Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at homegardens in three ecotones (Terra Preta, Oxisols, Floodplain) in Central Amazonia as forms of landscape domestication. We find significant differences in species assemblages and distribution of species at four levels of domestication and relate these to use values, viz. human agency

Paper long abstract:

Archaeological evidence suggests an association between anthropogenic soil enhancements and concentrations of useful species at campsites and settlements since the early stages of occupation of the Amazon basin. Such sites are likely to have been early theatres of plant domestication. By the late pre-Columbian period (AD500-1500) whitewater rivers such as the Solimões and the Madeira were among the most densely populated of the Amazon region. These are the most eutrophic environments of all Amazonia, combining abundant aquatic fauna with wide and fertile floodplains. Today on the Middle Madeira we find some of the biggest anthropogenic dark earth (ADE) sites in Central Amazonia. Drawing on data from fieldwork in homegardens at several locations across three different ecotones (Floodplain, Oxisols and ADE) in this region, we demonstrate different patterns in species assemblages that are particular to each ecotone.

We propose that species assemblages (measured by species area per hectare) in homegardens emerge through the interaction of human agency (measured through use values) with agro-ecological conditions over time. This cumulates in landscape domestication, measured here by categorizing species densities at four stages of domestication (wild, incipiently-domesticated, semi-domesticated and domesticated). The distinct configurations of plants and trees which emerge in turn shape the knowledge and practices of people; as most people interact more with the plants in their immediate surroundings. This study allows a reappraisal of the role of ADE in processes of landscape domestication both today and in the late pre-Columbian period in Central Amazonia.