Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prehistoric human occupation and impacts on Neotropical forest landscapes during the Late Pleistocene and Early/Middle Holocene

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change

Part of the book series: Springer Praxis Books ((ENVIRONSCI))

Abstract

This chapter presents a review of the evidence for human occupation and modification of the lowland neotropical forest during the pre-Columbian era. It examines some of the most important factors relating to the occupation and use of tropical landscapes by prehistoric human societies and updates the information presented in the 2006 edition of this book. Late Pleistocene through early and Middle Holocene temporal frames (c. 16 to 5 kcal yr bp) were covered most extensively in the first edition, as these were the periods during which humans colonized both hemispheres of the Americas and agricultural societies emerged and spread throughout the lowland tropical forest.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Arford, M. R. and Horn, S. P. (2004) Pollen evidence of the earliest maize agriculture in Costa Rica. J. Latin American Geography, 3, 108–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Athens, J. S. and Ward, J.V. (1999) The Late Quaternary of the Western Amazon: Climate, vegetation, and humans. Antiquity, 73, 287–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., Head, G., Jenike, M., Owen, B., Rechtman, R., and Zechenter, E. (1989) Hunting and gathering in tropical rain forest: Is it possible? American Anthropologist, 91, 59–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, A. S. and Barghoorn, E. S. (l973) Phytogeographic history of the Isthmus of Panama during the past 12,000 years (a history of vegetation, climate and sea-level change). In: A. Graham (Ed.), Vegetation and Vegetational History of Northern Latin America, pp. 203– 209. Elesevier Scientific, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton, H. and Paz, V. (2007) Subterranean diets in the tropical rain forests of Sarawak, Malaysia. In: T. Denham, J. Iriarte, and L. Vrydaghs (Eds.), Rethinking Agriculture: Archeological and Ethnoarcheological Perspectives, pp. 50–77. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behling, H. and Lima de Costa, L. (2000) Holocene environmental changes from the Rio Curua´ record in the Caxiuana´ region, eastern Amazon Basin. Quaternary Research, 53, 369–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bray, W. (2000) Ancient food for thought. Nature, 408, 145–146.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burbridge, R. E., Mayle, F. E., and T. J. Killeen (2004) Fifty-thousand-year vegetation and climate history of Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivian Amazon. Quaternary Research, 61, 215–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burn, M. J. and Mayle, F. E. (2008) Palynological differentiation between genera of the Moraceae family and implications for Amazonian paleoecology. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 149, 187–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B. (1991) Modern pollen-rain data from South and Central America: A test of the feasibility of fine-resolution lowland tropical palynology. The Holocene, 1, 162–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B. and Colinvaux, P. A. (1990) A pollen record of a complete glacial cycle from lowland Panama. J. Vegetation Science, 1, 105–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B. and Rivera, R. (1998) Pollen dispersal and representation in a Neotropical forest. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, 7, 379–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B. and Silman, M. R. (2007) Amazonian exploitation revisited: Ecological aymmetry and the policy pendulum. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 5, 457–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B., Piperno, D. R., and Colinvaux, P. A. (1989) A 6,000 year history of Amazonian maize cultivation. Nature, 340, 303–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B., Piperno, D. R., Colinvaux, P. A., De Oliveira, P. E., Krissek, L. A., Miller, M. C., and Rowe, W. E. (1992) A 14,300-yr paleoecological profile of a lowland tropical lake in Panama. Ecology, 62, 251–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B., Miller, M. C., DeOliveira, P. E., and Colinvaux, P. A. (2000) Two histories of environmental change and human disturbance in eastern lowland Amazonia. The Holocene, 10, 543–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B., Silman, M. R., de Toledo, M. B., Listopad, C., Gosling, W. D., Williams, C., de Oliveira, P. E., and Krisel, C. (2007) Holocene fire and occupation in Amazonia: Records from two lake districts. Philosophical Trans. Royal Society London B, 362, 209–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, M. B., Correa-metrio, A. Y., Hodell, D. A., Brenner, M., Anselmetti, F. S., Ariztegui, D., Mueller, A. D., Curtis, J. H., Gresik, D. A., Burton, C., and Gilli, A. (2009) Re-evaluation of climate change in lowland Central America during the Last Glacial Maximum using new sediment cores from Lake Pete´n Itza´, Guatemala. In: F. Vimeux (Ed.), Past Climate

