Pre-Columbian raised-field agriculture and land use in the Bolivian Amazon

We present an integrated palaeoecological and archaeobotanical study of pre-Columbian raised-field agriculture in the Llanos de Moxos, a vast seasonally inundated forest–savanna mosaic in the Bolivian Amazon. Phytoliths from excavated raised-field soil units, together with pollen and charcoal in sediment cores from two oxbow lakes, were analysed to provide a history of land use and agriculture at the El Cerro raised-field site. The construction of raised fields involved the removal of savanna trees, and gallery forest was cleared from the area by AD 310. Despite the low fertility of Llanos de Moxos soils, we determined that pre-Columbian raised-field agriculture sufficiently improved soil conditions for maize cultivation. Fire was used as a common management practice until AD 1300, at which point, the land-use strategy shifted towards less frequent burning of savannas and raised fields. Alongside a reduction in the use of fire, sweet potato cultivation and the exploitation of Inga fruits formed part of a mixed resource strategy from AD 1300 to 1450. The pre-Columbian impact on the landscape began to lessen around AD 1450, as shown by an increase in savanna trees and gallery forest. Although agriculture at the site began to decline prior to European arrival, the abandonment of raised fields was protracted, with evidence of sweet potato cultivation occurring as late as AD 1800.

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis of a pre-Columbian funerary gold mask from the Museum of Sican, Peru

A funerary gold mask from the Museum of Sican, Ferranafe, Peru was analyzed in 30 different areas using a portable equipment using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence. It was deduced from the measurements that the main sheet of the mask and the majority of the pendants have a similar composition and are made of tumbaga, which means a poor gold alloy enriched at the surface by depletion gilding, and have a similar `equivalent` gilding thickness of about 5 mu m. The nose, also on tumbaga, has different composition and a thickness of about 8 mu m. The clamps are on gilded or on silvered copper. The red pigment dispersed on the surface of the mask is cinnabar. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Field Museum of Natural History bulletin.

v. 43 (1972)

Bulletin / Field Museum of Natural History.

v. 37:3-12 (1966)

An ethnographic collection from the Northern Ute in the Field Museum of Natural History / James W. VanStone.

n.s. no.28(1997)

Common mushrooms / by Leon L. Pray, Field Museum of Natural History.

no.18(1936)

Historic Ingalik settlements along the Yukon, Innoko, and Anvik Rivers, Alaska / James W. VanStone, Curator, North American Archaeology and Ethnology, Field Museum of Natural History.

v.72(1979)

Catalogue of type specimens of trilobites in Field Museum of Natural History / [by] Matthew H. Nitecki -- and Julia Golden --.

v.22(1970)

The Bruce Collection of Eskimo material culture from Port Clarence, Alaska / James W. VanStone, Curator, North American Archaeology and Ethnology, Field Museum of Natural History.

v.67(1976)

A seriation of the late prehistoric Santa Maria culture of northwestern Argentina / Ronald L. Weber, Field Museum of Natural History.

v.68:no.2(1968)

Material culture of the Chilcotin Athapaskans of west central British Columbia : collections in the Field Museum of Natural History / James W. VanStone.

n.s. no.20(1993)

Catalog of type and referred specimens of fossil ostracodes in the Field Museum of Natural History / [by] Matthew H. Nitecki -- and Diana Z. Handler --.

v.17:no.5(1968)

Catalog of type specimens of conodonts in the Field Museum of Natural History / [by] Matthew H. Nitecki -- and Eugene S. Richardson, Jr. --.

v.17:no.1(1967)