1st Edition
Methods in Historical Ecology Insights from Amazonia
This book presents some of the most recent tools, methods and concepts in historical ecology. It introduces students and researchers to state-of-the-art techniques and showcases a wide array of methods dedicated to understanding the history of tropical landscapes. The chapters cover the detection and characterisation of archaeological features, living organisms as witnesses of past human activities, ethnoecological knowledge of ancient anthropogenic landscapes and societal impacts of historical ecology. Whilst mainly based on Amazonian experiences, the contributions aim to strengthen synergies between disciplines and to propose solutions that can be applied elsewhere in the field.
Introduction
Guillaume ODONNE and Jean-François MOLINO
Part I – Detection and characterisation of archaeological features
Chapter 1. Archaeology of invisible landscapes
Stéphen ROSTAIN
Chapter 2. Pedological perspective: concepts and facts
Michel BROSSARD and Jeanne BRANCIER
Chapter 3. Soil micromorphology
Jeanne BRANCIER and Cécilia CAMMAS
Chapter 4. Physicochemical analysis of Neotropical soils
Jeanne BRANCIER, Amandine COURTE, Dominique TODISCO and Michel BROSSARD
Chapter 5. Magnetic properties of soils
François LÉVÊQUE
Chapter 6. Geomagnetic survey
François LÉVÊQUE
Chapter 7. Pedestrian archaeological surveys in Neotropical rainforests
Mickael MESTRE and Martijn VAN DEN BEL
Chapter 8. Detecting ditched sites on LiDAR-generated Digital Elevation Models: from technical specifications to interpretation keys
Mickaël MESTRE, Grégoire VINCENT, Caroline BEDEAU, Nina ANTONOFF, Olivier BRUNAUX, Pierre GAUTREAU and Matthieu NOUCHER
Part II – Living organisms as witnesses of past human activities
Chapter 9. Phytoliths: a tool for Neotropical historical ecology, with focus on bamboo-dominated forests
Laurent BREMOND and Charly FAVIER
Chapter 10. Anthracology in the tropics: how wood charcoals help us to better understand today ecosystems
Stéphanie BODIN, Julie MORIN-RIVAT, Laurent BREMOND, Rita SCHEEL-YBERT, Christophe TARDY and Christophe VASCHALDE
Chapter 11. Forest trees inventories
Jean-François MOLINO, William BALÉE, Julien ENGEL, Claire MARTIN and Daniel SABATIER
Chapter 12. Historical genomics
Louise BROUSSEAU, Pauline GARNIER-GERE and Charles R. CLEMENT
Chapter 13. Landscape-scale study of soil communities
Nina GAZAL, Antoine BRIN, Sophie MANZI, Emeline HOUËL, Emmanuel LAPIED, Thibaud DECAËNS and Mélanie ROY
Chapter 14. The multiple roles of soil animals in the interpretation of archaeological soils and sediments in lowland tropical South America
Doyle McKEY, Delphine RENARD and Rumsaïs BLATRIX
Part III – Ethnoecological knowledge on ancient anthropogenic landscapes
Chapter 15. History and ethnohistory of ancient settlements
Pierre GRENAND and Damien DAVY
Chapter 16. Ethnoecology of landscape uses and interpretations
Damien DAVY, Pierre GRENAND and Guillaume ODONNE
Chapter 17. From single species to multiethnic ethnobotanical databases to understand past land use
Guillaume ODONNE, Damien DAVY and Pierre GRENAND
Chapter 18. Historical ecology as an instrument in defence of forest peoples: reflections from the Tapajós River, Brazil
Bruna CIGARAN da ROCHA and Vinicius Eduardo HONORATO de OLIVEIRA
Chapter 19. Applied historical ecology
William BALÉE and Meredith DUDLEY
Conclusion. Historical ecology: challenges and perspectives in a changing world
Chelsey Geralda ARMSTRONG and André BRAGA JUNQUEIRA
Biography
Guillaume Odonne is affiliated with the Centre National de la Recherche scientifique (CNRS) within the Laboratoire Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens (LEEISA) in Cayenne, French Guiana.
Jean-François Molino is based at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) in Montpellier, France. He is deputy director of the Joint Research Unit AMAP (botAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations).