    Google Scholar 

  • Variability in South America and Surrounding Regions, pp. 113–128. Springer ScienceþBusiness Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavelier, I., Rodrı´guez, C., Herrera, L. F., Morcote, G., and Mora, S. (1995) No so´ lo de caza vive el hombre: Ocupacio´ n del bosque Amazo´ nico, Holoceno temprano. In: I. Cavalier and S. Mora (Eds.), Ambito y Ocupaciones Tempranas de la Ame´rica Tropical, pp. 27–44. Instituto Colombiano de Antropologı´a, Fundacio´ n Erigaie, Santa Fe´ de Bogota´ [in

    Google Scholar 

  • Spanish].

    Google Scholar 

  • Clement, R. M. and Horn, S. P. (2001) Pre-Columbian land use history in Costa Rica: A 3000- year record of forest clearance, agriculture and fires from Laguna Zoncho. The Holocene, 11, 419–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. S. et al. (2007) Ecological consequences of early Late Pleistocene megadroughts in tropical Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., 104, 16422–16427.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colinvaux, P. A. and Bush, M. B. (1991) The rain-forest ecosystem as a resource for hunting and gathering. American Anthropologist, 93, 153–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colinvaux, P. A., Liu, K-B., De Oliveira, P. E., Bush, M. B., Miller, M. C., and Steinitz-Kannan, M. (1996) Temperature depression in the lowland tropics in glacial times. Climatic Change, 32, 19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colinvaux, P., De Oliveira, P. E., and Moreno, J. E. (1999) Amazon Pollen Manual and Atlas. Harwood Academic Publishers, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, R. G. (1998) Human settlement of Central America and northern South America. Quaternary International, 49/50, 177–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bray, W. (2000) Ancient food for thought. Nature, 408, 145–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowling, S. A. and Sykes, M. T. (1999) Physiological significance of low atmospheric CO2 for plant–climate interactions. Quaternary Research, 52, 237–242.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Denevan, W. (2006) Pre-European forest cultivation in Amazonia. In: W. Balee´ and C. L. Erickson (Eds.), Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology, pp. 153–163. Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denham, T., Haberle, S. G., Lentfer, C., Fullagar, R., Field, J., Therin, M., Porch, N., and Winsborough, B. (2003) Origins of agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the highlands of New Guinea. Science, 301, 189–193.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dickau, R. (2010) Comparing subsistence and the transition to agriculture in western and central Panama through the integration of macrobotanical, microbotanical, and paleoenvironmental information. In: A. M. VanDerWarker and T. M. Peres (Eds.), Integrating

