Amazonian Dark Earths and Their European Counterparts

William I. WoodsDepartment of Geography

University of KansasLawrence KS

USA

Francisco de Orellana, 1542

“…there could be seen very large cities that glistened in white […] many roads that entered into the interior […] and besides this, the land is as fertile […] as our Spain”

1502 Cantino and 1570 Ortelius

NO VOICES FROM THE PAST?

SUBTITLE: Why Are There No Amazons In the Virgin Forest?

How Many Years Do You Get For Counterfeiting a Paradise?

PreEuropean Population Estimates

(Areas: Amazonia 6,641,000 km2, Greater Amazonia 10,000,000 km2)

• Kroeber (1939):• 4,000,000 South America• Rondon (1951): • 10,000,000 Amazon Basin• Steward and Faron (1959): • 2,188,970 forests of interior South America• 387,440 savannas of eastern Brazil• Dobyns (1966):• 6,000,000 tropical South America• Moran (1974): • 500,000 Amazon Basin• Denevan (1992):• 6,800,000 Greater Amazonia• 5,100,000 Revised re: Myers (1976) “buffer”• Woods, Denevan, Rebellato (2009)

9.000,000++

Some of the EvidenceMarajó

French Guiana

The Beni

Acre/Rondonia

Terra Preta

Marajó

French Guiana

Beni Ridged Fields

Beni Aquaculture

Beni Settlements, Canals, & Causeways

Acre Geoglyphs

Acre & Rondonia GeoglyphsImplications: No Forest in Uplands, Lots of

People Relatively Nearby

Amazonian Dark Earths

• Numerous physical and chemical changes in sediments and soils can result at loci of human occupation. Most importantly, where people live they concentrate nutrients through the deposition of a variety of organic and inorganic debris from materials derived from a hinterland of exploitation.

Major contributions stem from animal and plant products brought to the place of habitation for direct consumption by humans or indirect consumption through domestic animals,

or for construction materials and fuel.

• Plants concentrate nutrients in their reproductive parts (seeds, fruits, nuts, and tubers) and it is these that humans are most likely to harvest and bring back to their places of habitation.

• Within a settlement system proper manipulation of these nutrient streams and their associated transformations, translocations, additions, and losses is a critical variable for long-term success.

In general, when compared to the relevant natural background soils, soils at human habitation sites exhibit

anomalously darker coloration, higher pH levels, and increased concentrations of many plant nutrients, which

can become extraordinary if the prior settlement was intense or of long duration.

• In addition to a suite of macro- and micronutrients, human intervention often enhances other soil properties beneficial to plants, e.g., cationexchange capacity, percent base saturation, moisture retention, conditions of structure, and soil biotic activity

A DigressionEuropean Anthrosols:

Dark Earths and Plaggen

Medieval Dark Earths In Belgium

The Walhain – St. Paul Site

Sample Chemical Results and Interpretation

The Papa Stour Plaggen or “Built Soils”

Profiles

Denuded Upland and Fertile Abandoned Lowland

The Amazon Basin

“Natural” Vegetation

Bountiful Floodplain Agriculture

Yes, But!!

Soils: Expected and Unexpected

Early Descriptions (1870s)

Katzer (1903) and Nimuendajú (early 1920s)

Wim Sombroek (1934-2003)and the Modern Period of

Amazonian Dark Earth Research• 1959 Started Amazonian Soil

Survey/Land Evaluation

• 1966 PhD (Wageningen) published as Amazon Soils.

• 1991 Returned to Amazonia & reported on the enormous long-term carbon sequestration reserve presented by the terra preta.

• 2001 Formed the Terra Preta Nova Group.

Woods’ 1993-Date Engagement with Terra Preta: Nimuendajú

1924 Map

Tapajós-Arapiuns Study Area

Dark Earth for Sale

New Mining Area

Mining

Dark Earth Sold

Japanese Market Garden

Raised Kitchen Gardens

Repairs

Finally Started

Lifeboat

Field Clearing

Slash and Burn

Arapiuns Cut-Banks

Dark Earth Exposure

Latrine Profile

Profile Mapping

Profile Samples

Pioneer Fringe on Arapiuns

Bridge

Pioneer Settlement on InlandDark Earth

Samples and Analyses

• Total Elemental Analyses

• Fertility Analyses• Soil Organic Matter

Determination & Characterization

• Phytolith Analysis

Results

• Many had higher anthro-elemental concentrations

• All had higher black carbon & OM

• All had higher fertility• Two basic types:

TP/TM• Cultigen remains

Interpretation: Two Types of Dark Earths – (1) Terra Preta= Unintentional Midden Deposition Near Habitation & (2) Terra Mulata = Intentional Soil Modification In Field Areas

