Os Cariris Velhos da Paraíba.

Abstract

The “Cariris Velhos” region of Paraíba as a pamphíet constitutes, a brief assignment which focuses on several and essential aspects of infonnation about the rcgion, accompanied by a video of lngh quality ln terms of culture and axt. This synthesis presents, m well-developed and accessible language, a vision of the whole of a region little studied and almost unknown to this day. In many aspects it is a pioneer work in reseatch and íllustration, in tmages of sites almost unknown and never studied quite objectiveiy so far. The paper that we have the honour to present is an ínterdisciplinaiy study written by four distlnct researchers. In the “Introduction to the Cariris Velhos Region” the central theme is to situate the region by describing íts climate, soil, and the use of natural resources, calling the reader’s attention to die gradual but intensive process of transformation of a large part of the region into a desert. * “The Focmation of Latidscape of Cariris Velhos” is a geological and paleontological study of the region. j.A.de Almeida explams, in a brief and comprehensivc manner, the ongin and evolution of the soil and relief ot one ot the oldest regions of tlie world, addtng a word about the megamammals that once lived lhere, when a climate better than the present one was suitable for their existence. In “The Archeological Potential of Cariris Velhos”, written by K.M.Cabral special attention is paid to archeological sites, some of which although left unmapped, vverc identified and documented by the members of the research group in a jomt and fortuitous effott to point out the need to research and study in depth such sites in an objective, systematic, and scientific manner before the)' disappear as a result of the generic and intensive predatoiy process that has so far prevailed in the region. In “The Potential of the Fauna of Cariris Velhos” Horácio Aquino describes man’s rapport with wild and domes tu: animais, and intensive and predatory hunting that almost extinguished wild animais. In this paper special attention is paid to the possibility of the domestication of native animais such as the emu (the rhea). The study of plants from the region and their medicai use is developed in “The Botanical Potential of Cariris Velhos”, lhere is a brief but worthwhile dissertation about some regional plants and the way thev may be used in local medicine, writren by M.de F. Agra, who also recentiy published “Plants of Local Medicine in Canns Velhos, Paraíba, Brasil". In order fo conclude this paper, there is a poem fnll of mspiration wrttten b\- 1.Francisco, wlio ts native ro the region. The poet describes the beauty of the rockof Father Matheus, one of the registered archeotogicaí sites rhat sttesses the “Preserving Sttength of Nature”. The paper hereby aims to emphasize the need for more in-depth studíes thar may enriçh or complement this introduetory assignment; the end result of a joint venture of a group of researchers who, needless to say, tned their best to present a senes of ropics in the hope that ít will be “an invitation for future studíes.. ’