understanding of Gurupá, documents how community members have related to the surrounding environment and their social categories, and assesses the influence of regional, national, and global processes. This unique book offers an extended view of continuity and change in one of the longest and most fully studied rural communities in the region.