Materials against mutability: the case of deaf-mute pottery in the records of Freire Alemão in Ceará (1859-1861)

Abstract

Archeology has been going through a period where its relationships with its research object, materials, are being updated. In the situation in question, we intend to analyze, from the sensorial-phenomenological bias, the specific interaction between a single utilitarian crockery, the materials that result from it, and its maker, a silent pottery. It is argued, based on studies of the Deaf / Muda culture, that the condition of the potter actually contributes to an improved development of other senses that help to explain the peculiarity of its production - a fact that goes unnoticed by its Freire Alemão. Reinforcing this proposition, an analysis is based on the narrative of the author on; the process of producing popular crockery; the system of good manners that required the renovation of sets of dishes; and the context of European and local ceramic trade, import and production in Ceará. The intention is to highlight the production of this dish” Deaf-mute” as a form of communication and expression in a world where the concept of Deaf / Muda culture did not yet exist.