Cultivated Wilderness: Socio-economic development and environmental change in pre-Columbian Amazonia
This project aims at exploring the interaction between human society and environment in pre-Columbian Amazonia and how the prehistoric communities developed their relation to their natural surroundings.
Together with Brazilian scientists the project will undertake combined archaeological and soil science investigations in the Santarém area in the Brazilian part of Amazonia. Among other things, these investigations will analyze how the pre-Columbian settlement patterns and patterns of land use in the study area developed through time. In addition to analyzing the rich archaeological material found at sites in the area, the project will investigate other traces of human influence on the landscape. Such traces include Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE), also known as "Terra Preta do Indio", consisting of areas of fertile soil, and contrasting sharply with otherwise poor soils in the Amazon region. Most scientists now agree that these soils are the product of prehistoric human activity. Also strategies aiming at, for example, regulation of water supply or improvement of possibilities of land transportation are likely to have left traces in the landscape.
Regarding the archaeological material the project benefits from the existence of a large comparative material from Santarém and surrounding regions at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg (formerly the Ethnographic Museum in Gothenburg). Hence, new fieldwork will be combined with studies of material in the museum collections.
Final report
Scientific account of the project Cultivated Wilderness: Socio-Economic Development and Environmental Change in pre-Columbian Amazonia (P10-0323: 1).
The principal applicant was Dr. Per Stenborg at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg. The grant was administered by the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg.
Project participants were Per Stenborg at Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg (GU), Christian Isendahl at the Department of Archaeology, University of Uppsala, Mats Söderström and Jan Eriksson, both at the Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Denise Pahl Schaan at Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) has been the project's Brazilian counterpart. Valuable contributions were also made by Imelda Bakunic, Mats Olvmo, Márcio Amaral-Lima, Lilian Rebellato, Suzana Romeiro Araújo, as well as students at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and at Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) and Universidade Federal do Oeste Pará (UFOPA) in Brazil.
The project has carried out archaeological and soil science investigations in the Santarém region in the State of Pará, Brazilian Amazon. Through preparatory work more than 110 archaeological sites were recorded within a survey area of about 50 x 50 km. A small sample of sites with an abundance of archaeological material in combination with "Amazonian Dark Earths" (ADE or "Terra Preta") located on the uplands of the so-called Belterra Plateau were selected and examined in more detail. The work was supported by the Brazilian national authorities CNPq (000852 / 2011-2) and IPHAN (01494.000171 / 2011-78). The project has also worked with analyzes of material from Santarém region held by the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg. The project has had a significant bilateral element; Brazilian scientists and students visited Gothenburg for shorter periods to participated in the project work with the Santarém-material held by the Museum of World Culture in Sweden; while Swedish researchers and students participated in joint archaeological and soil science fieldwork in the Santarém and Belterra areas in the state of Pará, Brazilian Amazon. The project organized an international workshop at the SALSA (Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America) conference in Gothenburg in June 2014. The papers from the workshop will be published as an anthology in 2015 ("Beyond Waters: Archaeology and Environmental History of the Amazonian Inland ", ed. Per Stenborg. GOTARC Series A, Gothenburg Archaeological Studies, Vol. 6, Gothenburg. ISBN 978-91-85245-60-7). The project's work has also been presented through a proper web-domain (http://www.cultivated-wilderness.org/), published conference papers (Stenborg et al. 2014; Söderström et al. 2013a) and magazine articles (Araújo et al. 2014; Stenborg et al. 2012; Söderström et al. 2013b; Söderström et al. MS), and formed part of a doctoral thesis (Araújo 2013). When selecting the forums for publication, "Open Journals" and other forms of "Open Access" publishing were intensionally chosen. The publications reflect the interdisciplinary composition of the project team and have primarily been published in archaeological and soil science journals and series. A particular object of the publication of the anthology is therefore to gather the project's main results in a single publication context. The anthology will be published in both printed and digital (Open Access) formats.
The project's overall purpose was to improve the knowledge about the communities that lived in Santarém region in pre-Colonial times; with a primary focus on later prehistory and the initial time of contact between Native peoples and Europeans in this area. The combination of archaeological and environmental scientific analyzes, among other things, aimed at documenting how terrestrial resources were used in pre-Colonial times.
Radiocarbon and OSL dating of samples from the project's fieldwork has given a preliminary chronology of how human activity in this part of the Amazon developed from the middle of the first millennium A.D., until the European contact period (A.D. 1542-1639). The results indicate that human settlements were mainly limited to areas near the rivers Amazon and Tapajós until the 13th century A.D. From that time until the time of the first European expedition through the area (Francisco de Orellana 1541-42) a considerable expansion of settlements in both riverine areas and on the upland area of the Belterra Plateau took place. During the Contact period (1542-1639 AD) it appears that many of the riverine settlements were abandoned; while inland sites seem to have been continuously inhabited until the colonial period. Historical records suggest that there was a gradual re-establishment in the river areas during the colonial period (1639-1822) (Stenborg et al. 2014; Stenborg In Press 1).
