Authors
Leonor Rodrigues, Umberto Lombardo, Heinz Veit
Publication date
2018/2/1
Journal
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Volume
17
Pages
366-378
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
This study is concerned with raised fields – impressive pre-Columbian agricultural earthworks found throughout southwestern Amazonia – in the Llanos de Moxos (LM), in the Bolivian Lowlands. We explore the complexity of coupled human–environment interactions and propose hypotheses to explain the variation observed in the design of raised fields. We provide the most detailed description and mapping to date of raised fields and their distribution across the Bolivian Amazon. To do so, we draw on published data and on new information obtained through fieldwork, mapping, and geochemical analysis of raised fields. We describe all types of raised fields known in the LM, and introduce one new type, the filón. Our findings suggest that variation in the design of field types occurring in different regions primarily reflects differential adaptations to local environmental settings (e.g., variation in soil types, hydrology, soil …
Total citations
20182019202020212022202320244663542