    Google Scholar 

  • Zooarcheology and Paleoethnobotany: A Consideration of Issues, Methods, and Cases, pp. 99–134. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickau, R., Ranere, A. J., and Cooke, R. G. (2007) Starch grain evidence for the preceramic dispersals of maize and root crops into tropical dry and humid forests of Panama. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., 104, 3651–3656.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dillehay, T. D. (1997) Monte Verde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile, Vol. 2: The Archeological Context and Interpretation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dillehay, T. D., Caldero´ n, G. A., Politis, G., and da Coutinho Beltraˆ o, M. (1992) Earliest hunters and gatherers of South America. J. World Prehistory, 6, 145–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillehay, T. D., Rossen, R., Andres, T. C, and Williams, D. E. (2007) Preceramic adoption of peanut, squash, and cotton in northern Peru. Science, 316, 1890–1893.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, C. L. (2000) An artificial landscape-scale fishery in the Bolivian Amazon. Nature, 408, 190–193.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flannery, K. V. (Ed.) (1986) Guila´ Naquitz: Archaic Foraging and Early Agriculture in Oaxaca, Mexico. Academic Press, Orlando, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forster, P. and Matsumura, S. (2005) Did early humans go north or south? Science, 308, 965–966.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fullagar, R., Field, J., Denham, T., and Lentfer, C. (2006). Early and Mid Holocene tool-use and processing of taro (Colocasia esculenta), yam (Dioscorea sp.) and other plants at Kuk Swamp in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. J. Archaeological Science, 33, 595–614.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosling, W. D., Mayle, F. E., Tate, N. J., and Killenn, T. J. (2009) Differentiation between Neotropical rainforest, dry forest, and savannah ecosystems by their modern pollen spectra and implications for the fossil pollen record. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 153, 70–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haberle, S. (2007) Prehistoric human impact on rainforest biodiversity in highland New Guinea. Philosophical Trans. Royal Society London B, 362, 219–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, D. S. and ter Steege, H. (1998) Propensity for fire in Guianan forests. Conservation Biology, 12, 944–947.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlan, J. R. (1971) Agricultural origins: Centers and noncenters. Science, 174, 468–474.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heckenberger, M. J. (2003) Amazonia 1492: Pristine forest or cultural parkland? Science, 301, 1710–1714.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hodell, D. A. et al. (2008) An 85-ka record of climate change in lowland Central America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quaternary Science Reviews, 27, 1152–1165.Holst, I., Moreno, J. E., and Piperno D. R. (2007) Identification of teosinte, maize, and Tripsacum in Mesoamerica by using pollen, starch grains, and phytoliths. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., 104, 17608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iriarte, J., Holst, I., Marozzi, O., Listopad, C., Alonso, E., Rinderknecht, A., and Montan˜ a, J. (2004). Evidence for cultivar adoption and emerging complexity during the mid-Holocene in the La Plata Basin, Uruguay. Nature, 432, 614–617.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Islebe, G. A., Hooghiemstra, H., Brenner, M., Curtis, J. H., and Hodell, D. A. (1996) A Holocene vegetation history from lowland Guatemala. The Holocene, 6, 265–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. G. (1994) Pollen evidence for early settlement and agriculture in northern Belize. Palynology, 18, 205–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennett, D. J. and Winterhalder, B. (Eds.) (2006) Behavioral Ecology and the Transition to Agriculture. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kershaw, A. P., van der Kaars, S., Moss, P., Opdyke, B., Guichard, F., Rule, S., Turney, C. (2006) Environmental change and the arrival of people in the Australian region. Before Farming, 1/article 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumarasamy, T., Chaubey, G., Kivisild, T., Reddy, A. G., Singh, V. K., Rasalkar, A. A., and Singh, L. (2005) Reconstructing the origin of Andaman islanders. Science, 308, 996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehman, J., Kern, C., Glaser, B., and Woods, W. I. (2003) Amazonian Dark Earths: Origin, Properties, Management. Kluwer Academic, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leyden, B. W. (1985) Late Quaternary aridity and Holocene moisture fluctuations in the Lake Valencia Basin, Venezuela. Ecology, 66, 1279–1295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leyden, B. W. (2002) Pollen evidence for climatic variability and cultural disturbance in the Maya lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica, 13, 85–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leyden, B. W., Brenner, M., Hodell, D. A., and Curtis, J. H. (1993) Late Pleistocene climate in the Central American lowlands. In: P. K. Swart, K. C. Lohmann, J. McKenzie, and S. Savin (Eds.) Climate Change in Continental Isotopic Records (Geophysical Monograph 78, pp. 165–178). American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lo´ pez Castan˜ o, C. E. (1995) Dispersio´ n de puntas de proyectil bifaciales en la cuenca media del Rı´o Magdalena. In: I. Cavalier and S. Mora (Eds.), Ambito y Ocupaciones Tempranas de la Ame´rica Tropical, pp. 73–82. Instituto Colombiano de Antropologı´a, Fundacio´ n Erigaie, Santa Fe´ de Bogota´ [in Spanish].

