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Engravings found in the basement of a house over 260 years old in Ouro Preto were registered by Iphan as an archaeological site and may preserve memories of the African diaspora in Minas Gerais
Engravings from Ouro Preto found in the basement of a house over 260 years old were registered by Iphan as an archaeological site on March 23, 2026. The 26 drawings, possibly made by enslaved people between the 1750s and the first half of the 19th century, reveal marks linked to the African diaspora in Minas Gerais.
Engravings from Ouro Preto were found during renovation in a historic mansion
The discovery occurred at number 134 Rua Conde de Bobadela, formerly Rua Direita, one of the main streets of Ouro Preto, in the Central Region of Minas Gerais.
The property was built over 260 years ago, in a city that became a symbol of the gold cycle in the 18th century.
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The parents of administrator Philipe Passos bought the house around 1980, intending to open a restaurant. The inscriptions were only noticed decades later, during renovations started in 2017.
It was an employee who noticed the drawings on a mortar panel over a stone wall in the basement and alerted the family.
For Philipe, the find surpasses the value of the property itself, as it carries a message linked to the violence of enslavement.
Panel gathers 26 drawings, including animals, plants, people, and geometric shapes
Historian and archaeologist Leonardo Klink, from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, began studying the panel after learning about the engravings from news published at the time.
For four years, he has dedicated his doctoral research to the house and the inscriptions.
The work follows a non-interventionist approach, aimed at preserving the traces. The research identified 26 engravings, some invisible to the naked eye, which reinforces the complexity of the panel and the need for technical care.
Among the drawings, there is a boat with three people on board, a mask with human features and a kind of beard, a feline, two birds, plants, and geometric shapes.
One of the figures mixes human and animal traits, with arms, legs, torso, horns, and sharp teeth.
There is also an architectural drawing with references from West Africa. According to Klink, the image shows people in a kind of courtyard and others using a pestle, a common object in the domestic environment, surrounded by an architectural structure not found in Portuguese America.
Mineral graphite and incisions indicate marks made by various hands
The engravings were produced with mineral graphite and incisions on the wall, possibly made with objects like nails and shards of glass. It is not possible to state exactly who drew them or determine a precise date for each mark.
The research indicates, however, that various hands, perhaps even from different generations, left inscriptions on the panel between the 1750s and the first half of the 19th century.
For Klink, the drawings may preserve memories prior to enslavement. The researcher relates this possibility to the journey of captured people, brought by the Atlantic route, taken to the interior of Minas Gerais and then to Vila Rica, now Ouro Preto.
The exact context in which the inscriptions were made has not yet been defined. There are reports that the basements of townhouses were used as slave quarters, but this is just one of the possibilities pointed out in the research.
Until the mid-1970s, the basement was dark, damp, had an earthen floor, and lacked electricity. Klink considers it possible that the place was associated with captivity, but also used as a reserved space for inscriptions related to memories and recollections.
Iphan recognizes asset of unique value and prepares visitation guidelines
The panel was officially registered as an archaeological site and recorded in the Integrated Knowledge and Management System of Iphan on March 23, 2026. The name given to the site is “Afrodiasporic Inscriptions.”
The technical report recommending recognition was signed by archaeologist Daniel Gabriel da Cruz. The document highlighted the unique value of the asset and pointed out that no similar nature vestiges were found in the consulted bibliography.
In a note, Iphan informed that it is directing efforts towards the conservation project of the panel and the development of visitation guidelines.
The agency classified the archaeological site as a unique asset of fundamental importance for the history of the African diaspora in Minas Gerais and Brazil.
The institute also attributed national relevance to the site, with exceptional informational and memorial value. The assessment reinforces the importance of the panel for the reconstruction and appreciation of the trajectories of people subjected to the slavery regime.
Philipe Passos, responsible for the restoration of the property, still does not know what the final destination of the house will be. The family’s idea is for the basement to be dedicated to the contemplation of the panel, following the preservation, conservation, and exhibition guidelines defined by Iphan.
This article was prepared based on information from the report provided about the engravings found in Ouro Preto and the recognition of the archaeological site by Iphan, with data, numbers, and statements preserved according to the consulted material.
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