26/03/15 11:27 Antiquity Journal Página 1 de 4 http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/509 Search Antiquity Click to enlarge Figure 1. Archaeological fish traps in northern Brazil (Maranhão); the local communities today attribute them to past indigenous populations; their chronological and cultural attribution is, however, unknown ©Google Earth. Bridging ancient and modern artisanal fisheries in Latin America: assessing the role of cultural heritage in poverty alleviation in coastal Brazil Andre C. Colonese, Alpina Begossi, Cecile Brugere, Arkley Marques Bandeira, Rafael Brandi, Lilia Guedes, Mario Wiedemann & Phillipe Azevedo Introduction What is the role of cultural heritage for poverty alleviation in the coastal areas of Latin America? Along the coastline of Brazil, artisanal fisheries are a traditional and crucial source of food and livelihood for thousands of people (Begossi 2010). Brazilian coastal communities efficiently integrate modern small-scale fishing techniques with pre-colonial indigenous knowledge, as a ‘neotraditional’ mix (Begossi 1998). In the coastal areas of Maranhão, one of the poorest regions of Brazil (World Bank 2004), this culminates in the use of historic fish traps (locally known as camboas, Figure 1). The traps are intertidal structures consisting of walls built from locally available stone (plinthite and petroplinthite, Figure 2). Tidal oscillation of around 7m allows fish to enter at high tide and to be trapped as the water recedes (Figure 3). Although their date of construction is uncertain, seventeenth-century European writers documented use of similar structures by indigenous people in similarly rich and productive ecotones (e.g. d’Abbeville 1632; d’Evreux 1864). Click to enlarge HOME CURRENT ISSUE ANTIQUITY+ ARCHIVE CONTRIBUTE SUBSCRIBE CONTACT