Yoshi Maezumi
Biographic Data
| ID | 474 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Yoshi Maezumi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Yoshi |
| FAMILY NAME | Maezumi |
| SIGNATURE | MAEZUMI Y |
| AFFILIATIONS | Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4333-1972 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Cultural landscapes reveal 5700 years of human–environment interaction on Curaçao
From 2022–2025, the Curaçao Cultural Landscape Project conducted archaeological and palaeoecological investigations of Rif Sint Marie and Jan Thiel, Curaçao, to reconstruct long-term landscape history. Results reveal a 5700-year settlement history, strategic adaptations enacted by diverse cultural groups and the legacy of past human activities within the contemporary landscape.
Westward expansion of pearl millet agriculture into the Lac de Guiers basin, Senegal, by c. AD 200
International audience
‘Wildland–Urban Interfaces’ from an Archaeological Perspective
The ‘wildland-urban interface’ (WUI) has emerged as a critical focal point of wildfire threats, human-environmental conflicts, habitat loss and fragmentation, and zoonotic disease spread in the twenty-first century. Urban interfaces with their environments are not a novel phenomenon, however. From the Middle to Late Holocene, diverse urban configurations and networks interacted with ecosystem dynamics, land cover, fire regimes, biodiversity, and …
Assessing the Role of Plant Seasonalities on the Regional Organisation of the Tapajó Society
Human food practices involve procurement and production activities, including cleaning, planting, weeding, fertilisation, irrigation, and management, all influenced by seasonality. Plant phenology is the main seasonality index in Amazonian food production. This exploratory study reviews Tapajó archaeobotanical data to estimate how seasonal planting and harvesting affected regional organisations. The data originate from four Tapajó habitation site…
Mid- to late-Holocene hydroclimate and vegetation changes near the Amazon-Tapajós confluence
The rainforests and freshwater resources of lowland Amazonia depend on precipitation from the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM). However, our understanding of the climate and vegetation history of lowland Amazonia, particularly its response to the dynamics of the ITCZ and SASM, is limited by the lack of Holocene paleohydroclimate and paleoenvironmental records from eastern Amazonia. Here, we presen…
Fighting with fire
Radiocarbon dates from Curaçao’s oldest Archaic site extend earliest island settlement to ca. 5700 cal BP
Due to its proximity to coastal South America and settlement during the early phase of insular Caribbean occupation, Curaçao's archaeological record offers potential evidence for early overwater exploration and regional interaction. Here, we report new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates on charcoal from C-1426 at Saliña Sint Marie, an Archaic rockshelter site that extends Curaçao's occupation back to 5735–5600 cal BP, some 290–850 years ea…
Uncovering the Multibiome Environmental and Earth System Legacies of Past Human Societies
It has been argued that we have now entered the Anthropocene, a proposed epoch in which humans are having a dominant impact on the Earth system. While some geologists have sought to formalize the Anthropocene as beginning in the mid-twentieth century, its social, geophysical, and environmental roots undoubtedly lie deeper in the past. In this review, we highlight the ways in which human activities across the major biomes of our planet significant…
What do paleoecological data tell us about the Amazon Anthropocene
Recently, Roberts et al. (2023) defined three socioeconomic thresholds thought to have laid the foundations for the Anthropocene: the first, between 4000 and 1000 BCE, related to the beginnings of agriculture; the second, between 0 and 1500 CE, related to urbanism and the demographic consolidation of human populations; and the third, between 1500 and the present CE, associated with the advance of colonialism and capitalism. In this article, we di…
O que os dados paleoecológicos nos dizem sobre o Antropoceno na Amazônia
Recentemente, Roberts et al. (2023) definiram três thresholds socioeconômicos que teriam sido a base do Antropoceno no mundo: o primeiro, entre 4.000 e 1.000 AEC, relacionado ao início da agricultura; o segundo, entre 0 e 1.500 EC, relacionado ao urbanismo e à consolidação demográfica das populações humanas; e o terceiro, entre 1.500 EC e o presente, associado ao avanço do colonialismo e do capitalismo. Neste artigo, discutimos os resultados de e…
Fire-human-climate interactions in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest ecotone from the Last Glacial Maximum to late Holocene
The Amazon Rainforest Ecotone (the ARF- Ecotone ) of the southwestern Amazon Basin is a transitional landscape from tropical evergreen rainforests and seasonally flooded savannahs to savannah woodlands and semi-deciduous dry forests. While fire activity plays an integral role in ARF- Ecotones , recent interactions between human activity and increased temperatures and prolonged droughts driven by anthropogenic climate change threaten to accelerate…
The legacy of 1300 years of land use in Jamaica
Despite decades of archaeological research on Jamaica, little is known about how settlers influenced landscape change on the island over time. Here, we examine the impact of human occupation through a multi-proxy approach using phytolith, charcoal, and stratigraphic analyses. White Marl was a continuously inhabited village settlement (ca. 1050–450 cal yrs BP) with large mounded midden areas, precolonial house structures, and human landscape manag…
