Amazon River Basin

Human Occupation

Understanding of the initial human occupation in the Amazon is changing. It now appears that humans arrived in the Amazon at least 11,500 years ago, judging from pottery shards. Debate continues concerning Amazon's pre-Columbian populations, which informs estimates of the basin's human carrying capacity. Scholars who emphasize lower numbers call attention to the basin's limited protein sources, and note evidence of higher population concentrations near whitewater rivers.

However, archaeological evidence of sizeable pre-Columbian earthworks, roads, and centralized settlement designs in the uplands suggests larger populations than previously estimated. Similarly, ethnobotanical evidence indicates that many areas of “pristine” forest in the Amazon were modified by human use over long periods. And patches of “Black Indian soils,” which resulted from disposal of large quantities of organic waste by indigenous groups, have been found in many places across the basin.

Indigenous peoples in the Amazon largely resided along rivers, which they intensively exploited. In the uplands, indigenous groups cut and burned vegetation to form small clearings, where they cultivated food crops. Such clearings were only temporarily [Page 34]used, as tribal groups subsequently moved on, allowing the forest to reclaim cleared patches.

European colonization of the Amazon began in the 16th century with Portuguese incursions westward from the Atlantic, and Spanish expeditions eastward from the Andes. Impressed with the luxuriant vegetation and considerable indigenous populations along the rivers, Europeans went in search of exotic commodities. This led to river-based trade in dyes, seeds, animal hides, and numerous other products, which were exported to Europe. This system was based in part on indigenous labor, often in missionary settlements. As a result, indigenous populations declined, and the Amazon economy became increasingly focused on specific commodities, leading to boom-bust economic cycles.

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