Comments on: Terra Preta de Indio: An Amazonian Lesson in Sustainability http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html Chronicling and Commenting on Human Progress Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:22:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Terra Preta in the news - Hypography Science Forums http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-27934 Terra Preta in the news - Hypography Science Forums Thu, 10 May 2007 23:46:03 +0000 http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-27934 [...] Amazonian societies did something no other culture has ever done in world history: they created good soil. These groups cleared plots in the forest, yes, but instead of burning them they charred them slowly. The charcoal was then mixed with the soil where it not only added carbon, but hosted microbes, and increased the soil’s capacity to hold nutrients even during a downpour. Instead of planting rows of maize in their new soil, they planted hundreds of varieties of domesticated trees. Among these trees they planted their staple crop, manioc root. Not content merely with plentiful fertile soils, they used pottery to build these soils up out of the floodplain (similar to the Beni people mentioned discussed in the link at the beginning). This process required continued investment of resources over hundreds of years. Millions of pots were smashed in order to raise their fields and dwellings and reclaim the land. Anthonares » Blog Archive » Terra Preta de Indio: An Amazonian Lesson in Sustainability Attached Thumbnails   showing the first signs of GOMS [...] […] Amazonian societies did something no other culture has ever done in world history: they created good soil. These groups cleared plots in the forest, yes, but instead of burning them they charred them slowly. The charcoal was then mixed with the soil where it not only added carbon, but hosted microbes, and increased the soil’s capacity to hold nutrients even during a downpour. Instead of planting rows of maize in their new soil, they planted hundreds of varieties of domesticated trees. Among these trees they planted their staple crop, manioc root. Not content merely with plentiful fertile soils, they used pottery to build these soils up out of the floodplain (similar to the Beni people mentioned discussed in the link at the beginning). This process required continued investment of resources over hundreds of years. Millions of pots were smashed in order to raise their fields and dwellings and reclaim the land. Anthonares » Blog Archive » Terra Preta de Indio: An Amazonian Lesson in Sustainability Attached Thumbnails   showing the first signs of GOMS […]

]]> By: Mark Bush http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-7309 Mark Bush Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:51:56 +0000 http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-7309 Mann writes an excellent tale, but it is not an unbiased account. The archaeological and anthropological community is deeply divided over this issue. Mann takes clear sides and so reader beware. He tacitly accepts the high-end estimate of 10.4 million people in Amazonia, without really giving an explanation of why that number is right and lesser values wrong. He only talks to archaeologists....there are no conversations with ecologists reported in the text. There is no predictive component to where one would or would not find disturbance..apart from some very generic maps. I am a researcher engaged in this debate, and think that it is great that it has been raised in profile. But maintain healthy skepticism. He is probably right about the Andes and Central America. He is wrong about the history of New Engand (see papers by David Foster of Harvard), and it remains to be seen whether he is right about Amazonia. Mann writes an excellent tale, but it is not an unbiased account. The archaeological and anthropological community is deeply divided over this issue. Mann takes clear sides and so reader beware. He tacitly accepts the high-end estimate of 10.4 million people in Amazonia, without really giving an explanation of why that number is right and lesser values wrong. He only talks to archaeologists….there are no conversations with ecologists reported in the text. There is no predictive component to where one would or would not find disturbance..apart from some very generic maps.
I am a researcher engaged in this debate, and think that it is great that it has been raised in profile. But maintain healthy skepticism. He is probably right about the Andes and Central America. He is wrong about the history of New Engand (see papers by David Foster of Harvard), and it remains to be seen whether he is right about Amazonia.

]]> By: Anthonares » Blog Archive » Garden Wilderness and the New Environmentalism http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-4091 Anthonares » Blog Archive » Garden Wilderness and the New Environmentalism Sun, 17 Sep 2006 17:34:09 +0000 http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-4091 [...] Garden Wilderness and the New Environmentalism [1491, Charles Mann, Conservation, Environmentalism, New Environmentalism]The final chapter in Charles C. Mann’s 1491 entitled “The Artificial Wilderness” elaborates his vision of the New World as having been thoroughly shaped by its Indian peoples. In the previous chapter, “Amazonia”, Mann suggests that as much as 1/8th of the Amazonian dryland forests may be in fact abandoned orchards. But the people of the Amazon basin were not the only ones that modified their environments in dramatic fashion. [...] […] Garden Wilderness and the New Environmentalism [1491, Charles Mann, Conservation, Environmentalism, New Environmentalism]The final chapter in Charles C. Mann’s 1491 entitled “The Artificial Wilderness” elaborates his vision of the New World as having been thoroughly shaped by its Indian peoples. In the previous chapter, “Amazonia”, Mann suggests that as much as 1/8th of the Amazonian dryland forests may be in fact abandoned orchards. But the people of the Amazon basin were not the only ones that modified their environments in dramatic fashion. […]

]]> By: Michael Bailes http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3215 Michael Bailes Mon, 31 Jul 2006 08:24:59 +0000 http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3215 Check out this site if you are relly interested in using Terra preta for yourself: http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/3451-terra-preta.html m Check out this site if you are relly interested in using Terra preta for yourself:

http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/3451-terra-preta.html

m

]]> By: Will http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3149 Will Sat, 29 Jul 2006 03:12:53 +0000 http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3149 Fantastic post. Makes me miss the South American Indians undergrad course I took a couple of years ago. Keep the 1491-related posts coming...its a great book. Fantastic post. Makes me miss the South American Indians undergrad course I took a couple of years ago. Keep the 1491-related posts coming…its a great book.

]]> By: Anthony Kendall http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3141 Anthony Kendall Fri, 28 Jul 2006 20:27:03 +0000 http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3141 Thanks Tom! Despite totally not having the time to do blogging, 1491 has me completely enthralled so I just had to talk about it somewhere. I hope you enjoyed the cheesy stock photo of a gold-plated globe! I was proud of that one. Thanks Tom!
Despite totally not having the time to do blogging, 1491 has me completely enthralled so I just had to talk about it somewhere. I hope you enjoyed the cheesy stock photo of a gold-plated globe! I was proud of that one.

]]> By: Tom http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3140 Tom Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:21:54 +0000 http://www.anthonares.net/2006/07/terra-preta-de-indio-an-amazonian-lesson-in-sustainability.html#comment-3140 Just wanted to say that this is all very interesting, so keep it coming! Just wanted to say that this is all very interesting, so keep it coming!

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