Archaeological finds should trigger a review of the SP subway license

The technical inspection of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan), in São Paulo, recommended – in an opinion – rejecting the resumption of archaeological excavations in the area of ​​Sítio Saracura. The archaeological territory was found in the middle of subway works in the Bixiga neighborhood and, after community mobilization and a flood in February, the recovery of the pieces was suspended by Iphan. Access to the opinion was released last Friday (12). The institute, however, had authorized the continuity of engineering works that did not affect the site. But exactly in this context, new evidence of quilombola occupation was found. For this reason, the new opinion attests that, in view of the new findings in the “grounded area that possibly houses the material remains of the former Quilombo Saracura, we understand that this originality goes beyond the competences of a single technical sector”, says the opinion. Iphan technicians also ask that the Palmares Foundation and the Ministries of Culture, Racial Equality and Human Rights be called in to assess the overall materiality and historical and cultural context of the site. The new opinion also points out that “the official recognition of shared spaces and collective memories – archaeologically attested in surface surveys carried out on Line 6-Orange, specifically at Station 14 Bis (area that includes Quilombo Saracura)” – justifies maintaining excavations were paralyzed until specialized multidisciplinary evaluation. The document also highlights that the “patrimonialization of black enslavement was faced with the complexity, dynamism and resistance of the power structures of a non-black elite, which in the past prevented the recognition of the quilombola contribution to Brazilian cultural formation”. Mobiliza Saracura Vai-Vai In light of the new facts, the community organized in Mobiliza Saracura Vai-Vai, in a note, reiterated the need to review the licensing process authorized by Iphan in 2020, in breach of the legislation that requires archaeological research. The mobilization had already been questioning the licensing within the scope of a civil inquiry at the Federal Public Ministry and a lawsuit demanding judicial expertise that attests to the regularity of the archaeological work carried out on the site. A report by Agência Brasil shows that historical and archaeological research to obtain the necessary licenses for the start of works on Line Orange-6 of the São Paulo subway ignored the history of the Bixiga neighborhood, in the central region of São Paulo, linked to a quilombola community.

Agência Brasil