More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia
Publication date
2023-10-06
Authors
Peripato, Vinicius
Levis, Carolina
Moreira, Guido A.
Gamerman, Dani
ter Steege, Hans
Pitman, Nigel C.A.
de Souza, Jonas G.
Iriarte, José
Robinson, Mark
Junqueira, André Braga
Editors
Advisors
Supervisors
Document Type
Article
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taverne
Abstract
Indigenous societies are known to have occupied the Amazon basin for more than 12,000 years, but the scale of their influence on Amazonian forests remains uncertain. We report the discovery, using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) information from across the basin, of 24 previously undetected pre-Columbian earthworks beneath the forest canopy. Modeled distribution and abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across Amazonia suggest that between 10,272 and 23,648 sites remain to be discovered and that most will be found in the southwest. We also identified 53 domesticated tree species significantly associated with earthwork occurrence probability, likely suggesting past management practices. Closed-canopy forests across Amazonia are likely to contain thousands of undiscovered archaeological sites around which pre-Columbian societies actively modified forests, a discovery that opens opportunities for better understanding the magnitude of ancient human influence on Amazonia and its current state.
Keywords
Taverne, General
Citation
Peripato, V, Levis, C, Moreira, G A, Gamerman, D, Ter Steege, H, Pitman, N C A, de Souza, J G, Iriarte, J, Robinson, M, Junqueira, A B, Trindade, T B, de Almeida, F O, Moraes, C D P, Lombardo, U, Tamanaha, E K, Maezumi, S Y, Ometto, J P H B, Braga, J R G, Campanharo, W A, Cassol, H L G, Leal, P R, de Assis, M L R, da Silva, A M, Phillips, O L, Costa, F R C, Flores, B M, Hoffman, B, Henkel, T W, Umaña, M N, Magnusson, W E, Valderrama Sandoval, E H, Barlow, J, Milliken, W, Lopes, M A, Simon, M F, van Andel, T R, Laurance, S G W, Laurance, W F, Torres-Lezama, A, Assis, R L, Molino, J F, Mestre, M, Hamblin, M, Coelho, L D S, Lima Filho, D D A, Wittmann, F, Salomão, R P, Amaral, I L, Guevara, J E, de Almeida Matos, F D, Castilho, C V, Carim, M D J V, Cárdenas López, D, Sabatier, D, Irume, M V, Martins, M P, Guimarães, J R D S, Bánki, O S, Piedade, M T F, Ramos, J F, Luize, B G, Novo, E M M D L, Núñez Vargas, P, Silva, T S F, Venticinque, E M, Manzatto, A G, Reis, N F C, Terborgh, J, Casula, K R, Demarchi, L O, Honorio Coronado, E N, Monteagudo Mendoza, A, Montero, J C, Schöngart, J, Feldpausch, T R, Quaresma, A C, Aymard C, G A, Baraloto, C, Castaño Arboleda, N, Engel, J, Petronelli, P, Zartman, C E, Killeen, T J, Marimon, B S, Marimon-Junior, B H, Schietti, J, Sousa, T R, Vasquez, R, Rincón, L M, Berenguer, E, Ferreira, J, Mostacedo, B, do Amaral, D D, Castellanos, H, de Medeiros, M B, Andrade, A, Camargo, J L, Farias, E D S, Magalhães, J L L, Mendonça Nascimento, H E, de Queiroz, H L, Brienen, R, Cardenas Revilla, J D, Stevenson, P R, Araujo-Murakami, A, Barçante Ladvocat Cintra, B, Feitosa, Y O, Barbosa, F R, Carpanedo, R D S, Duivenvoorden, J F, de Noronha, J D C, Rodrigues, D D J, Mogollón, H F, Ferreira, L V, Householder, J E, Lozada, J R, Comiskey, J A, Draper, F C, de Toledo, J J, Damasco, G, Dávila, N, García-Villacorta, R, Lopes, A, Cornejo Valverde, F, Alonso, A, Dallmeier, F, Gomes, V H F, Jimenez, E M, Neill, D, Peñuela Mora, M C, de Aguiar, D P P, Arroyo, L, Antunes Carvalho, F, Coelho de Souza, F, Feeley, K J, Gribel, R, Pansonato, M P, Ríos Paredes, M, Brasil da Silva, I, Ferreira, M J, Fine, P V A, Fonty, É, Guedes, M C, Licona, J C, Pennington, T, Peres, C A, Villa Zegarra, B E, Parada, G A, Pardo Molina, G, Vos, V A, Cerón, C, Maas, P, Silveira, M, Stropp, J, Thomas, R, Baker, T R, Daly, D, Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I, Vieira, I C G, Weiss Albuquerque, B, Fuentes, A, Klitgaard, B, Marcelo-Peña, J L, Silman, M R, Tello, J S, Vriesendorp, C, Chave, J, Di Fiore, A, Hilário, R R, Phillips, J F, Rivas-Torres, G, von Hildebrand, P, Pereira, L D O, Barbosa, E M, de Matos Bonates, L C, Doza, H P D, Zárate Gómez, R, Gallardo Gonzales, G P, Gonzales, T, Malhi, Y, de Andrade Miranda, I P, Mozombite Pinto, L F, Prieto, A, Rudas, A, Ruschel, A R, Silva, N, Vela, C I A, Zent, E L, Zent, S, Cano, A, Carrero Márquez, Y A, Correa, D F, Costa, J B P, Galbraith, D, Holmgren, M, Kalamandeen, M, Lobo, G, Nascimento, M T, Oliveira, A A, Ramirez-Angulo, H, Rocha, M, Scudeller, V V, Sierra, R, Tirado, M, van der Heijden, G, Vilanova Torre, E, Ahuite Reategui, M A, Baider, C, Balslev, H, Cárdenas, S, Casas, L F, Farfan-Rios, W, Ferreira, C, Linares-Palomino, R, Mendoza, C, Mesones, I, Urrego Giraldo, L E, Villarroel, D, Zagt, R, Alexiades, M N, de Oliveira, E A, Garcia-Cabrera, K, Hernandez, L, Palacios Cuenca, W, Pansini, S, Pauletto, D, Ramirez Arevalo, F, Sampaio, A F, Valenzuela Gamarra, L & Aragão, L E O C 2023, 'More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia', Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 382, no. 6666, pp. 103-109. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade2541