Slash and Char

What Do We Know? The Origins of Amazonian Dark Earths

Terra Preta Evolution: A Model

Terra Preta Evolution: A Model

Amazonian Dark Earths:Model and Reality

An Example: The Hatahara Site

Hatahara Site

Auger Pits

Bulk Density

Features

Terra Preta and Hatahara 1500+ Years of Continuous Occupation

22423

23401

403

19402

40551

75m50250

4120

20

00

06040

40 80cm60cm

80cm

45m

TRANSECT T3

T2T2T3T1T3T2

20

25

3035 40

40

45

45

47

48

48

48

48

47

47

49

49

47

46

46

45

48

47

N.1280W.1100

N.1280W.1145

N.1280W.1150

N.1280W.1180

N.1265W.1200

N.1265W.1125

N.1315W.1125

N.1365W.1125

N.1415W.1125

N.1465W.1125

N.1215W.1200

N.1315W.1200

N.1365W.1200

N.1415W.1200

N.1465W.1200

N.1165W.1275

N.1215W.1275

N.1265W.1275

N.1315W.1275

N.1365W.1275

N.1415W.1275

N.1465W.1275

N.1165W.1545

N.1215W.1545

N.1265W.1545

N.1315W.1545

N.1305W.1350

N.1355W.1350

N.1205W.1350

N.1255W.1350

T1T1T1T2

T1T4

T2T1 T2T2

T2T3 T2T4

T3T1

T3T2

T1T3

N.1115W.1415

N.1315W.1415N.1265

W.1415N.1215W.1415N.1165

W.1415

N.1155W.1350

R103

77

74

7675

70

71

432

R102

R104 5 7 86

68

67

661211

109

R109 14 1516

17 18

2425

21R101

26

3736353433

29

32

R106

R10744 45

52

47

48

575655R108

N

0 40 80 120m

ESCALA

ESCALA DAS TRADAGENS

0

100

200cm

100m7550250

49

53m

200m1751501251007550250

48

52m

225

275225

250m2001751501251007550250

48

52m

300m2502001751501251007550250

48

52m

200m1751501251007550250

48

52m

200m1751501251007550250

47

51m

150m1251007550250

47

51m

150m1251007550250

46

50m

125m1007550250

44

48m

75m50250

4120

40

40

40cm 40 40 40

40 40

100cm

100cm130cm

100cm 100cm

80cm 80cm100cm 100cm

60cm

100cm

60cm80cm

100cm100cm 100cm 100cm

100cm

160cm

110cm

60cm

100cm 100cm

6080cm 80cm 80cm

80

100cm100

6080

20

60

110

170

210cm

100cm 100cm 100cm

6040 40

20 20 20

20

0

0

0

0 0 0 0

0 0

0

0 0 0 0

0 00 0

0

0

00

0 02040

80cm

204060cm

40

0 0 0 0

040 40

40 40 4020

40

4040 20 20 20

60 60

6040

40

0

20

0 02040

0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

00

60

60

80 80 80

60 60

4040 80cm

80cm

100cm 120cm100cm 100cm

80cm 80cm

40cm

60cm

80cm

45m

W.1100W.1145W.1150W.1180

TRANSECT N.1280

N.1465N.1415N.1365N.1315N.1265

TRANSECT W.1125

N.1465N.1415N.1365

TRANSECT W.1200

N.1315N.1265N.1215

N.1465N.1415N.1365

TRANSECT W.1275

N.1315N.1265N.1215N.1165

N.1355

TRANSECT W.1350

N.1305N.1255N.1205N.1155

N.1315

TRANSECT W.1415

N.1265N.1215N.1165N.1115

TRANSECT T1

T1T4T1T3T1T2T1T1

N.1315N.1265N.1215N.1165

TRANSECT W.1545

TRANSECT T2T2T4T2T3T2T2T2T1

TRANSECT T3

T2T2T3T1T3T2

Tradagem 2004TransectEstrada

Cerca

Edificação

Curvas de nível (m)

"Montículo"

Capoeira antiga

Cultura / Pasto

Terra preta

Solo marrom

Solo amarelo

LEGENDA

DENSIDADE DE FRAGMENTOS CERÂMICOS POR TRADAGEM

40

Desenho: CASTRO, M.E.B. 2003.

De 51 a 100 fragmentosDe 1 a 50 fragmentos

Acima de 201 fragmentos

De 101 a 200 fragmentos

PERFIS ESQUEMÁTICOS DAS TRADAGENS E DENSIDADE DE CERÂMICASÍTIO ARQUEOLÓGICO HATAHARA

Tradagem 2004Tradagem 1999

The Tupi Expansion & Hatahara: Changes in the Terra Preta–

Settlement Relationship

What Population Levels Were Necessary to Produce These Sediments and Soils? We Don’t

Know. But, We Can Be Assured That They Were Quite High.

To What Extent Did Pre-Colonial Populations Utilize the Amazonian Dark Earths? We Don’t

Know. But, The Cumulative Potential Productive Capacity Was Enormous.

21st Century Developments

The Terra Preta Nova Group

Thank You