Abstract
Abstract. In the present paper we explore to what degree soil properties might have influenced pre-Columbian settlement patterns in the Monumental Mounds Region (MMR) of the Llanos de Moxos (LM), Bolivian Amazon. Monumental mounds are pre-Hispanic earth buildings and were preferentially built on mid- to late Holocene palaeolevees of the Grande River (here denominated PR1), while levees of older palaeorivers (PR0) were only sparsely occupied. We dug two transects across PR0 and PR1 levee–backswamp catenas and analysed them for grain size, pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and Corg. Our data show that PR1 soils, where the density of mounds is higher, have far greater agricultural potential than PR0 soils, which are affected by aluminium toxicity in the backswamps and by high levels of exchangeable sodium in the levees. This study provides new data on the soil properties of the south-eastern Bolivian Amazon and reinforces the hypothesis that environmental constraints and opportunities exerted an important role on pre-Columbian occupation patterns and the population density reached in the Bolivian Amazon.
Reference77 articles.
1. Abrol, I., Yadav, J. S. P., and Massoud, F.: Salt-affected soils and their management, FAO Soils Bulletin, FAO, Rome, 1988.
2. Arroyo-Kalin, M.: Slash-burn-and-churn: Landscape history and crop cultivation in pre-Columbian Amazonia, Quaternary Int., 249, 4–18, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.08.004, 2012.
3. Balèe, W.: The culture of Amazonian Forests, in: Advances in Economic Botany, edited by: Posey, D. and Balèe, W., New York Botanical Garden, New York, 1–21, 1989.
4. Balée, W. and Erickson, C. L.: Time, complexity and historical ecology, in: Time and complexity in historical ecology: studies in the neotropical lowlands, edited by: Balée, W. and Erickson, C. L., Columbia University Press, New York, 1–17, 2006.
5. Barlow, J., Gardner, T. A., Lees, A. C., Parry, L., and Peres, C. A.: How pristine are tropical forests? An ecological perspective on the pre-Columbian human footprint in Amazonia and implications for contemporary conservation, Biol. Conserv., 151, 45–49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.10.013, 2012a.
Cited by
19 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献