A “place” with many borders

a cartographic study of the limits and social organization of Igarassu, Pernambuco (1859-1876)

Abstract

This article presents a study of the boundaries and organization of spaces in the Termo de Igarassu from 1859 to 1876, in view of the need to understand the structuring of religious and regency divisions on the northern coast of Pernambuco in the nineteenth century. The methods and techniques employed focus on two main procedures: georeferencing processes involving the geometric transformation of maps and chorographic charts produced for the location in the nineteenth century, and the characterization of the spatial behavior of existing occupation centers. It is understood that throughout the second reign the province of Pernambuco and its segmentations were subjected to a series of political and socioeconomic changes, resulting in new territorial divisions and the formation of counties, as well as the rearrangement of housing microstructures, such as towns and villages. Igarassu stands out as an important landmark in the settlement of the captaincy and in the province’s sugarcane cycle, with the physical outline of its boundaries being established within a specific chronological framework, allowing for the visualization of its implications in the spatial and relational organization of settlements. In this way, an archaeological reflection on occupation processes and their impact on the emergence of new places becomes possible.