In Quest of Prehistoric Amazonia

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Amazonian Dark Earths: Explorations in Space and Time

“…Even today, there are instances of Yanomamö villages staying in one area for 60-80years with micro-movement within the area (Chagnon 1992). DeBoer et al (2001), Heckeuherger et al (2001), and other archaeologists disagree. Thus locational advantages were retained, including access to water, to improved soils, and to managed or manipulated plants.…”

Amazonian Dark Earths: Geoarchaeology

“…Most of these occupations peak around or after 1000 AD (Arroyo-Kalin 2008a; Moraes & Neves 2012). Some controversy has existed about the extent to which terra preta sites reflect continued inhabitation as opposed to overlapping short-lived occupations (Meggers 2001;DeBoer et al 2001;Heckenberger et al 2001;Neves et al 2003;Neves et al 2004;Neves & Petersen 2006). A comparison between the 14C dates of soil-embedded microscopic charcoal and macroscopic charcoal associated with archaeological remains shows that the pyrogenic carbon pool of terras pretas is coeval with the most intense human occupations inferred from archaeological evidence (Arroyo-Kalin 2012).…”