Relating pollen representation to an evolving Amazonian landscape between the last glacial maximum and Late Holocene
In contrast to temperate regions, relationships between basin characteristics (e.g., type/size) and fossil pollen archives have received little attention in Amazonia. Here, we compare fossil pollen records of a small palm swamp (Cuatro Vientos; CV) and a nearby large lake (Laguna Chaplin, LCH) in Bolivian Amazonia, demonstrating that palm swamps can yield Quaternary pollen archives recording the history of terrestrial vegetation beyond the basin …
Archaeology and ethnography demonstrate a human origin for Amazonian Dark Earths
Archaeological research provides clear evidence that the widespread formation of Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) in tropical lowland South America was concentrated in the Late Holocene, an outcome of sharp demographic growth that peaked towards 1000 BP. In their recent paper, however, Silva et al. propose that the high fertility of ADE is not of anthropic origin but instead the result of alluvial deposition starting in the Middle Holocene (8200-4200…
The origins of Amazonian landscapes
Anthropogenic soil and settlement organisation in the Bolivian Amazon
Anthropogenic soils known as Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) have long been known as a key component of subsistence systems for various pre‐Columbian Amazonian populations. Often treated as a single category, ADE systems consist of two broad anthrosols (human‐modified soils): the darker ADE (traditionally known as terra preta ) and a lighter brown Amazonian Brown Earth (ABE; traditionally known as terra mulata ). Data on the characteristics and spat…
The legacy of 4,500 years of polyculture agroforestry in the eastern Amazon
Reassessing climate and pre-Columbian drivers of paleofire activity in the Bolivian Amazon
Reassessing climate and pre-Columbian drivers of paleofire activity in the Bolivian Amazon
Anthropogenic soil and settlement organisation in the Bolivian Amazon
Anthropogenic soils known as Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) have long been known as a key component of subsistence systems for various pre‐Columbian Amazonian populations. Often treated as a single category, ADE systems consist of two broad anthrosols (human‐modified soils): the darker ADE (traditionally known as terra preta ) and a lighter brown Amazonian Brown Earth (ABE; traditionally known as terra mulata ). Data on the characteristics and spat…
Uncovering the Multibiome Environmental and Earth System Legacies of Past Human Societies
It has been argued that we have now entered the Anthropocene, a proposed epoch in which humans are having a dominant impact on the Earth system. While some geologists have sought to formalize the Anthropocene as beginning in the mid-twentieth century, its social, geophysical, and environmental roots undoubtedly lie deeper in the past. In this review, we highlight the ways in which human activities across the major biomes of our planet significant…
What do paleoecological data tell us about the Amazon Anthropocene
Recently, Roberts et al. (2023) defined three socioeconomic thresholds thought to have laid the foundations for the Anthropocene: the first, between 4000 and 1000 BCE, related to the beginnings of agriculture; the second, between 0 and 1500 CE, related to urbanism and the demographic consolidation of human populations; and the third, between 1500 and the present CE, associated with the advance of colonialism and capitalism. In this article, we di…
O que os dados paleoecológicos nos dizem sobre o Antropoceno na Amazônia
Recentemente, Roberts et al. (2023) definiram três thresholds socioeconômicos que teriam sido a base do Antropoceno no mundo: o primeiro, entre 4.000 e 1.000 AEC, relacionado ao início da agricultura; o segundo, entre 0 e 1.500 EC, relacionado ao urbanismo e à consolidação demográfica das populações humanas; e o terceiro, entre 1.500 EC e o presente, associado ao avanço do colonialismo e do capitalismo. Neste artigo, discutimos os resultados de e…
Reassessing climate and pre-Columbian drivers of paleofire activity in the Bolivian Amazon
The legacy of 4,500 years of polyculture agroforestry in the eastern Amazon
The origins of Amazonian landscapes
Anthropogenic soil and settlement organisation in the Bolivian Amazon
Anthropogenic soils known as Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) have long been known as a key component of subsistence systems for various pre‐Columbian Amazonian populations. Often treated as a single category, ADE systems consist of two broad anthrosols (human‐modified soils): the darker ADE (traditionally known as terra preta ) and a lighter brown Amazonian Brown Earth (ABE; traditionally known as terra mulata ). Data on the characteristics and spat…
Relating pollen representation to an evolving Amazonian landscape between the last glacial maximum and Late Holocene
In contrast to temperate regions, relationships between basin characteristics (e.g., type/size) and fossil pollen archives have received little attention in Amazonia. Here, we compare fossil pollen records of a small palm swamp (Cuatro Vientos; CV) and a nearby large lake (Laguna Chaplin, LCH) in Bolivian Amazonia, demonstrating that palm swamps can yield Quaternary pollen archives recording the history of terrestrial vegetation beyond the basin …
Archaeology and ethnography demonstrate a human origin for Amazonian Dark Earths
Archaeological research provides clear evidence that the widespread formation of Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) in tropical lowland South America was concentrated in the Late Holocene, an outcome of sharp demographic growth that peaked towards 1000 BP. In their recent paper, however, Silva et al. propose that the high fertility of ADE is not of anthropic origin but instead the result of alluvial deposition starting in the Middle Holocene (8200-4200…
