<< News >> A rain forest debate: Could it have been home to complex societies?
Submitted by Andy B on Tuesday, 04 January 2005 Page Views: 1004
DiscoveriesFor much of the last half-century, archeologists have viewed the South American rain forest as a ''counterfeit paradise" whose inhospitable environment precluded the development of complex societies. But new research suggests that prehistoric people found ways to overcome the jungle's natural limitations and thrive in large numbers.The secret, say the theory's proponents, is in the ground beneath their feet. The highly fertile soil called terra preta do indio, Portuguese for Indian black earth, was either intentionally created by these pre-Columbian people or is the accidental byproduct of their presence.
The research has implications not only for history but for the future of the Amazon rain forest. If scientists could discover how the Amerindians transformed the soil, farmers could use the technology to maximize the productivity of smaller plots of land, rather than cutting down ever larger swaths of jungle. The benefits of this ''gift from the past" are already known to farmers in the area, who plant their crops wherever they find terra preta.
More: The Boston Globe
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