Abstract
The discovery of large geometrical earthworks in interfluvial settings of southern Amazonia has challenged the idea that Pre-Columbian populations were concentrated along the major floodplains. However, a spatial gap in the archaeological record of the Amazon has limited the assessment of the territorial extent of earth-builders. Here, we report the discovery of Pre-Columbian ditched enclosures in the Tapajós headwaters. The results show that an 1800 km stretch of southern Amazonia was occupied by earth-building cultures living in fortified villages ~Cal AD 1250–1500. We model earthwork distribution in this broad region using recorded sites, with environmental and terrain variables as predictors, estimating that earthworks will be found over ~400,000 km2 of southern Amazonia. We conclude that the interfluves and minor tributaries of southern Amazonia sustained high population densities, calling for a re-evaluation of the role of this region for Pre-Columbian cultural developments and environmental impact.
Highlights
The discovery of large geometrical earthworks in interfluvial settings of southern Amazonia has challenged the idea that Pre-Columbian populations were concentrated along the major floodplains
The possible geographical continuity of late Pre-Columbian earth building cultures across all southern Amazonia has been envisaged for nearly a decade[35]; archaeological evidence of such long-range connections remained elusive
The whole Southern Rim of the Amazon (SRA) was settled by dense populations living in fortified villages, some of which appear to have been organised in regionallyintegrated peer-polity systems
Summary
The discovery of large geometrical earthworks in interfluvial settings of southern Amazonia has challenged the idea that Pre-Columbian populations were concentrated along the major floodplains. The discovery of large Pre-Columbian earthworks in terra firme along the Southern Rim of the Amazon (SRA) undermines the assumption that these areas were marginal in terms of past human impact and the development of complex societies. The association of ditched enclosures and large habitation mounds with canals, causeways, fish weirs, water reservoirs and raised fields, covering at least 250,000 ha of seasonally-flooded savanna[18,23,24,25,26,27], has led some to speak of whole domesticated landscapes in Amazonia[28] with major consequences for understanding the past human footprint in the modern forest composition[11]
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