O imaginário do mundo das águas: lendas, narrativas e histórias ancestrais sobre a vida dos povos das estearias

The stilt villages are archaeological sites formed by the concentration of stilt supports placed in the beds of the rivers and lakes of the Baixada Maranhense, Brazil, from the beginning of the Christian era until the year 1200 AD. They are located in a rosary of riverside floodplain cities whose narratives and legends of the formation of these pre-colonial settlements swarm the imagination of the population, such as the “Encantados”, “boitata” and hiding places of runaway slaves and ancient quilombolas. This article examines this rich set of oral histories and the social imaginary that characterize the explanation of people living near the stilt villages about the formation of these indigenous settlements and its ancestry.