More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia

Vinicius Peripato; Carolina Levis; Guido Moreira; Dani Gamerman; Hans ter Steege; Nigel C. A. Pitman; Jonas de Souza; José Iriarte; Mark Robinson; André Braga Junqueira; Thiago Trindade; Fernando de Almeida; Claide de Paula Moraes; Umberto Lombardo; Eduardo Tamanaha; Shira Maezumi; Jean Ometto; José Braga; Wesley Campanharo; Henrique Cassol; Philipe Leal; Mauro de Assis; Adriana da Silva; Oliver Phillips; Flávia Costa; Bernardo Monteiro Flores; Bruce Hoffman; Terry Henkel; Maria Natalia Umaña; William Magnusson; Elvis Valderrama Sandoval; Jos Barlow; William Milliken; Maria Aparecida Lopes; Marcelo Fragomeni Simon; Tinde van Andel; Susan Laurance; William Laurance; Armando Torres-Lezama; Rafael Assis; Jean-François Molino; Mickaël Mestre; Michelle Hamblin; Luiz de Souza Coelho; Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho; Florian Wittmann; Rafael Salomão; Iêda Leão Amaral; Juan Ernesto Guevara; Francisca Dionízia de Almeida Matos; Carolina Castilho; Marcelo de Jesus Veiga Carim; Dairon Cárdenas López; Daniel Sabatier; Mariana Victória Irume; Maria Pires Martins; José Renan da Silva Guimarães; Olaf Bánki; Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade; José Ferreira Ramos; Bruno Garcia Luize; Evlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão Novo; Percy Núñez Vargas; Thiago Sanna Freire Silva; Eduardo Martins Venticinque; Angelo Gilberto Manzatto; Neidiane Farias Costa Reis; John Terborgh; Katia Regina Casula; Layon Demarchi; Euridice Honorio Coronado; Abel Monteagudo Mendoza; Juan Carlos Montero; Jochen Schöngart; Ted Feldpausch; Adriano Costa Quaresma; Gerardo Aymard C.; Chris Baraloto; Nicolás Castaño Arboleda; Julien Engel; Pascal Petronelli; Charles Eugene Zartman; Timothy Killeen; Beatriz Marimon; Ben Hur Marimon-Junior; Juliana Schietti; Thaiane Sousa; Rodolfo Vasquez; Lorena Rincón; Erika Berenguer; Joice Ferreira; Bonifacio Mostacedo; Dário Dantas Do Amaral; Hernán Castellanos; Marcelo Brilhante de Medeiros; Ana Andrade; José Luís Camargo; Emanuelle de Sousa Farias; José Leonardo Lima Magalhães; Henrique Eduardo Mendonça Nascimento; Helder Lima de Queiroz; Roel Brienen; Juan David Cardenas Revilla; Pablo Stevenson; Alejandro Araujo-Murakami; Bruno Barçante Ladvocat Cintra; Yuri Oliveira Feitosa; Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa; Rainiellen de Sá Carpanedo; Joost Duivenvoorden; Janaína da Costa de Noronha; Domingos