The Relation Between Overlander and Archaeology Luiz Dias Fernandez

In 2002, when I was 23 years old, I bought my first 4x4 vehicle, a Lada Niva 1.6 (1990), and with it I started my first off-road adventures.

Early on, I realized that the traditional off-road trails were not what I really wanted. Quick weekend trails bring a lot of maintenance and just a few places were visited. Because of that, I started taking longer journeys with the car, accessing remote places, often alone. Because of this, I earned myself the nickname “crazy,” considering the risks involved in my trips. I avoided buying a second car, forcing myself to use it on a daily basis as well.

From 2000 to 2009, I carried out several ethnological and incomegenerating works in the indigenous community of the Tupi Guarani people in the city of Peruibe on the coast of the state of São Paulo. Niva’s off-road capabilities were constantly tested in the 31 kilometers (19,263 miles) of a precarious rural road that led to the community, becoming an essential tool in my professional activities.

The Relation Between Overlander and Archaeology

In 2006, after a three-month archaeological campaign in the Chapel of Saint Michael Paulista (dated 1590), I visited the village of Bananal and heard rumors that in a nearby village called Piaçaguéra, which means “the way of the ancients,” appeared some pieces of pottery on a football field in the middle of the community.

We were in the rainy season and the challenge was the sandy soil in the region which became impermeable in many places, forming large ponds with dark-colored water, almost ferruginous, due to the tannin of plant decomposition. After overcoming all difficulties, I came across an incredible amount of archaeological materials collected by the residents of the reserve. Some of them showed me big garbage bags full of ceramic materials, a mixture of low-temperature indigenous ceramics and materials of European origin such as Portuguese faience, enamelled ceramics and some metallic objects. I realized that this was possibly a place of contact between natives and Europeans in the 16th century, something really rare, not only in Brazil but also in all the Americas.

I got authorization from community leaders to take some pieces to be presented to the authorities of the historical preservation of heritage, showing that the remains were about four kilometers from another important historical site, the Ruins of Abarebebê (“flying priest” in the Tupinikim language, one of the peoples on the Brazilian coast), a church dating from 1505. Unfortunately, my requests for studies in the area were not accepted and the area remains unknown till today!

As I had an off-road driving training in Depaschoal Goodyear University (2004), I started offering my car for archaeological campaigns in addition to my archaeologist service. In 2010, I was

hired by an archaeology company along with my car. The contractor categorically stated that there was no need for an offroad vehicle, but I heard the warnings from my mother who advised me to go with my Niva. It was my luck, as I came across an area of 4,439,000 square meters of wild forest with no existing road or access, having at my disposal a team of three archaeologists and me, and four employees from a third-party company, who would only work after the fourth day of the campaign.

Beside this, the contractor hosted us in a hotel, 40 kilometers (24.8548 miles) away from the study area on the edge of a nearby city. The road was really difficult and deserted. There was no possibility of accessing the city in an easy way, so we took in Niva everything that we needed to spend the day in the forest, from tools and electronic equipment, to clothes, water and food. We faced insects, bad weather and confronted some gunmen who tried to kick us out from the place, following obscure interests of uncertain headers.

We spent the first day opening trails, using the vehicle as a tool and opening “test wells,” looking for the best places to start our work. We highlighted three overlapping bonfires, referring to three different periods: 1000, 700 and 400 years ago. The car became a deposit of collected pieces, kitchen, dining room and often a dormitory for quick naps during the brief break periods. Without it, it would be impossible to enter or leave the area. We finished the work at the end of the afternoon and the way to the hotel was in complete darkness, assisted only by the auxiliary headlights, installed in the front bumper and in the luggage compartment of the Niva, thus preventing us from falling into huge holes, or crashing into rocks and logs scattered on the road. It was a great overlander and archaeological adventure that will never leave my memory!

Luiz Dias Fernandez lives in São Paulo, Brazil, ethno-historian, professor, archaeologist, poet, musician, cultural producer, offroader and overlander. Owner of the Gurgel Sasquatch Overlander project, which is based on a 1982 Gurgel X12 vehicle, the only vehicle of this model in the world fully rebuilt for overlander practice.

Luiz Dias Fernandez

Gurgel Sasquatch Overlander

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