In Chronicling Amazon Town, Richard Pace and Helena Lima bring together the work of researchers from a variety of fields to provide a comprehensive synthesis of local and regional studies in the town of Gurupá in Brazil, ranging from archaeological findings to ethnohistory and sociocultural anthropology.

Building upon and critiquing Charles Wagley’s 1955 book Amazon Town, the authors in this volume focus on Gurupá as a crossroads of sociocultural changes in the lower Amazon region. Drawing on continuous research in this location since the publication of Wagley’s book, they use a longitudinal approach to examine archaeological, historical, and contemporary cultural patterns, situating their investigations within the greater Amazonian context. These chapters examine topics including race and identity, kinship and marriage, gender roles, migration patterns, and religious and political social movements. They also address challenges facing sustainable development and conservation efforts in the Amazon rainforest, including extractive economies and struggles over land tenure.

Chronicling Amazon Town adds an important long-term historical understanding of Gurupá, documents how community members have related to the surrounding environment and their social categories, and assesses the influence of regional, national, and global processes. This unique book offers an extended view of continuity and change in one of the longest and most fully studied rural communities in the region.

It is available as an ebook for free through JSTOR’s Path to Open program if one’s library has access. The book was reviewed by two Salsa members (https://floridapress.blog/2024/07/30/chronicling-amazon-town/)

“A book that many have been waiting for. It opens up the results of a classical community study, Amazon Town, for assessment and appreciation and brings the story up to date in a way that is both challenging and satisfying.”—William H. Fisher, author of Rain Forest Exchanges: Industry and Community on an Amazonian Frontier

“Simultaneously launches an interesting and original dialogue with the work of Charles Wagley—whose relevance to Brazilian studies is widely recognized—and broadens its theoretical and empirical scope.”—Amurabi Pereira de Oliveira, Federal University of Santa Catarina

“A groundbreaking review of seventy-five years of anthropology in a mixed-race community in the Brazilian Amazon. Given this remarkable time depth, the authors provide readers with insights into both the community and those who have studied it. It is invaluable.”—Janet Chernela, author of The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon: A Sense of Space