O que Anunciam os Chifres dos Bois? Artefatos multiespecíficos na expansão da pecuária no Brasil

Abstract

This article aims to begin a reflection on the material dimen-sions of cattle diffusion through central and eastern Brazil using some ar-tifacts produced at the clashes between oxen and Amerindian peoples in this region. In order to provincialize the grand narrative of the ‘livestock economic cycle’, the text argues for contextually-sensitive analyzes of the ar-rival/introduction of cattle among distinct indigenous groups. In this line it suggests that the image of cattle expelling Indians and occupying spaces left by latter’s expulsion or flight dos not correspond to the variety of expe-riences of contact with the so-called Brazilian ‘pastoral front’, which may have included, for example, ceremonial or ritual incorporation of these ruminants – or parts of their bodies, like horns – as raw materials for musi-cal instruments. Some of these ‘multispecies artifacts’ are analyzed here to argue that any investigation into environments co-constituted by humans and non-humans must take introduced alien species in consideration.