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Cited by 79Amazonian Archaeology and EthnohistoryArchaeology and ancient environmental studiesSoil and Environmental Studies

Climate change and cultural resilience in late pre-Columbian Amazonia

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de Souza, Jonas Gregorio, Robinson, Mark, Maezumi, S. Yoshi, Capriles, José, Hoggarth, Julie A., Lombardo, Umberto, Novello, Valdir Felipe, Apaéstegui, James +9 more·2019·Nature Ecology & Evolution
DOI 10.1038/s41559-019-0924-0
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Abstract

The long-term response of ancient societies to climate change has been a matter of global debate. Until recently, the lack of integrative studies using archaeological, palaeoecological and palaeoclimatological data prevented an evaluation of the relationship between climate change, distinct subsistence strategies and cultural transformations across the largest rainforest of the world, Amazonia. Here we review the most relevant cultural changes seen in the archaeological record of six different regions within Greater Amazonia during late pre-Columbian times. We compare the chronology of those cultural transitions with high-resolution regional palaeoclimate proxies, showing that, while some societies faced major reorganization during periods of climate change, others were unaffected and even flourished. We propose that societies with intensive, specialized land-use systems were vulnerable to transient climate change. In contrast, land-use systems that relied primarily on polyculture agroforestry, resulting in the formation of enriched forests and fertile Amazonian dark earth in the long term, were more resilient to climate change.

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  • By creating new cultural niches, humans partly modified the Amazonian flora, increasing their food security even during times of past climate change without the need for large-scale deforestation.

    “By creating new cultural niches, humans partly modified the Amazonian flora117,118, increasing their food security even during times of past climate change119,120 without the need for large-scale deforestation117.”

    From Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system (2024) · cites this paper as [119]

    In “Two models of land use” (page unavailable), the paper describes forest enrichment without large-scale deforestation and says its review suggests that polyculture agroforestry gave pre-Columbian societies resilience to climate variability. The citing sentence’s assertion that these practices increased food security during climate change is stronger than the paper’s proposed resilience finding; it does not establish a direct increase in food security. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Authors
de Souza, J. G., Robinson, M., Maezumi, S. Y., Capriles, J., Hoggarth, J. A., Lombardo, U., Novello, V. F., Apaéstegui, J., Whitney, B., Urrego, D., Alves, D. T., Rostain, S., Power, M. J., Mayle, F. E., da Cruz, F. W., Hooghiemstra, H., & Iriarte, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Exeter (GB)
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • Baylor University (US)
  • University of Bern (CH)
  • Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
  • Instituto Geofísico del Perú (PE)
  • Northumbria University (GB)
  • University of Utah (US)
  • University of Reading (GB)
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
ORCID
Venue
Nature Ecology & Evolution
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2019-06-17
Volume
3
Issue
7
Pages
1007-1017
ISSN
2397-334X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41559-019-0924-0
OpenAlex
W2950795981
Cited by
79
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 1
FWCI
68.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Ecology & Evolution (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) (acceptedVersion)
  • CentAUR (University of Reading) (submittedVersion)
  • Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • BORIS (University Library Bern) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Open Access CRIS of the University of Bern
Funders
  • European Commission (HORIZON2020)
  • Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (#2016/15807-5, 17/50085-3, 2017-50085-3)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil and Environmental Studies
Keywords
climate change, cultural resilience, subsistence strategies, land use systems, Amazonian Dark Earths, paleoclimate, cultural transition, social vulnerability
MeSH terms
Archaeology, Brazil, Climate Change, Forests, Rainforest

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