Scientists reconstruct pre-Columbian human effects on the Amazon Basin
Monday, June 18, 2012 - 17:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Small, shifting human populations existed in the Amazon before the arrival of Europeans, with little long-term effect on the forest. The finding overturns the idea the Amazon was a cultural parkland in pre-Columbian times with large human populations that transformed vast tracts of the landscape.