An Assessment of Soil Phytolith Analysis as a Palaeoecological Tool for Identifying Pre-Columbian Land Use in Amazonian Rainforests

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8082734
AutoresJames Hill (0000-0003-4653-1416, University of Reading, autor de correspondencia), Stuart Black (0000-0003-1396-4821, University of Reading), Alejandro Araujo-Murakami (Noel Kempff Mercado Museum of Natural History, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno, Santa Cruz AI 2489, Bolivia), Alejandro Araujo‐Murakami (0000-0001-6151-8995), René Boot (0000-0002-6824-121X, Utrecht University), Roel Brienen (0000-0002-5397-5755, University of Leeds), Ted R Feldpausch (0000-0002-6631-7962, University of Exeter), John Leigue (Bolivian Amazon Forest Management Program (PROMAB), Autonomous University of Beni, Trinidad 54P5+X33, Bolivia), Samaria Murakami (Bolivian Amazon Forest Management Program (PROMAB), Autonomous University of Beni, Trinidad 54P5+X33, Bolivia), Abel Monteagudo (School of Biological Sciences, National University of San Antonio the Abad, Cusco 08000, Peru), Guido Pardo (Faculty of Forest Sciences, Autonomous University of Beni, Riberalta 2W3Q+VHJ, Bolivia), Marielos Peña-Claros (0000-0001-9134-6733, Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands), Oliver L Phillips (0000-0002-8993-6168, University of Leeds), Marisol Toledo (0000-0002-8410-7889, Noel Kempff Mercado Museum of Natural History, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno, Santa Cruz AI 2489, Bolivia), Vincent A Vos (0000-0002-0388-8530, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Autonomous University of Beni, Riberalta 2W3Q+VHJ, Bolivia), Pieter A Zuidema (0000-0001-8100-1168), Pieter Zuidema (Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands), Francis E Mayle (0000-0001-9208-0519, University of Reading)
Año2023
Volumen6
Número2
Páginas33-33
Fecha de publicación2023-05-11
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaQuaternary (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2571-550X • E-ISSN: 2571-550X
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/quat6020033
OpenAlexW4376278485
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas99

Phytolith analysis is a well-established archaeobotanical tool, having provided important insights into pre-Columbian crop cultivation and domestication across Amazonia through the Holocene. Yet, its use as a palaeoecological tool is in its infancy in Amazonia and its effectiveness for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use beyond archaeological sites (i.e., ‘off-site’) has so far received little critical attention. This paper examines both new and previously published soil phytolith data from SW Amazonia to assess the robustness of this proxy for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use. We conducted the study via off-site soil pits radiating 7.5 km beyond a geoglyph in Acre state, Brazil, and 50 km beyond a ring-ditch in northern Bolivia, spanning the expected gradients in historical land-use intensity. We found that the spatio-temporal patterns in palm phytolith data across our soil-pit transects support the hypothesis that pre-Columbian peoples enriched their forests with palms over several millennia, although phytoliths are limited in their ability to capture small-scale crop cultivation and deforestation. Despite these drawbacks, we conclude that off-site soil phytolith analysis can provide novel insights into pre-Columbian land use, provided it is effectively integrated with other land-use (e.g., charcoal) and archaeological data

Agroforestry · Amazon rainforest · Archaeology · Biology · Deforestation (computer science · Geography · Holocene · Land use · Paleoecology · Phytolith · Rainforest · Transect · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Cassava research and cyanide · Environmental Science · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Ecology