de Jesus Rodrigues; Hugo Mogollón; Leandro Valle Ferreira; John Ethan Householder; José Rafael Lozada; James Comiskey; Freddie Draper; José Julio de Toledo; Gabriel Damasco; Nállarett Dávila; Roosevelt García-Villacorta; Aline Lopes; Fernando Cornejo Valverde; Alfonso Alonso; Francisco Dallmeier; Vitor Gomes; Eliana Jimenez; David Neill; Maria Cristina Peñuela Mora; Daniel de Aguiar; Luzmila Arroyo; Fernanda Antunes Carvalho; Fernanda Coelho de Souza; Kenneth Feeley; Rogerio Gribel; Marcelo Petratti Pansonato; Marcos Ríos Paredes; Izaias Brasil da Silva; Maria Julia Ferreira; Paul Fine; Émile Fonty; Marcelino Carneiro Guedes; Juan Carlos Licona; Toby Pennington; Carlos Peres; Boris Eduardo Villa Zegarra; Germaine Alexander Parada; Guido Pardo Molina; Vincent Antoine Vos; Carlos Cerón; Paul Maas; Marcos Silveira; Juliana Stropp; Raquel Thomas; Tim Baker; Doug Daly; Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco; Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira; Bianca Weiss Albuquerque; Alfredo Fuentes; Bente Klitgaard; José Luis Marcelo-Peña; Miles Silman; J. Sebastián Tello; Corine Vriesendorp; Jérôme Chave; Anthony Di Fiore; Renato Richard Hilário; Juan Fernando Phillips; Gonzalo Rivas-Torres; Patricio von Hildebrand; Luciana de Oliveira Pereira; Edelcilio Marques Barbosa; Luiz Carlos de Matos Bonates; Hilda Paulette Dávila Doza; Ricardo Zárate Gómez; George Pepe Gallardo Gonzales; Therany Gonzales; Yadvinder Malhi; Ires Paula de Andrade Miranda; Linder Felipe Mozombite Pinto; Adriana Prieto; Agustín Rudas; Ademir Ruschel; Natalino Silva; César Vela; Egleé Zent; Stanford Zent; Angela Cano; Yrma Andreina Carrero Márquez; Diego Correa; Janaina Barbosa Pedrosa Costa; David Galbraith; Milena Holmgren; Michelle Kalamandeen; Guilherme Lobo; Marcelo Trindade Nascimento; Alexandre Oliveira; Hirma Ramirez-Angulo; Maira Rocha; Veridiana Vizoni Scudeller; Rodrigo Sierra; Milton Tirado; Geertje van der Heijden; Emilio Vilanova Torre; Manuel Augusto Ahuite Reategui; Cláudia Baider; Henrik Balslev; Sasha Cárdenas; Luisa Fernanda Casas; William Farfan-Rios; Cid Ferreira; Reynaldo Linares-Palomino; Casimiro Mendoza; Italo Mesones; Ligia Estela Urrego Giraldo; Daniel Villarroel; Roderick Zagt; Miguel Alexiades; Edmar Almeida de Oliveira; Karina Garcia-Cabrera; Lionel Hernandez; Walter Palacios Cuenca; Susamar Pansini; Daniela Pauletto; Fredy Ramirez Arevalo; Adeilza Felipe Sampaio; Luis Valenzuela Gamarra; Luiz O. C. Aragão