    Google Scholar 

  • Lothrop, S. K. (1961) Early migrations to Central and South America: An anthropological problem in light of other sciences. J. Roy. Anthropological Institute, 91, 97–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macaulay, V., Hill, C., Achilli, A., Rengo, C., Clarke, D., Meehan, M., Blackburn, J., Semino, O., Scozzari, R. and Cruciani, F.(2005) Single, rapid coastal settlement of Asia revealed by analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes. Science, 308, 1034–1036.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacNeish, R. S. (1967) A summary of subsistence. In: D. S. Byers (Ed.), The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, Vol. 1: Environment and Subsistence (pp. 290–309). University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, C. C. (2005) 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. Knopf, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuoka, Y., Vigouroux, Y., Goodman, M. M., Sanchez, J., Buckler, E., and J. Doebley (2002) A single domestication for maize shown by multilocus microsatellite genotyping. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., 99, 6080–6084.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mayle, F. E. (2004) Assessment of the Neotropical dry forest refugia hypothesis in the light of palaeoecological data and vegetation model simulations. J. Quaternary Science, 19, 713– 720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzer, D. J. (1997) Monte Verde and the Pleistocene peopling of the Americas. Science, 276, 754–755.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzer, D. J., Adovasio, J. M., and Dillehay, T. D. (1994) On a Pleistocene human occupation at Pedra Furada, Brazil. Antiquity, 68, 695–714.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercader, J. and Martı´, R. (2003) The Middle Stone Age occupation of Atlantic central Africa: New evidence from equatorial Guinea. In: J. Mercader (Ed.), Under the Canopy: The Archeology of Tropical Rain Forests, pp. 64–92. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercader, J., Runge, F., Vrydaghs, L., Doutrelepont, H., Ewango, C. E. N, and Juan-Tresseras, J. (2000) Phytoliths from archaeological sites in the tropical forest of Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo. Quaternary Research, 54, 102–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monsalve, J. G. (1985) A pollen core from the Hacienda Lusitania. Pro Calima, 4, 40–44. Mora, S. and Gnecco, C. (2003) Archeological hunter-gatherers in tropical forests: A view from Colombia. In: J. Mercader (Ed.) Under the Canopy: The Archeology of Tropical Rain Forests, pp. 271–290. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora, S. C., Herrera, L. F., Cavelier, I., and Rodrı´guez, C. (1991) Cultivars, Anthropic Soils and Stability (University of Pittsburgh Latin American Archaeology Report No. 2). University of Pittsburgh Department of Anthropology, Pittsburgh, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neves, E. (1999). Changing perspectives in Amazonian archaeology. In: G. G. Politis and B. Alberti (Eds.), Archaeology in Latin America, pp. 216–243. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell, J. F. and Allen, J. (2007) Pre-LGM Sahul (Australia–New Guinea) and the archaeology of early modern humans. In: P. Mellars, K. Boyle, O. Bar-Yosef, and C. Stringer (Eds), Rethinking the Human Revolution, pp. 395–410. McDonald Institute

    Google Scholar 

  • for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, U.K.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, K. M. and Schaal, B. A. (1999) Evidence on the origin of cassava: Phylogeography of Manihot esculenta. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A, 96, 5586–5591. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., 96, 5586–5591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearsall, D. M., Chandler-Ezell, K., and Chandler-Ezell, A. (2003) Identifying maize in Neotropical sediments and soils using cob phytoliths. J. Archaeological Science, 30, 611–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearsall, D. M., Chandler-Ezell, K., and Zeidler, J. A. (2004) Maize in Ancient Ecuador: Results of residue analysis of stone tools from the Real Alto site. J. Archaeological Science, 31, 423–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, L. (2002) Starch analyses reveal multiple functions of quartz “manioc” grater flakes from the Orinoco Basin, Venezuela. Interciencia, 27, 635–639.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (1988) Phytolith Analysis: An Archeological and Geological Perspective. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (1990) Aboriginal agriculture and land usage in the Amazon Basin, Ecuador. J. Archaeological Science, 17, 665–677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (1993) Phytolith and charcoal records from deep lake cores in the American tropics. In: D. M. Pearsall and D. R. Piperno (Eds), Current Research in Phytolith Analysis: Applications in Archeology and Paleoecology, pp. 58–71 (MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology, Vol. 10). MASCA, The University Museum of Archeology

