Mid- to late-Holocene fluvial activity behind pre-Columbian social complexity in the southwestern Amazon basin

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5786129
AutoresUmberto Lombardo (0000-0002-0001-4870, University of Bern), J H May (0000-0001-5758-9459, University of Wollongong), Heinz Veit (University of Bern)
Año2012
Volumen22
Número9
Páginas1035-1045
Fecha de publicación2012-03-14
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Holocene (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959683612437872
OpenAlexW2141825698
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas17
Referencias citadas66

The scale, spatial variability and implications of pre-Columbian human-induced changes in the Amazon basin are controversial. While some scholars believe that large settlements and complex societies were limited to areas with favourable environmental conditions and human disturbance was localized, others propose that social complexity developed regardless of environmental constraints and opportunities and that human disturbance was widespread. In order to understand the extent to which environmental preconditions influenced the development of pre-Columbian societies, research is needed that integrates both environmental reconstructions and archaeological data. The present study explores past human-environment interactions in the Llanos de Moxos (LM) in the Bolivian Amazon. Combining extensive fieldwork and remote sensing image analysis, we reconstruct mid- to late-Holocene fluvial activity in the southeastern LM and the formation of a sedimentary lobe left by the Grande River. The lobe deposition created the conditions for the development of fertile, drained soils. We also show how pre-Columbian inhabitants adapted to the sedimentary lobe and managed to maximize the area of land suitable for agriculture by building a drainage/irrigation infrastructure. Our results provide an interpretative framework for the diversity of archaeological remains in the LM and suggest that people reached high levels of social complexity as a result of two necessary factors: favourable environmental conditions and human ingenuity

Amazon rainforest · Archaeology · Climate change · Environmental change · Fluvial · Geography · Holocene · Human settlement · Ingenuity · Sedimentary rock · Structural basin · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Fish biology, ecology, and behavior · Indigenous Health and Education · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography · Paleontology