An important result was the finding of a recurrent pattern of association between sites on the Belterra Plateau and natural as well as artificial depressions in the landscape. Due to the region's seasonal cycle characterized by distinct rainy and dry seasons, it has generally been assumed that the upland areas were not suitable for human habitation during the dry season (August to January). The establishment of settlements on the Belterra Plateau was most likely linked to a development of techniques to make use of the existing water reserves - as well to construct artificial ones (Stenborg et al. 2014). Artifacts found at Belterra sites shows that agriculture has been practiced - presumably mainly during the rainy season.
The soil science research has partly focused on the possibilities of applying sensor technology for mapping the extension of ADE soils (Araújo et al. 2014), and partly on the characterization of soils by description of soil profiles and the collection and analysis of reference samples (Eriksson In Press). The archaeological settlements are usually found in areas with soils that have a very different character when compared to the natural soils in the study area. It has been possible to do relative quick and accurate mapping of the the extensions of ADE soils associated with archaeological sites. It was also possible to determine additional properties of the ADE soil through the use of sensors. From an archaeological perspective, the results can be of use in planning field work and provide additional data on which to base interpretations of features, land-use and settlements in the pre-Columbian landscape. In the case of ADE-areas that are currently used for mechanized agriculture sensor measurements can reveal information of importance for interpreting earlier uses of the areas.
The Cultivated Wilderness project also involved analysis of parts of the Santrém-material in the collections at the museum in Gothenburg (VKM), collected in the 1920s by the German-Brazilian researcher Curt Unkel Nimuendajú. Stylistic analysis of this material shows that a stylistically uniform material (the Santarém or Tapajoid pottery) is spread over an area of at least 200 km along the Amazon River, and 50 km south of this - along the Tapajós River and on Belterra Plateau. The analyzes so far made of pottery in the VKM collections - microscopic analyzes of wares and temper, as well as X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) of potsherds - indicates that the ceramics of the inland/upland sites was produced locally using local material. This would, in turn, suggest that settlements in both the inland and along the rivers were permanent and inhabited year-round, rather on a seasonal basis.
Based on the research findings, several new research questions have occurred. Such questions concern the goods or resources that were exchanged between riverine and inland sites; how this exchange was organized and what water and land routes that were used. Other important questions concern the driving forces behind the expansion from the 13th century onwards and relate to political, social, technical and economic factors and subjects.
The project's work and results have been communicated outside academic environments - through the project web-domain (http://www.cultivated-wilderness.org/) and a related blog (http://cultivated-wilderness.org/blog/), through interviews with the principal applicant and other project participants made by online journals, Swedish and Austrian radio-shows and Brazilian and Swedish documentary film-projects. Press information and news about the project have been published by the University of Gothenburg and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
The principal applicant was Dr. Per Stenborg at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg. The grant was administered by the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg.
Project participants were Per Stenborg at Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg (GU), Christian Isendahl at the Department of Archaeology, University of Uppsala, Mats Söderström and Jan Eriksson, both at the Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Denise Pahl Schaan at Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) has been the project's Brazilian counterpart. Valuable contributions were also made by Imelda Bakunic, Mats Olvmo, Márcio Amaral-Lima, Lilian Rebellato, Suzana Romeiro Araújo, as well as students at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and at Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) and Universidade Federal do Oeste Pará (UFOPA) in Brazil.
The project has carried out archaeological and soil science investigations in the Santarém region in the State of Pará, Brazilian Amazon. Through preparatory work more than 110 archaeological sites were recorded within a survey area of about 50 x 50 km. A small sample of sites with an abundance of archaeological material in combination with "Amazonian Dark Earths" (ADE or "Terra Preta") located on the uplands of the so-called Belterra Plateau were selected and examined in more detail. The work was supported by the Brazilian national authorities CNPq (000852 / 2011-2) and IPHAN (01494.000171 / 2011-78). The project has also worked with analyzes of material from Santarém region held by the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg. The project has had a significant bilateral element; Brazilian scientists and students visited Gothenburg for shorter periods to participated in the project work with the Santarém-material held by the Museum of World Culture in Sweden; while Swedish researchers and students participated in joint archaeological and soil science fieldwork in the Santarém and Belterra areas in the state of Pará, Brazilian Amazon. The project organized an international workshop at the SALSA (Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America) conference in Gothenburg in June 2014. The papers from the workshop will be published as an anthology in 2015 ("Beyond Waters: Archaeology and Environmental History of the Amazonian Inland ", ed. Per Stenborg. GOTARC Series A, Gothenburg Archaeological Studies, Vol. 6, Gothenburg. ISBN 978-91-85245-60-7). The project's work has also been presented through a proper web-domain (http://www.cultivated-wilderness.org/), published conference papers (Stenborg et al. 2014; Söderström et al. 2013a) and magazine articles (Araújo et al. 2014; Stenborg et al. 2012; Söderström et al. 2013b; Söderström et al. MS), and formed part of a doctoral thesis (Araújo 2013). When selecting the forums for publication, "Open Journals" and other forms of "Open Access" publishing were intensionally chosen. The publications reflect the interdisciplinary composition of the project team and have primarily been published in archaeological and soil science journals and series. A particular object of the publication of the anthology is therefore to gather the project's main results in a single publication context. The anthology will be published in both printed and digital (Open Access) formats.
