The Environmental Legacies of Colonialism in the Neotropics

The arrival and settlement of Europeans throughout the Americas led to unprecedented demographic and environmental transformations. The voluntary and forced migration of peoples from Europe, Africa and Asia, and the simultaneous introduction of new forms of production, along with exotic biota and diseases, contributed to the emergence of novel social, economic and ecological systems. Through analysis of soils, plants, animals, and other proxies archaeologists are uniquely situated to investigate the localized manifestations of these processes. Yet, while environmental research on prehistoric sites in the Americas has burgeoned in recent years, the direct archaeological examination of the ecological effects of European colonial expansion is still a developing field. This session responds by considering environmental archaeological research on the period after Europeans began to settle throughout the Western Hemisphere, with an emphasis on understanding how this historical process has differently structured current socio-ecological landscapes in the Neotropics-- a biogeographical region sharing many plant and animal groups. We also seek to identify the implications of these changes for contemporary communities and ecosystems, as the legacies of colonialism continue to shape modern social and environmental challenges.