Long Term Human Impact On A Tropical Environment

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Michael Heckenberger (University of Florida) and Brazilian colleagues will conduct research to study the scale and organization of terminal pre-Columbian complex societies in the Upper Xingu region of the southern Amazon. The research builds on prior NSF-supported archaeology, which provided clear evidence of large, densely settled pre-Columbian populations and regional organization in two integrated clusters of walled towns and non-walled villages, ca. 1250-1650 CE, within a 1,200 km² study area. This project will provide important new data on the techno-economic systems and the resource base of production systems associated with the large, sedentary pre-Columbian populations, including forest and wetland management systems. These systems not only altered forest conditions but may have helped maintain or even expand forest in this mosaic area of transitional tropical forest. It is suggested that semi-intensive land use practices in production landscapes associated with primary food and industrial crops were concentrated in cluster core areas and high working forests dominated in peripheral areas. Rather than predominantly slash and burn agricultural practices or open field farming that denude forest, it is suggested that pre-Columbian groups of the region practiced hybrid systems that involved forest to forest conversion across the region, which helped maintain and expand forest species across the region, even during the period ca. 1250-1650 CE when settlements reached their maximum size and integration in clusters. The research informs debates on pre-Columbian population levels and human impacts in the Amazon, notably the maximal degree of anthropogenic influence on pre-industrial Amazonian forest ecosystems in the southern Amazon transitional forests and dynamics of coupled human-environmental systems in relation to climate change, sustainability and cultural heritage. It articulates with scientific and public interests in sustainability, including multi-scalar and multi-cultural collaborations in large projects and public anthropology developed through participation, partnership and education in Brazil and the USA. Dr. Heckenberger and his team will examine putative off-site production areas situated between major terminal pre-Columbian towns and villages and compare these settings to settlement areas and putative areas of non-production standing forest areas, in terms of soils and forest cover. The team includes archaeology, paleoecology and ethno-ecologists and continues a successful participatory research program that involves international collaboration and engagement with local indigenous communities. Four months of fieldwork, including training and collaboration workshops, will focus on off-site soil sampling in 45 discrete areas, as well as general ethnoecological characterization of forest vegetation in each area. Additionally, wetland testing is proposed to collect well controlled samples of pollen, micro-charcoal, and other remains, to provide a picture of local vegetation in areas of large settlements and broader regional patterns.