The project's overall purpose was to improve the knowledge about the communities that lived in Santarém region in pre-Colonial times; with a primary focus on later prehistory and the initial time of contact between Native peoples and Europeans in this area. The combination of archaeological and environmental scientific analyzes, among other things, aimed at documenting how terrestrial resources were used in pre-Colonial times.
Radiocarbon and OSL dating of samples from the project's fieldwork has given a preliminary chronology of how human activity in this part of the Amazon developed from the middle of the first millennium A.D., until the European contact period (A.D. 1542-1639). The results indicate that human settlements were mainly limited to areas near the rivers Amazon and Tapajós until the 13th century A.D. From that time until the time of the first European expedition through the area (Francisco de Orellana 1541-42) a considerable expansion of settlements in both riverine areas and on the upland area of the Belterra Plateau took place. During the Contact period (1542-1639 AD) it appears that many of the riverine settlements were abandoned; while inland sites seem to have been continuously inhabited until the colonial period. Historical records suggest that there was a gradual re-establishment in the river areas during the colonial period (1639-1822) (Stenborg et al. 2014; Stenborg In Press 1).
An important result was the finding of a recurrent pattern of association between sites on the Belterra Plateau and natural as well as artificial depressions in the landscape. Due to the region's seasonal cycle characterized by distinct rainy and dry seasons, it has generally been assumed that the upland areas were not suitable for human habitation during the dry season (August to January). The establishment of settlements on the Belterra Plateau was most likely linked to a development of techniques to make use of the existing water reserves - as well to construct artificial ones (Stenborg et al. 2014). Artifacts found at Belterra sites shows that agriculture has been practiced - presumably mainly during the rainy season.
The soil science research has partly focused on the possibilities of applying sensor technology for mapping the extension of ADE soils (Araújo et al. 2014), and partly on the characterization of soils by description of soil profiles and the collection and analysis of reference samples (Eriksson In Press). The archaeological settlements are usually found in areas with soils that have a very different character when compared to the natural soils in the study area. It has been possible to do relative quick and accurate mapping of the the extensions of ADE soils associated with archaeological sites. It was also possible to determine additional properties of the ADE soil through the use of sensors. From an archaeological perspective, the results can be of use in planning field work and provide additional data on which to base interpretations of features, land-use and settlements in the pre-Columbian landscape. In the case of ADE-areas that are currently used for mechanized agriculture sensor measurements can reveal information of importance for interpreting earlier uses of the areas.
The Cultivated Wilderness project also involved analysis of parts of the Santrém-material in the collections at the museum in Gothenburg (VKM), collected in the 1920s by the German-Brazilian researcher Curt Unkel Nimuendajú. Stylistic analysis of this material shows that a stylistically uniform material (the Santarém or Tapajoid pottery) is spread over an area of at least 200 km along the Amazon River, and 50 km south of this - along the Tapajós River and on Belterra Plateau. The analyzes so far made of pottery in the VKM collections - microscopic analyzes of wares and temper, as well as X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) of potsherds - indicates that the ceramics of the inland/upland sites was produced locally using local material. This would, in turn, suggest that settlements in both the inland and along the rivers were permanent and inhabited year-round, rather on a seasonal basis.
Based on the research findings, several new research questions have occurred. Such questions concern the goods or resources that were exchanged between riverine and inland sites; how this exchange was organized and what water and land routes that were used. Other important questions concern the driving forces behind the expansion from the 13th century onwards and relate to political, social, technical and economic factors and subjects.
The project's work and results have been communicated outside academic environments - through the project web-domain (http://www.cultivated-wilderness.org/) and a related blog (http://cultivated-wilderness.org/blog/), through interviews with the principal applicant and other project participants made by online journals, Swedish and Austrian radio-shows and Brazilian and Swedish documentary film-projects. Press information and news about the project have been published by the University of Gothenburg and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.