Terra Preta The Amazonian Rainforest. "Recent anthropological findings have suggested that the region was actually densely populated. Some 5 million people may have lived in the Amazon region in AD 1500, divided between dense coastal settlements, such as that at Marajó, and inland dwellers. By 1900 the population had fallen to 1 million and by the early 1980s it was less than 200,000." So, what happened? IF man-made and heavily augmented with charcoal, perhaps midden heaps, perhaps composting, perhaps naturally contributed, but all told... could not support the dense populations. What role if any did the European diseases contribute to the final blow of an otherwise (possibly?) overextended ecological economy? To look now, we may see great diversity and plant life, but what was left of natural resources in the age of the creation and "management" of "Terra preta soils" ( "of pre-Columbian nature and were created by humans between 450 BC and AD 950)" Can we extrapolate from geography, predicted population, and the raw material contents required to fuel that soil at a time and place in history?) IF we can look back and learn, can we not look forward?
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 15:40:52 +0000
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