Evidence confirms an anthropic origin of Amazonian Dark Earths

Umberto Lombardo; Manuel Arroyo-Kalin; Morgan Schmidt; Hans Huisman; Helena P Lima; Claide de Paula Moraes; Eduardo G Neves; Charles R Clement; João Aires da Fonseca; Fernando Ozorio de Almeida; Carlos Francisco Brazão Vieira Alho; Christopher Bronk Ramsey; George G Brown; Marta S Cavallini; Marcondes Lima da Costa; Luís Cunha; Helena C dos Anjos; William M Denevan; Carlos Fausto; Caroline Fernandes Caromano; Ademir Fontana; Bruna Franchetto; Bruno Glaser; Michael J Heckenberger; Susanna Hecht; Vinicius Honorato; Klaus A Jarosch; André Braga Junqueira; Thiago Kater; Eduardo K Tamanaha; Thomas W Kuyper; Johannes Lehmann; Marco Madella; S. Yoshi Maezumi; Leandro Matthews Cascon; Francis E Mayle; Doyle Mckey; Bruno Moraes; Gaspar Morcote-Ríos; Carlos A Palheta Barbosa; Marcos Pereira Magalhães; Gabriela Prestes-Carneiro; Francisco Pugliese; Fabiano N Pupim; Marco F Raczka; Anne Rapp Py-Daniel; Philip Riris; Bruna Cigaran da Rocha; Leonor Rodrigues; Stéphen Rostain; Rodrigo Santana Macedo; Myrtle P Shock; Tobias Sprafke; Filippo Stampanoni Bassi; Raoni Valle; Pablo Vidal-Torrado; Ximena S Villagrán; Jennifer Watling; Sadie L Weber; Wenceslau Geraldes Teixeira

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20184-2(2021)

Back

Evidence confirms an anthropic origin of Amazonian Dark Earths

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Evidence confirms an anthropic origin of Amazonian Dark Earths

Umberto Lombardo, Manuel Arroyo-Kalin, Morgan Schmidt, Hans Huisman, Helena P Lima, Claide de Paula Moraes, Eduardo G Neves, Charles R Clement, João Aires da Fonseca, Fernando Ozorio de Almeida, …

Nature Communications, Vol.13(1)

17/06/2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20184-2(2021)

PMID: 35715390

Abstract

First described over 120 years ago in Brazil, Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) are expanses of dark soil that are exceptionally fertile and contain large quantities of archaeological artefacts. The elevated fertility of the dark and often deep A horizon of ADEs is widely regarded as an outcome of pre-Columbian human influence 1 . Archaeological research provides clear evidence that their widespread formation in lowland South America was concentrated in the Late Holocene, an outcome of sharp human population growth that peaked towards 1000 BP 2-4 . In their recent paper Silva et al. 5 argue that the higher fertility of ADEs is principally a result of fluvial deposition and, as a corollary, that pre-Columbian peoples just made use of these locales, contributing little to their enhanced nutrient status.

Soil formation is inherently complex and often difficult to interpret, requiring a combination of geochemical data, stratigraphy, and dating. Although Silva et al. use this combination of methods to make their case 5 , their hypothesis, based on the analysis of a single ADE site and its immediate surroundings

Files and links (2)

url

Find in HALView

url

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20184-2(2021)View

Published (Version of record) Open

Metrics

1 Record Views

Details

Title: Evidence confirms an anthropic origin of Amazonian Dark Earths
Creators - without role: Umberto Lombardo - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Manuel Arroyo-Kalin - University College London
Morgan Schmidt - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hans Huisman - University of Groningen
Helena P Lima - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Claide de Paula Moraes - Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
Eduardo G Neves - Universidade de São Paulo
Charles R Clement - National Institute of Amazonian Research
João Aires da Fonseca - ArqueoMaquina
Fernando Ozorio de Almeida - Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Carlos Francisco Brazão Vieira Alho - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]
Christopher Bronk Ramsey - University of Oxford
George G Brown - Universidade Federal do Paraná
Marta S Cavallini - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Marcondes Lima da Costa - Universidade Federal do Pará
Luís Cunha - University of South Wales
Helena C dos Anjos
William M Denevan - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Carlos Fausto - Universidade Federal Fluminense
Caroline Fernandes Caromano - Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Ademir Fontana - Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro
Bruna Franchetto - Universidade Federal Fluminense
Bruno Glaser - Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Michael J Heckenberger - University of Florida
Susanna Hecht - University of California, Los Angeles
Vinicius Honorato - Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
Klaus A Jarosch - University of Bern
André Braga Junqueira - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Thiago Kater - Universidade Cidade de São Paulo
Eduardo K Tamanaha
Thomas W Kuyper - Wageningen University & Research
Johannes Lehmann
Marco Madella - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
S. Yoshi Maezumi
Leandro Matthews Cascon
Francis E Mayle
Doyle Mckey - Université de Montpellier, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive - CEFE
Bruno Moraes
Gaspar Morcote-Ríos
Carlos A Palheta Barbosa
Marcos Pereira Magalhães
Gabriela Prestes-Carneiro - Archéozoologie et Archéobotanique
Francisco Pugliese - Universidade Cidade de São Paulo
Fabiano N Pupim
Marco F Raczka
Anne Rapp Py-Daniel
Philip Riris - Bournemouth University
Bruna Cigaran da Rocha
Leonor Rodrigues
Stéphen Rostain
Rodrigo Santana Macedo
Myrtle P Shock
Tobias Sprafke
Filippo Stampanoni Bassi
Raoni Valle
Pablo Vidal-Torrado
Ximena S Villagrán
Jennifer Watling
Sadie L Weber
Wenceslau Geraldes Teixeira
Publication Details: Nature Communications, Vol.13(1)
Identifiers: 9941271009311
Academic Unit: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive - CEFE
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: hal-04930529