Evidence confirms an anthropic origin of Amazonian Dark Earths

Lombardo, Umberto; Arroyo‐Kalin, Manuel; Huisman, Hans; Teixeira, W. G.; Clement, Charles R.; Alho, Carlos Francisco Brazão Vieira; Almeida, Fernando; Anjos, Lúcia Helena Cunha dos; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Brown, George D.; Costa, Marcondes Lima da; Cunha, Luís; Denevan, William M.; Fontana, Ademir; Glaser, Bruno; Hecht, Susanna B.; Jarosch, K; Junqueira, André Braga; Kater, Thiago; Kuyper, Thomas W.; Lehmann, Johannes; Lima, Helena Pinto; Macedo, Rodrigo Santana; Madella, Marco; Maezumi, S. Yoshi; Mayle, Francis E.; McKey, Doyle; Moraes, Claide de Paula; Morcote-Ríos, Gaspar; Neves, Eduardo Góes; Pugliese, F.; Pupim, Fabiano do Nascimento; Raczka, Marco F.; Py‐Daniel, Anne Rapp; Riris, Philip; Rodrigues, Leonor; Rostain, Stéphen; Schmidt, Morgan; Shock, Myrtle P.; Sprafke, Tobias; Tamanaha, Eduardo Kazuo; Vidal‐Torrado, Pablo; Villagrán, Ximena; Watling, Jennifer; Weber, Sadie

doi:10.31223/x55593

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Again, the study by Silva et al (2021) was associated only with the analysis of a single ADE (site‐specific) and cannot be used for generalisation, while other well‐studied ADE sites nearby contradict the formation of ADEs from alluvial deposition (Guapindaia & Aires Da Fonseca, 2013). Notwithstanding, the study concluded that enrichment by elements, for example, P and Ca, resulted from ancient human activities, consistent with the study by Lombardo et al (2021).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…In some cases, the physical attributes of Amazonian dark earth reflect three distinct layers: (1) a deep, dark, and nutrient‐rich layer with a sandy texture and abundance of pottery fragments, lithics, and charcoal (Orozco‐Ortiz et al, 2021; Ricigliano, 2011), (2) a transitional horizon with a large quantity of peds and root linings thickly coated in OM, and (3) the third horizon representing more thinly coated peds due to a lower percentage of OM with the soil lighter in colour (Lombardo et al, 2021; Ricigliano, 2011). The lack of artefacts such as potsherds in the second and third layers partly supports the argument that Amazonian dark earth developed from volcanic ashes and OM accumulation (Silva et al, 2021).…”

Section: Physicochemical Characteristics Of Adesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anthropogenic dark earth: Evolution, distribution, physical, and chemical properties

Asare

2022

European J Soil Science

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Anthropogenic dark earth (ADE) is a category of Anthrosols (anthropogenic soils) characterised by dark colour from homogeneous charcoal inclusion and extraordinary fertility compared with non-anthropogenic soils. The study aims to provide a detailed overview of the origin and distributions of ADEs, together with their physical and chemical characteristics, to reveal their fertility status for arable land use. According to this study, most studied ADEs are well distributed in tropical (Amazonian and African dark earth) and temperate (European dark earth) climatic regions. Middens are localised, with large-sized ones well preserved in the Arctic region due to the wet and cold weather conditions. The formation of ADE is mainly associated with deliberate and unintentional ancient human activities: deposition of domestic and occupational wastes, charred residues, biomass ashes, burning, and fertilisation of fields.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Physicochemical Characteristics Of Adesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic dark earth: Evolution, distribution, physical, and chemical properties

Asare

2022

European J Soil Science

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“…Even though lakes are often the preferred settlement sites in Amazonia [44,110], there is the possibility that humans did not use these lakes until the late Holocene, when landscape modifications increased across Amazonia [15,31,33,69,[111][112][113][114][115][116]. We think it is more probable, however, that while our palaeoecological proxies for human presence seem to work well for larger or more sustained disturbances, they may be relatively insensitive to the presence of hunter-gatherers.…”

Section: (B) Human Influence and The Novelty Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Early to mid-Holocene human activity exerted gradual influences on Amazonian forest vegetation

Nascimento

Heijink

Bush

et al. 2022

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Humans have been present in Amazonia throughout the Holocene, with the earliest archaeological sites dating to 12 000 years ago. The earliest inhabitants began managing landscapes through fire and plant domestication, but the total extent of vegetation modification remains relatively unknown. Here, we compile palaeoecological records from lake sediments containing charcoal and from pollen analyses to understand how human land-use affected vegetation during the early to mid-Holocene, and place our results in the context of previous archaeological work. We identified gradual, rather than abrupt changes in forest openness, disturbance and enrichment, with useful species at almost all sites. Early human occupations occurred in peripheral sites of Amazonia, where natural fires are part of the vegetation dynamics, so human-made fires did not exert a novel form of disturbance. Synchronicity between evidence of the onset of human occupation in lake records and archaeological sites was found for eastern Amazonia. For southwestern and western Amazonia and the Guiana Shield, the timing of the onset of human occupation differed by thousands of years between lake records and archaeological sites. Plant cultivation showed a different spatio-temporal pattern, appearing ca 2000 years earlier in western Amazonia than in other regions. Our findings highlight the spatial–temporal heterogeneity of Amazonia and indicate that the region cannot be treated as one entity when assessing ecological or cultural history. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.

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Geoarqueologia dos sítios Pontão e Santa Helena na região de Silves, Amazonas

Santana

Lima

Lima³

2021

rsab

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Este artigo apresenta as contribuições da geoarqueologia ao estudo de dois sítios arqueológicos na região do baixo rio Urubu (Silves/AM); analisa o ambiente de deposição dos vestígios e caracteriza a terra preta de índio e os artefatos cerâmicos relacionados a esses sítios. O método consistiu na análise morfológica, mineralógica e química de amostras de solos, sedimentos e cerâmicas. Foi possível atribuir dois lugares como áreas de proveniência de matéria-prima desses artefatos cerâmicos: um associado aos perfis de solos imaturos formados sobre depósitos cretáceos e outro associado aos sedimentos provenientes dos depósitos aluvionares presentes nos lagos da região. Concluímos que as cerâmicas dos dois sítios em questão foram produzidas localmente com a matéria-prima disponível na região.

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Evidence confirms an anthropic origin of Amazonian Dark Earths

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

Anthropogenic dark earth: Evolution, distribution, physical, and chemical properties

Anthropogenic dark earth: Evolution, distribution, physical, and chemical properties

Early to mid-Holocene human activity exerted gradual influences on Amazonian forest vegetation

Geoarqueologia dos sítios Pontão e Santa Helena na região de Silves, Amazonas

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