Cited by 1Historical and Cultural Archaeology StudiesAfro-Latin American StudiesCultural Identity and Heritage

The DOI matches its Crossref record; none of the 48 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Una arqueología negra para la visibilización de la historia afrodescendente en Guayaquil

Open access
Delgado Vernaza, Génesis Isabel·2024·Cadernos Do LEPAARQ (UFPEL)

Abstract

Este artículo resalta el extenso recorrido de explotación y resistencia experimentada por africanos y afrodescendientes en Guayaquil, Ecuador. Adopta una perspectiva de la arqueología antropológica que desafía las narrativas oficiales de la ciudad portuaria. La investigación destaca cómo la arqueología ha dejado de lado el estudio de la población negra, contribuyendo a la repetición de las narrativas hegemónicas y perpetuando la violencia epistémica. Se centra en la memoria de los espacios ocupados a lo largo del tiempo por la población negra, utilizando un estudio espacial para comprender el contexto histórico y analizar la diversidad de sus manifestaciones. El artículo concluye con un análisis de los niveles de resistencia, tanto a nivel individual como colectivo, ampliando y fortaleciendo la memoria afro en relación con su territorio desde la perspectiva de la arqueología negra.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This article argues that Ecuadorian archaeology has largely ignored Black communities in Guayaquil, thereby reproducing hegemonic narratives and epistemic violence. It proposes a “Black archaeology” and uses spatial analysis of 16th–17th-century Guayaquil to trace spaces of exploitation and four levels of Afrodescendant resistance.

Key findings

  • Ecuadorian archaeology has focused on pre-Hispanic populations while neglecting Black communities’ lifeways, cultural transmission, and resistance to slavery and structural racism; the article calls for visibilizing enslaved and free Africans in Ecuador.
  • The proposed “Arqueología Negra” is organized through three perspectives: *generalidad* (colonialism, racialized division of labor, exploitation), *singularidad* (precolonial Africanist background), and *particularidad* (specific cases of resistance, territorial reordering, and new ways of life).
  • In Guayaquil, the study identifies four levels of resistance: survival within forced migration; preservation of original cultural manifestations (e.g., the Hermandad de Negros/Cofradía del Rosario, established 1574); hidden or fortuitous resistance within slavery (e.g., María Chiquinquirá’s legal struggle for freedom); and flight/rebellion/palenques (e.g., El Palmar).
  • Historical figures cited include: 1570—333 enslaved people in Guayaquil and Popayán (216 men, 117 women); 1600—1,000 enslaved; 1605—Guayaquil had 1,771 Indians, 331 Spaniards, and 353 Black people, with the latter forming 14.5% of the enslaved population, plus 20 free Black people; late 17th century—4,846 enslaved in the region, with 2,099 in cacao and tobacco production; 2010 INEC—more than 80,000 Afrodescendants in Guayaquil, Quito, and Esmeraldas, about 11% of the national population.

Methods

  • Design: qualitative historical-archaeological and anthropological study using an “arqueología antropológica” framework and the author’s “Arqueología Negra” approach.
  • Data: historical documents, secondary literature on colonial Guayaquil, and prior research, including the author’s 2023 thesis and Daniela Balanzátegui’s collaborative archaeology project in Carchi.
  • Analysis: spatial analysis of areas of exploitation and resistance in 16th–17th-century Guayaquil, combined with narrative reconstruction of resistance levels and cultural memory.

Limitations

  • The paper states a significant limitation in the study of enslaved and free Africans in Ecuador and notes that precise geographic boundaries cannot be delineated due to loss of information; it also mentions that fires destroyed Guayaquil’s Cabildo archives.
  • Evident from the text: the article does not report new archaeological excavation, systematic sampling, or material analysis; it is a synthesis and spatial interpretation based largely on secondary historical sources and prior research.
  • Evident from the text: the analysis is geographically and temporally bounded to Guayaquil in the 16th–17th centuries, with limited discussion of how the proposed framework would be operationalized in future fieldwork.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.15210/lepaarq.v20i40.26104

Cites

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 48 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 11 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 26
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 35
47 of 47
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    La materialidad de la resistencia actúa como un punto de partida esencial para desentrañar el contexto histórico.

    “partiendo de la premisa fundamental de que la materialidad de la resistencia actúa como un punto de partida esencial para desentrañar el intrincado contexto histórico.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    La arqueología ecuatoriana ha contribuido significativamente al estudio e identificación de la población prehispánica, destacando la importancia de sus antiguas comunidades en el desarrollo histórico.

    “Esta última refleja una significativa contribución al estudio e identificación de la población prehispánica, destacando la importancia de sus antiguas comunidades en el desarrollo histórico.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    La resistencia ante el exterminio se presenta en varias formas, una de ellas es la cultural y la práctica diaria, y las otras pasan por el enfrentamiento directo.

    “Entonces la resistencia ante el exterminio se presenta en varias formas, una de ellas es la cultural, la práctica de diario, las otras pasan por el enfrentamiento directo.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    La historia de los afrodescendientes en Guayaquil ha permanecido en las sombras de la historia, ha sido omitida y requiere un renacimiento y reconocimiento de esta memoria compartida.

    “Un tema que ha permanecido en las sombras de la historia, desafiando el porqué de esta omisión y subrayando la urgente necesidad de un renacimiento y reconocimiento de esta memoria compartida.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    La materialidad de la resistencia es un punto de partida válido para el estudio de la historia afrodescendiente en Guayaquil.

    “La base de este estudio radica en la consideración de la materialidad de la resistencia como su punto de partida.”
5 of 5

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Hermandad dated to the wrong century

    Minor

    The text places the establishment of the Hermandad in the seventeenth-century context but dates it to 1574, which is in the sixteenth century.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Still being checked.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. BALANZÁTEGUI Daniela. Archaeology of the Afro-Ecuadorians in La Concepción, Ancestral Territory of the Chota-Mira Valley (Carchi-Ecuador). PhD Dissertation, Simon Fraser University, 2017.
  2. DOUGLAS, Armstrong & MARK, Hauser. A Sea of Diversity: Historical Archaeology in the Caribbean. En International Handbook of Historical Archaeology, Springer, 2009.
  3. HORTON, James & HORTON, Lois. Slavery and the Making of America. Oxford University Press, 2005.
  4. SINGLETON, Theresa. Slavery Behind The Wall: An Archaeology of a Cuban Coffee Plantation. Uni- versity Press of Florida, 2015.
  5. SINGLETON, Theresa & TORRES DE SOUZA, Marcos. Archaeologies of the African diaspora: Brazil, Cuba, and the United States. En International Handbook of Historical Archaeology, Springer, 2009.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

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Metadata

Authors
Delgado Vernaza, G. I.
Venue
Cadernos Do LEPAARQ (UFPEL)
Published
2024-01-23
Pages
125-145
ISSN
  • 1806-9118 (ISSN-L)
  • 2316-8412
OpenAlex
W4392121260
Cited by
1
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 1
FWCI
0.78
Type
journal article
Language
es
Open access
Locations
  • Cadernos do LEPAARQ (UFPEL) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Afro-Latin American Studies
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Cultural Identity and Heritage
Keywords
Afro-descendant history, Guayaquil, African resistance, epistemic violence, spatial analysis, official historiography, Black population, territorial memory

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