at Google ScholarTitle data
Lombardo, Umberto ; Szabo, Katherine ; Capriles, José M. ; May, Jan-Hendrik ; Amelung, Wulf ; Hutterer, Rainer ; Lehndorff, Eva ; Plotzki, Anna ; Veit, Heinz:
Early and middle Holocene hunter-gatherer occupations in Western Amazonia : the hidden shell middens.
In: PLoS One.
Vol. 8
(2013)
Issue 8
.
- e72746.
ISSN 1932-6203
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072746
Abstract in another language
We report on previously unknown early archaeological sites in the Bolivian lowlands, demonstrating for the first time early and middle Holocene human presence in western Amazonia. Multidisciplinary research in forest islands situated in seasonally-inundated savannahs has revealed stratified shell middens produced by human foragers as early as 10,000 years ago, making them the oldest archaeological sites in the region. The absence of stone resources and partial burial by recent alluvial sediments has meant that these kinds of deposits have, until now, remained unidentified. We conducted core sampling, archaeological excavations and an interdisciplinary study of the stratigraphy and recovered materials from three shell midden mounds. Based on multiple lines of evidence, including radiocarbon dating, sedimentary proxies (elements, steroids and black carbon), micromorphology and faunal analysis, we demonstrate the anthropogenic origin and antiquity of these sites. In a tropical and geomorphologically active landscape often considered challenging both for early human occupation and for the preservation of hunter-gatherer sites, the newly discovered shell middens provide evidence for early to middle Holocene occupation and illustrate the potential for identifying and interpreting early open-air archaeological sites in western Amazonia. The existence of early hunter-gatherer sites in the Bolivian lowlands sheds new light on the region’s past and offers a new context within which the late Holocene “Earthmovers” of the Llanos de Moxos could have emerged.
Further data
| Item Type: | Article in a journal |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Additional notes: | BAYCEER151583 |
| Institutions of the University: | Research Institutions Research Institutions > Central research institutes Research Institutions > Central research institutes > Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research- BayCEER Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Earth Sciences > Chair Soil Ecology Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Earth Sciences > Chair Soil Ecology > Chair Soil Ecology - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Eva Lehndorff Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Earth Sciences |
| Result of work at the UBT: | No |
| DDC Subjects: | 500 Science 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences, geology |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Jan 2020 11:32 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 08:20 |
| URI: | https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/54066 |