    Google Scholar 

  • and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (1994) Phytolith and charcoal evidence for prehistoric slash and burn agriculture in the Darien rainforest of Panama. The Holocene, 4, 321–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (2006a) The origins of plant cultivation and domestication in the Neotropics: A behavioral ecological perspective. In: D. Kennett and B. Winterhalder (Eds.), Foraging Theory and the Transition to Agriculture, pp. 137–166. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (2006b) Phytoliths: A Comprehensive Guide for Archeologists and Paleoecologists. AltaMira Press, Lanham, MD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (2006c) Agricultural impact on vegetation and Quaternary vegetational history in Central America. In: A. Graham and P. Raven (Eds.), Latin American Biogeography: Causes and Effects (Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 93, pp. 274–296). Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. (in press) The origins of plant cultivation and domestication in the New World tropics: Patterns, process, and new developments. In: Ofer Bar-Yosef and T. Douglas Price (Eds), The Beginnings of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas. Appearing in a special issue of Current Anthropology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. and Becker, P. (1996) Vegetational history of a site in the central Amazon Basin derived from phytolith and charcoal records from natural soils. Quaternary Research, 45, 202–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. and Jones, J. (2003) Paleoecological and archeological implications of a Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene record of vegetation and climate from the Pacific coastal plain of Panama. Quaternary Research, 59, 79–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. and Pearsall, D. M. (1998) The Origins of Agriculture in the Lowland Neotropics. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R. and Stothert. K. E. (2003) Phytolith evidence for Early Holocene Cucurbita domestication in southwest Ecuador. Science, 299, 1054–1057.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Bush, M. B., and Colinvaux, P. A. (1990) Paleoenvironments and human occupation in Late-Glacial Panama. Quaternary Research, 33, 108–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Bush, M. B., and Colinvaux, P. A. (1991a) Paleoecological perspectives on human adaptation in Central Panama, I: The Pleistocene. Geoarcheology, 6, 210–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Bush, M. B., and Colinvaux, P. A. (1991b) Paleoecological perspectives on human adaptation in Central Panama, II: The Holocene. Geoarcheology, 6, 227–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Bush, M. B., and Colinvaux, P. A. (1992) Patterns of articulation of culture and the plant world in prehistoric Panama: 11,500 bp–3000 bp. In: O. R. Ortiz-Troncoso and T. Van der Hammen (Eds.), Archaeology and Environment in Latin America, pp. 109–127. Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Holst, I., Andres, T. C., and Stothert, K. E. (2000a) Phytoliths in Cucurbita and other Neotropical Cucurbitaceae and their occurrence in early archaeological sites from the lowland American tropics. J. Archaeological Science, 27, 193–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Ranere, A. J., Holst, I., and Hansell, P. (2000b) Starch grains reveal early root crop horticulture in the Panamanian tropical forest. Nature, 407, 894–897.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Moreno, J. E., Holst, I., Lachniet, M., Jones, J. G., Ranere, A. J., and Castanzo, R. (2007) Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental history of the Iguala Valley, central Balsas watershed of Mexico. Proceedings of the National

    Google Scholar 

  • Academy of Sciences U.S.A, 104, 11874–11881.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piperno, D. R., Ranere, A. J., Holst, I., Iriarte, J., and Dickau, R. (2009) Starch grain and phytolith evidence for early ninth millennium bp maize from the central Balsas river ralley

