Turismo desenvolvido no sítio arqueológico Itacoatiaras do Ingá e o ecoturismo como alternativa de conservação ambiental e cultural

Abstract

The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze developed tourism and ecotourism as an alternative for the environmental and socio-cultural conservation of the archaeological site of Itacoatiaras do Ingá, located in the agreste region of Paraiba. The Itacoatiaras of the Ingá, better known as Pedra do Ingá, are petroglyphs that have aroused over the centuries discussions about their origin as hypotheses defended by researchers of diverse areas such as historians, archaeologists and anthropologists, pseudoscientific hypotheses of curious, besides the traditional knowledge of the population ingaense The municipality of Ingá has the Itacoatiaras as its main attraction for the development of tourism, however, it has sponsored actions that have caused negative impacts in relation to the conservation of the archaeological site. The theme is approached in an interdisciplinary way, since it involves contents referring to environmental sciences, tourism, anthropology and history. Methodologically, this is a qualitative research with complementary use of quantitative data and instruments such as systematic observation in the field visits, documentary research, semi-structured interviews with significant actors and the collection of images of the studied region. The data were analyzed through the content analysis of Bardin with the support of the theoretical reference, where it is believed that all phases of the research were important for the results and discussions on the subject. It was identified that tourist activity carried out in the archaeological site is still in an initial phase, presenting problems in relation to the conservation of the place, mainly due to the lack of planning and financial support, it was also verified that the population, although not actively participating in the tourist activity, knows the importance of the activity and still keep the myths and legends in relation to the Itacoatiaras. Thus, this study made it possible to know the tourism activity that is being developed in the Pedra do Ingá together with the nature, history and local culture enabling ecotourism as an alternative to preserve the cultural and natural heritage.