doi:10.1126/science.ade2541

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More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia

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More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia

Vinicius Peripato, Carolina Levis, Guido Moreira, Dani Gamerman, Hans ter Steege, Nigel C. A. Pitman, Jonas de Souza, José Iriarte, Mark Robinson, André Braga Junqueira, …

Science, Vol.382(6666), pp.103-109

06/10/2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade2541

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.

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Title: More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia
Creators - without role: Vinicius Peripato - National Institute for Space Research
Carolina Levis - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Guido Moreira - University of Minho
Dani Gamerman - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Hans ter Steege - Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Nigel C. A. Pitman - Field Museum of Natural History
Jonas de Souza - Pompeu Fabra University
José Iriarte - University of Exeter
Mark Robinson - University of Exeter
André Braga Junqueira - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Thiago Trindade
Fernando de Almeida - Universidade Federal de Sergipe
Claide de Paula Moraes
Umberto Lombardo - University of Bern
Eduardo Tamanaha - Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá
Shira Maezumi
Jean Ometto - National Institute for Space Research
José Braga
Wesley Campanharo - National Institute for Space Research
Henrique Cassol - National Institute for Space Research
Philipe Leal - National Institute for Space Research
Mauro de Assis
Adriana da Silva - Universidade Federal de Uberlândia
Oliver Phillips - University of Leeds
Flávia Costa
Bernardo Monteiro Flores - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Bruce Hoffman - Amazon
Terry Henkel - Humboldt State University
Maria Natalia Umaña - University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
William Magnusson - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Elvis Valderrama Sandoval
Jos Barlow - Lancaster University
William Milliken - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Maria Aparecida Lopes - Universidade Federal do Pará
Marcelo Fragomeni Simon - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
Tinde van Andel - Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Susan Laurance
William Laurance - James Cook University
Armando Torres-Lezama - University of the Andes
Rafael Assis - Vale Technological Institute
Jean-François Molino - Université de Montpellier, BotAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations - AMAP
Mickaël Mestre - Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives
Michelle Hamblin - University of French Guiana
Luiz de Souza Coelho
Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho
Florian Wittmann - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Rafael Salomão - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Iêda Leão Amaral - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Juan Ernesto Guevara - Universidad de Las Américas
Francisca Dionízia de Almeida Matos - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Carolina Castilho
Marcelo de Jesus Veiga Carim
Dairon Cárdenas López
Daniel Sabatier - Université de Montpellier, BotAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations - AMAP
Mariana Victória Irume - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Maria Pires Martins - National Institute of Amazonian Research
José Renan da Silva Guimarães
Olaf Bánki - Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade - National Institute of Amazonian Research
José Ferreira Ramos - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Bruno Garcia Luize - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Evlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão Novo
Percy Núñez Vargas
Thiago Sanna Freire Silva - University of Stirling
Eduardo Martins Venticinque - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Angelo Gilberto Manzatto - Universidade Federal de Rondônia
Neidiane Farias Costa Reis - Universidade Federal de Rondônia
John Terborgh - James Cook University
Katia Regina Casula - Universidade Federal de Rondônia
Layon Demarchi - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Euridice Honorio Coronado
Abel Monteagudo Mendoza
Juan Carlos Montero - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Jochen Schöngart - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Ted Feldpausch - University of Exeter
Adriano Costa Quaresma - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Gerardo Aymard C.
Chris Baraloto
Nicolás Castaño Arboleda
Julien Engel - Université de Montpellier, BotAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations - AMAP
Pascal Petronelli - Guiana Space Centre
Charles Eugene Zartman - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Timothy Killeen
Beatriz Marimon - Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Ben Hur Marimon-Junior
Juliana Schietti - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Thaiane Sousa - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Rodolfo Vasquez
Lorena Rincón - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Erika Berenguer - University of Oxford
Joice Ferreira - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
Bonifacio Mostacedo - Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University
Dário Dantas Do Amaral
Hernán Castellanos - Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana
Marcelo Brilhante de Medeiros - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
Ana Andrade - National Institute of Amazonian Research
José Luís Camargo - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Emanuelle de Sousa Farias
José Leonardo Lima Magalhães - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
Henrique Eduardo Mendonça Nascimento
Helder Lima de Queiroz - Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá
Roel Brienen - University of Leeds
Juan David Cardenas Revilla
Pablo Stevenson - Universidad de Los Andes
Alejandro Araujo-Murakami - Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado
Bruno Barçante Ladvocat Cintra
