Anthropogenic Landscapes of Amazonia: A Spatial Analysis of Landscape Modification and Settlement Organization at Macurany, Brazil

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

I analyze anthropogenic landscape modification at Macurany, a pre-colonial terra preta site on the Middle Amazon River in Parintins, Brazil, in order to gain insight into settlement formation and organization. Settlement patterns and artificial landscapes are the result of human action, technological innovation and ingenuity. Understanding anthropogenic landscape features can illuminate the relationship among domestic and common areas, leading to a more nuanced understanding of terra preta formation, natural resource management, and routes of movement and communication. This research addresses what processes contributed to the formation of these modified landscapes at Macurany, which feature terra preta, sculpted soilscapes, and anthropogenic ports. Can the spatial patterning of these landscape features reflect social organization? Topographic and soil probe data collected at Macurany in July 2017 were used to detect correlations between surface and subsurface features. Preliminary results suggest site organization at Macurany was decentralized given the frequency and proximity of the ports in relation to the variable depth and distribution of terra preta. This analysis contributes toward an understanding of precolonial landscape modification and settlement organization in Amazonia and, more broadly, of the formation of terras pretas and anthropogenic ports.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25757