Historical contingencies in the coevolution of environment and livelihood: contributions to the debate on Amazonian Black Earth

Abstract

This article applies findings from agronomic and ethnographic research among small-scale Amazonian farmers to the ongoing debate over the origins of Black Earth (an anthrosol associated with native American settlements) and the intentionality of anthropic soil formation processes. Quantitative and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, structured questionnaires and botanical plots highlight the constraints and opportunities associated with the use of Black Earth and Latosols among contemporary farmers. By identifying the strongest incentives for Black Earth cultivation today, and how many of these derive from relatively recent technological, political-economic and ecological influences, it is possible to demonstrate how perception and use of these anthrosols are likely to have changed throughout history. Data indicate that important historical contingencies underlie the relative benefits derived from the cultivation of Black Earth through time, and are likely to have structured both pedological and cultural trajectories in site evolution. They also point to the conditions under which Black Earth is likely to have become an important economic resource. By demonstrating the historical specificity of human motives, it is possible to obtain a more complex picture of the conditions under which anthropogenic environments may have expanded or restricted the range of viable economic activities in the region, influencing site evolution.