Yuri Oliveira Feitosa - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa - Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso
Rainiellen de Sá Carpanedo
Joost Duivenvoorden - University of Amsterdam
Janaína da Costa de Noronha
Domingos de Jesus Rodrigues
Hugo Mogollón
Leandro Valle Ferreira - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
John Ethan Householder - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
José Rafael Lozada - University of the Andes
James Comiskey - National Park Service
Freddie Draper - University of Liverpool
José Julio de Toledo - Universidade Federal do Amapá
Gabriel Damasco - University of Gothenburg
Nállarett Dávila - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Roosevelt García-Villacorta
Aline Lopes - Universidade de Brasília
Fernando Cornejo Valverde
Alfonso Alonso - Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Francisco Dallmeier - Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Vitor Gomes
Eliana Jimenez - Universidad Nacional de Colombia
David Neill - Universidad Estatal Amazónica
Maria Cristina Peñuela Mora
Daniel de Aguiar
Luzmila Arroyo - Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado
Fernanda Antunes Carvalho
Fernanda Coelho de Souza
Kenneth Feeley - University of Miami
Rogerio Gribel - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Marcelo Petratti Pansonato - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Marcos Ríos Paredes
Izaias Brasil da Silva
Maria Julia Ferreira - Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
Paul Fine
Émile Fonty - Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement
Marcelino Carneiro Guedes - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
Juan Carlos Licona - Bolivian Forest Research Institute
Toby Pennington
Carlos Peres - University of East Anglia
Boris Eduardo Villa Zegarra
Germaine Alexander Parada - Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University
Guido Pardo Molina
Vincent Antoine Vos - Universidad Autónoma del Beni
Carlos Cerón - Central University of Ecuador
Paul Maas - Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Marcos Silveira - Universidade Federal do Acre
Juliana Stropp - Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales
Raquel Thomas - Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development
Tim Baker
Doug Daly - New York Botanical Garden
Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco - Amazon National University of Madre de Dios
Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Bianca Weiss Albuquerque
Alfredo Fuentes
Bente Klitgaard - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
José Luis Marcelo-Peña
Miles Silman - Wake Forest University
J. Sebastián Tello - Missouri Botanical Garden
Corine Vriesendorp - Field Museum of Natural History
Jérôme Chave - Laboratoire Evolution et Diversite Biologique
Anthony Di Fiore - The University of Texas at Austin
Renato Richard Hilário - Universidade Federal do Amapá
Juan Fernando Phillips - Fundación para la Educación y el Desarrollo Social
Gonzalo Rivas-Torres - Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Patricio von Hildebrand
Luciana de Oliveira Pereira
Edelcilio Marques Barbosa - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Luiz Carlos de Matos Bonates - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Hilda Paulette Dávila Doza
Ricardo Zárate Gómez
George Pepe Gallardo Gonzales
Therany Gonzales - Amazon National University of Madre de Dios
Yadvinder Malhi - University of Oxford
Ires Paula de Andrade Miranda - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Linder Felipe Mozombite Pinto
Adriana Prieto - Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Agustín Rudas - Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Ademir Ruschel - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
Natalino Silva
César Vela
Egleé Zent - Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas
Stanford Zent - Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas
Angela Cano - Universidad de Los Andes
Yrma Andreina Carrero Márquez
Diego Correa - Universidad de Los Andes
Janaina Barbosa Pedrosa Costa - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
David Galbraith - University of Leeds
Milena Holmgren - Wageningen University & Research
Michelle Kalamandeen - McMaster University
Guilherme Lobo - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Marcelo Trindade Nascimento - State University of Norte Fluminense
Alexandre Oliveira - Universidade de São Paulo
Hirma Ramirez-Angulo - University of the Andes
Maira Rocha - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Veridiana Vizoni Scudeller - Universidade Federal do Amazonas
Rodrigo Sierra
Milton Tirado
Geertje van der Heijden - University of Nottingham
Emilio Vilanova Torre
Manuel Augusto Ahuite Reategui
Cláudia Baider - Universidade de São Paulo
Henrik Balslev - Aarhus University
Sasha Cárdenas - Universidad de Los Andes
Luisa Fernanda Casas - Universidad de Los Andes
William Farfan-Rios - National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco
Cid Ferreira - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Reynaldo Linares-Palomino - Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Casimiro Mendoza - University of San Simón
Italo Mesones - University of California, Berkeley
Ligia Estela Urrego Giraldo
Daniel Villarroel - Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University
Roderick Zagt
Miguel Alexiades - University of Kent
Edmar Almeida de Oliveira - Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Karina Garcia-Cabrera - Wake Forest University
Lionel Hernandez - Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana
Walter Palacios Cuenca
Susamar Pansini - Universidade Federal de Rondônia
Daniela Pauletto - Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
Fredy Ramirez Arevalo
Adeilza Felipe Sampaio - Universidade Federal de Rondônia
Luis Valenzuela Gamarra
Luiz O. C. Aragão - Department of Space
Publication Details: Science, Vol.382(6666), pp.103-109
Grant note: Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement under Academic Excellence Program (CAPES/PROEX)
Identifiers: 9937462909311
Academic Unit: BotAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations - AMAP
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: hal-04438079