Study: Amazonian Regions were Agricultural Landscapes Some 10,000 Years Ago

[Judi Lynn]

By Staff Reporter Apr 18, 2020 07:54 AM EDT

Far from being a rainforest and vast wilderness, certain Amazonian areas were cultivated by people for crop-growing. An international team of scientists has discovered that humans residing in remote regions of now present-day Bolivia were planting crops such as cassava, squash, and maize. Inhabitants also developed thousands of "forest islands" which are small mounds of lands, and where there is proof of plant cultivation.

One of the most relevant results of the end of the last ice age almost 12,000 years ago was a change in the lifestyles of early civilizations. Nomadic hunter-gatherers started to live permanently, and they cultivated plants for food. The Holocene epoch was a relatively warm period after the ice age that saw the increase in human activity.

Researchers have discovered evidence that early civilizations cultivated crops for food in four primary locations: China produced rice, grains were grown in the Middle East, maize in Central America and Mexico, and potatoes and quinoa in the Andes region. Scientists now claim that the Llanos de Moxos, the southwestern part of Amazonia, should be identified as the fifth.

This area in Amazonia is a savannah but is dotted with around 4,700 forest islands where humans once lived. These are raised areas of land that are now covered with trees, and approximately 70 meters in diameter. These areas are flooded during the year's rainy season, but these small mounds of land remain above the waters.

More:
https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/43679/20200418/amazon-region-agricultural-landscapes.htm

There are so many images of the Amazonia area mentioned above, each connected to its own website. You may want to spend some time scanning the photos. They are so unexpected:

https://tinyurl.com/y93averv

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. As always, fascinating. . . . nt

[Judi Lynn]

2. So much ahead to learn about the Americas, which were always devalued by the invaders.

There will be so much more ahead to discover.