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      Amazonian dark earths in the fertile floodplains of the Amazon River, Brazil: an example of non-intentional formation of anthropic soils in the Central Amazon region Translated title: Terra Preta de Índio em várzeas eutróficas do rio Solimões, Brasil: um exemplo da não intencionalidade na formação de solos antrópicos na Amazônia Central

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          Abstract

          ABSTRACT Amazonian dark earths (ADEs) are fertile soils created by pre-Columbian Amerindian societies of the Amazon Basin. However, it is still not clear whether these soils were produced intentionally to improve infertile Amazonian upland soils or if they resulted from the accumulation of organic matter from sedentary settlements. This study characterizes the ADEs found in the naturally fertile alluvial floodplains of the Amazon River in the Central Brazilian Amazon according to total, exchangeable, and available contents of elements and organic carbon in soil profiles. ADEs contained higher levels of available elements and total P, Ca, Zn, and Cu. High total Cr, Ni, Co, and V content in these soils indicate that mafic minerals contributed to their composition, while higher contents of P, Zn, Ba, and Sr indicate anthropic enrichment. The presence of ADEs in floodplain areas strongly indicates non-intentional anthropic fertilization of the alluvial soils, which naturally contain levels of P, Ca, Zn, and Cu higher than those needed to cultivate common plants. The presence of archaeological sites in the floodplains also shows that pre-Columbian populations lived in these regions as well as on bluffs above the Amazon River.

          Translated abstract

          Resumo Terras Pretas de Índio (TPI) são solos com elevada fertilidade criados pelas sociedades ameríndias pré-colombianas na bacia amazônica. Ainda não existe um consenso se esses solos foram formados intencionalmente para melhorar a fertilidade dos solos distróficos de terra firme da Amazônia ou se resultaram da acumulação de material orgânico em assentamentos sedentários. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi realizar uma caracterização pedogeoquímica de TPI localizadas em áreas de várzeas naturalmente férteis do rio Solimões na Amazônia Central brasileira. Foram analisados os teores totais, trocáveis e disponíveis de elementos e carbono nos solos. As TPI mostraram altos conteúdos trocáveis e disponíveis de P, Ca, Zn e Cu. Elevados conteúdos totais de Cr, Ni, Co e V indicam contribuição de minerais máficos na gênese dos solos, enquanto que teores elevados de P, Zn, Ba e Sr nas TPI indicam enriquecimento antrópico. A ocorrência de TPI em áreas de várzea é uma forte evidência da fertilização não intencional dos solos de várzea, os quais, em condições naturais, apresentam teores de P, Ca, Zn e Cu acima dos níveis críticos para muitas culturas. A presença de sítios arqueológicos em áreas de várzea mostra que as populações pré-colombianas habitaram as várzeas e os interflúvios do rio Solimões.

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          The 'Terra Preta' phenomenon: a model for sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics

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            A Classification of Major Naturally-Occurring Amazonian Lowland Wetlands

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              The domestication of Amazonia before European conquest.

              During the twentieth century, Amazonia was widely regarded as relatively pristine nature, little impacted by human history. This view remains popular despite mounting evidence of substantial human influence over millennial scales across the region. Here, we review the evidence of an anthropogenic Amazonia in response to claims of sparse populations across broad portions of the region. Amazonia was a major centre of crop domestication, with at least 83 native species containing populations domesticated to some degree. Plant domestication occurs in domesticated landscapes, including highly modified Amazonian dark earths (ADEs) associated with large settled populations and that may cover greater than 0.1% of the region. Populations and food production expanded rapidly within land management systems in the mid-Holocene, and complex societies expanded in resource-rich areas creating domesticated landscapes with profound impacts on local and regional ecology. ADE food production projections support estimates of at least eight million people in 1492. By this time, highly diverse regional systems had developed across Amazonia where subsistence resources were created with plant and landscape domestication, including earthworks. This review argues that the Amazonian anthrome was no less socio-culturally diverse or populous than other tropical forested areas of the world prior to European conquest.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ND
                Role: ND
                Role: ND
                Role: ND
                Role: ND
                Role: ND
                Role: ND
                Journal
                bgoeldi
                Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas
                Bol. Mus. Para. Emílio Goeldi. Ciênc. hum.
                MCTI/Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (Belém, PA, Brazil )
                1981-8122
                2178-2547
                April 2019
                : 14
                : 1
                : 207-227
                Affiliations
                [04] São Paulo São Paulo orgnameUniversidade de São Paulo orgdiv1Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia Brazil
                [02] Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro orgnameEMBRAPA Solos Brasil
                [01] Campina Grande Paraíba orgnameInstituto Nacional do Semiárido Brazil
                [03] Manaus Amazonas orgnameUniversidade Federal do Amazonas Brazil
                Article
                S1981-81222019000100207
                10.1590/1981-81222019000100013
                7d959148-555f-4b6d-9687-5a1d406885ad

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

                History
                : 29 May 2018
                : 28 January 2019
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 75, Pages: 21
                Product

                SciELO Brazil

                Categories
                Articles

                Gleysols,Anthrosols,Amazonian Archaeology,Gleissolos,Anthrossolos,Arqueologia amazônica

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