FRONTEIRAS TRANSITÓRIAS: O PROCESSO DA OCUPAÇÃO DA BAIXADA SANTISTA (6000 A.C. – 1996)

Abstract

This is a brief report of the human occupation of the São Paulo State coast since Prehistory,
from 8,000 BC to 1996, when the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista (Brazilian
acronym, RMBS) was created to include the cities of Santos, São Vicente, Cubatão, Guarujá,
Bertioga, Praia Grande, Mongaguá, Itanhaém, and Peruíbe. It was firstly occupied by the
Sambaqui Man, who lived off the mangroves and threw food rinds, skins, shells and peels in
one single spot, thus forming heaps called “sambaquis” (shell heaps or middens), where they
also buried the dead. It was then occupied by the Tupi-Guarani peoples, who were better
developed and who, around the year 1,000, defeated the sambaqui men, who fled to other
shores, where they were known as “Botocudos”. The occupation by the Europeans marks the
end of the Prehistory of the Coast, which becomes historic due to the Iberian colonization.