    Google Scholar 

  • Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A, 106, 5019–5024. Pohl, M. D., Pope, K. O., Jones, J. G., Jacob, J. S., Piperno, D. R., de France, S., Lentz, D. L.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gifford, J. A., Valdez Jr., F., Danforth, M. E., and Josserand, J. K. (1996) Early agriculture in the Maya lowlands. Latin American Antiquity, 7, 355–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pohl, M. E. D., Piperno, D. R., Pope, K. O., and Jones, J. G. (2007) Microfossil evidence for pre-Columbian maize dispersals in the Neotropics from San Andre´ s, Tabasco, Mexico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A, 104, 6870–6875.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, K. O., Pohl, M. E. D., Jones, J. G., Lentz, D. L., von Nagy, C., Vega, F. J., and Quitmyer, I. R. (2001) Origin and environmental setting of ancient agriculture in the lowlands of Mesoamerica. Science, 292, 1370–1373.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ranere, A. J. (1980). Human movement into tropical America at the end of the Pleistocene. In: L. B. Harten, C. N. Warren, and D. R. Tuohy (Eds.), Anthropological Papers in Memory of Earl H. Swanson, pp. 41–47. Idaho Museum of Natural History, Pocatello.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranere, A. J. and Cooke, R. G. (2003) Late Glacial and Early Holocene occupation of Central American tropical forests. In: J. Mercader (Ed.), Under the Canopy: The Archeology of Tropical Rain Forests, pp. 219–248. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranere, A. J., Piperno, D. R., Holst, I., Dickau, R., and Iriarte, J. (2009) Preceramic human occupation of the central Balsas valley, Mexico: Cultural context of early domesticated maize and squash. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A, 106, 5014–5018.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers III, J. C. and Horn, S. P. (1996) Modern pollen spectra from Costa Rica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 124, 53–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roosevelt, A. C., da Costa, M. L., Machado, C. L., Michab, M., Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Feathers, J., Barnett, W., da Silveira, M. I., Henderson, A. et al. (1996) Paleoindian cave dwellers in the Amazon: The peopling of the Americas. Science, 272, 373–384.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rue, D. J. (1987) Early agriculture and early postclassic Maya occupation in western Honduras. Nature, 326, 285–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sage, R. F. (1995) Was low atmospheric CO2 during the Pleistocene a limiting factor for the origin of agriculture? Global Change Biology, 1, 93–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanjur, O., Piperno, D. R., Andres, T. C., and Wessell-Beaver, L. (2002) Phylogenetic relationships among domesticated and wild species of Cucurbita (Cucurbitaceae) inferred from a mitochondrial gene: Implications for crop plant evolution and areas of

    Google Scholar 

  • origin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A, 99, 535–540. Sauer, C. O. (1944) A geographic sketch of early man in America. Geographic Review, 34, 529– 573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, C. A., Johnson, T. C., Cohen, A. S., King, J. W., Peck, J. A., Overpeck, J. T., Talbot, M. R., Brown, E. T, Kalindekafe, L., and Amoako, P. Y. O. (2007) East African megadroughts between 135 and 75 thousand years ago and bearing on early-modern human origins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A, 104, 16416–16421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Se´mah, F., Se´mah, A-M., and Simanjuntak, T. (2003). More than a million years of human occupation in insular southeast Asia: The early archeology of eastern and central Java. In: J. Mercader (Ed.), Under the Canopy: The Archeology of Tropical Rain Forests, pp. 161–190. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, B. D. (1997) The initial domestication of Cucurbita pepo in the Americas 10,000 years ago. Science, 276, 932–934.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stothert, K., Piperno, D. R., and Andres, T. C. (2003) Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene human adaptation in coastal Ecuador: The Las Vegas evidence. Quaternary International, 109-110, 23–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tattersall, I. (2009) Human origins: Out of Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., 106, 16018–16021.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thangaraj, K., Chaubey, G., Kivisild, T., Reddy, R., Vijay, A. G., Singh, K., Rasalkar, A. A., and Singh, L. (2005) Reconstructing the origin of Andaman Islanders. Science, 308, 995–996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westengen, O. T., Z. Huama´ n, and M. Heun (2005) Genetic diversity and geographic pattern in early South American cotton domestication. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 110, 392–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willis, K. J., Gillson, L., and Brncic, T. M. (2004). How “virgin” is virgin rain forest? Science, 304, 402–403.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zarillo, S., Pearsall, D. M., Raymond, J. S., Tisdale, M. A., and Quon, D. J. (2008) Directly dated starch residues document early formative maize (Zea mays L.) in tropical Ecuador. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., 105, 5005.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama and Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, 20013, USA

    D. R. Piperno

Authors
  1. D. R. Piperno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. R. Piperno .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, W. University Boulevard 150, Melbourne, 32901, Florida, USA

    Mark Bush

  2. School of People, Environment/Planning, Geography Programme, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    John Flenley

  3. Sciences, Department of Earth and Environment, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

    William Gosling

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Piperno, D.R. (2011). Prehistoric human occupation and impacts on Neotropical forest landscapes during the Late Pleistocene and Early/Middle Holocene. In: Bush, M., Flenley, J., Gosling, W. (eds) Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05383-2_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation