Prehistoric human occupation and impacts on Neotropical forest landscapes during the Late Pleistocene and Early/Middle Holocene

Abstract

Tropical forests only developed in northern South America during the first 2000 years of the Holocene, however, other areas of the contemperarily forested neotropics were forested in the Pleistocene as well. There are few paleoindian sites in South America that can be compared to nearby paleoenvironmental records and therefore associated with forest exploitation or habitation. However, Caverna de Pedra Pintada has been dated to c. 12.9 kcal : yr bp and remains of forest nuts and seeds have been found along with animals remains that suggest paleoindians were in fact utilizing nearby forest resources. The early Holocene sees a surge in plant food production and exploitation throughout South America. At least half of the more than 100 species of domesticated American plants were domesticated in lowland tropical forests, some of these being; manioc, arrowroot, squash, liren, and yams from 10000 to 5000 BP. However, no staple crops were domesticated within the Central Amazon, except for manioc and peach palm, which were more likely domesticated on the southwestern and northwestern, respectively, extents. Other crops seen as less important in the diet were likely domesticated in these same two regions along with a northeastern region as well. Past human influence on the landscape can also be detected through fire histories in core sediments. Fire history in terms of the long-term presence of charcoal can also be correlated with pollen and phytolith data. Sometimes prolonged fire sequences cannot be related to cultivation crops or other aspects of human influence, which can be attributed to small-scale cultivation practices or practices involving cultigens that do not produce significant amounts or any pollen or phytoliths. This is especially true in Amazonia where fire sequences are not as pronounced as in Central America.