Human Niche Construction and Population Growth in Pre-Columbian Amazonia

Manuel Arroyo-Kalin

doi:10.5334/ai-367

Abstract

The use of Niche Construction Theory in archaeological research demands that we establish empirically how human-constructed niches acted as legacies that shaped the selection pressures affecting past human populations. One potential approach is to examine whether human demography changed as a result of the continued use of landscapes enduringly transformed by past societies. This paper presents proxies for Amazonian population growth during the late Holocene and discusses their significance within the broader context of landscape legacies resulting from cumulative anthropic environmental alteration during pre-Columbian times.

Highlights

Niche Construction Theory is clearly relevant to understand the role that natural and anthropic landscape transformations have had in shaping the long-term trajectories of human societies (Arroyo-Kalin 2016; Boivin et al 2016; Laland, Odling—Smee and Feldman 2000)
A potential way to engage with anthropic landscapes and human niche construction, is to examine whether human demography was affected by the continued use of landscapes that were enduringly transformed by past societies
In Amazonia, where fish abundance is strongly conditioned by water chemistry, alluvial geomorphology, and the upstream or downstream position of a given locale within a tributary network (Denevan 1996; Moran 1995), tethering of habitation sites to locales with abundant aquatic protein can explain why many, but certainly not all, large settlements are concentrated along watercourses

Summary

Introduction

Niche Construction Theory is clearly relevant to understand the role that natural and anthropic landscape transformations have had in shaping the long-term trajectories of human societies (Arroyo-Kalin 2016; Boivin et al 2016; Laland, Odling—Smee and Feldman 2000). Donald Lathrap’s (1970) provocative and highly influential reconstruction of pre-Columbian history argued that archaeological ceramic styles and the broad spatial distribution of prominent language families was to be understood as evidence for past population expansion and growth In his account, the ancestors of the large groups reported by early European sightings had farmed the rich alluvial soils of large rivers, grown demographically, competed for land, and expanded outwards from central Amazonia via the river network. Terras pretas and terras mulatas constitute expressions of anthropic soil modification that reflect the palimpsest-like character and legacy effects of past human occupations (Erickson 2003) They are prized to this day by Amazonian farmers because of their fertility, which leads to higher yields of staple lowland cultivars such as Manihot esculenta (cassava) and facilitates the cultivation of acid-intolerant or pest-sensitive crops, such as Zea mays (maize) (Clement, Mccann and Smith 2003; Fraser, Junqueira and Clement 2011; German, 2003; Lins et al 2015; de Souza et al 2017).

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Discussion

Conclusion