The legacy of 1300 years of land use in Jamaica
Despite decades of archaeological research on Jamaica, little is known about how settlers influenced landscape change on the island over time. Here, we examine the impact of human occupation through a multi-proxy approach using phytolith, charcoal, and stratigraphic analyses. White Marl was a continuously inhabited village settlement (ca. 1050–450 cal yrs BP) with large mounded midden areas, precolonial house structures, and human landscape manag…
Fire-human-climate interactions in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest ecotone from the Last Glacial Maximum to late Holocene
The Amazon Rainforest Ecotone (the ARF- Ecotone ) of the southwestern Amazon Basin is a transitional landscape from tropical evergreen rainforests and seasonally flooded savannahs to savannah woodlands and semi-deciduous dry forests. While fire activity plays an integral role in ARF- Ecotones , recent interactions between human activity and increased temperatures and prolonged droughts driven by anthropogenic climate change threaten to accelerate…
Fighting with fire
Radiocarbon dates from Curaçao’s oldest Archaic site extend earliest island settlement to ca. 5700 cal BP
Due to its proximity to coastal South America and settlement during the early phase of insular Caribbean occupation, Curaçao's archaeological record offers potential evidence for early overwater exploration and regional interaction. Here, we report new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates on charcoal from C-1426 at Saliña Sint Marie, an Archaic rockshelter site that extends Curaçao's occupation back to 5735–5600 cal BP, some 290–850 years ea…
Uncovering the Multibiome Environmental and Earth System Legacies of Past Human Societies
It has been argued that we have now entered the Anthropocene, a proposed epoch in which humans are having a dominant impact on the Earth system. While some geologists have sought to formalize the Anthropocene as beginning in the mid-twentieth century, its social, geophysical, and environmental roots undoubtedly lie deeper in the past. In this review, we highlight the ways in which human activities across the major biomes of our planet significant…
What do paleoecological data tell us about the Amazon Anthropocene
Recently, Roberts et al. (2023) defined three socioeconomic thresholds thought to have laid the foundations for the Anthropocene: the first, between 4000 and 1000 BCE, related to the beginnings of agriculture; the second, between 0 and 1500 CE, related to urbanism and the demographic consolidation of human populations; and the third, between 1500 and the present CE, associated with the advance of colonialism and capitalism. In this article, we di…
O que os dados paleoecológicos nos dizem sobre o Antropoceno na Amazônia
Recentemente, Roberts et al. (2023) definiram três thresholds socioeconômicos que teriam sido a base do Antropoceno no mundo: o primeiro, entre 4.000 e 1.000 AEC, relacionado ao início da agricultura; o segundo, entre 0 e 1.500 EC, relacionado ao urbanismo e à consolidação demográfica das populações humanas; e o terceiro, entre 1.500 EC e o presente, associado ao avanço do colonialismo e do capitalismo. Neste artigo, discutimos os resultados de e…
‘Wildland–Urban Interfaces’ from an Archaeological Perspective
The ‘wildland-urban interface’ (WUI) has emerged as a critical focal point of wildfire threats, human-environmental conflicts, habitat loss and fragmentation, and zoonotic disease spread in the twenty-first century. Urban interfaces with their environments are not a novel phenomenon, however. From the Middle to Late Holocene, diverse urban configurations and networks interacted with ecosystem dynamics, land cover, fire regimes, biodiversity, and …
Assessing the Role of Plant Seasonalities on the Regional Organisation of the Tapajó Society
Human food practices involve procurement and production activities, including cleaning, planting, weeding, fertilisation, irrigation, and management, all influenced by seasonality. Plant phenology is the main seasonality index in Amazonian food production. This exploratory study reviews Tapajó archaeobotanical data to estimate how seasonal planting and harvesting affected regional organisations. The data originate from four Tapajó habitation site…
Mid- to late-Holocene hydroclimate and vegetation changes near the Amazon-Tapajós confluence
The rainforests and freshwater resources of lowland Amazonia depend on precipitation from the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM). However, our understanding of the climate and vegetation history of lowland Amazonia, particularly its response to the dynamics of the ITCZ and SASM, is limited by the lack of Holocene paleohydroclimate and paleoenvironmental records from eastern Amazonia. Here, we presen…
Cultural landscapes reveal 5700 years of human–environment interaction on Curaçao
From 2022–2025, the Curaçao Cultural Landscape Project conducted archaeological and palaeoecological investigations of Rif Sint Marie and Jan Thiel, Curaçao, to reconstruct long-term landscape history. Results reveal a 5700-year settlement history, strategic adaptations enacted by diverse cultural groups and the legacy of past human activities within the contemporary landscape.
Westward expansion of pearl millet agriculture into the Lac de Guiers basin, Senegal, by c. AD 200
International audience
Geography (15 works) · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory (12 works) · Amazon rainforest (10 works) · Archaeology (9 works) · Biology (9 works) · Ecology (9 works) · Environmental Science (6 works) · Holocene (6 works) · Indigenous Health and Education (6 works) · Amazonian (5 works)