ABSTRACT
Prostitution was a reality in mining territory during the Eighteenth Century. However, this activity was often confused with other more visible social behaviours, such as concubinage, “illicit dealings”, adultery or relationships between unequal people. I argue that the social practice of sex by “octaves” was a means of acquiring resources, in a context of a mining and slave economy, where there was great circulation of wealth. I analyse terms, dialogues and values that underlay the economic place of prostitution in the captaincy of Minas Gerais during the first half of the Eighteenth Century, using as a source pastoral visits and a dictionary produced by Antônio da Costa Peixoto in Vila Rica, Minas Gerais, in which the author presents phrases and terms from the mina language, spoken by the Gbe group of West Africa, translated into “corresponding Portuguese words”.
Keywords:
Slavery; Prostitution; Women; Mining economy