Cultivated landscapes of Native Amazonia and the Andes
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Cultivated landscapes of Native Amazonia and the Andes
（Oxford geographical and environmental studies）
Oxford University Press, 2001
Available at 5 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [324]-366)and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The Andes and Amazonia are two of the harshest regions on earth. The opportunities for productive agriculture, even with modern methods, seem limited, given conditions of climate, terrain, and soils. Nevertheless, indigenous people, both prehistoric and more recent, have developed systems of cultivation that have been intensive, highly productive, and sustainable, reclaiming marginal lands and supporting large numbers of people and complex societies. This book examines Indian agriculture in South America. The focus is on field types and field technologies, including agricultural landforms such as terraces, canals, and drained fields, which have persisted for hundreds of years. The evidence utilized comes from abandoned fields, historical documents, and current practices. What emerges is a picture of mostly successful indigenous farming practices in rain forests, savannahs, swamps, rugged mountains, and deserts. And while this knowledge may not always be directly applicable to development today, it does provide us with some unique techniques and some basic principles for farming difficult environments.
Table of Contents
- PART I. FIELDS AND ASSOCIATED FEATURES
- 1. Introduction: research on indigenous cultivation in the Americas
- 2. Classification of field types
- 3. Crops, tools, and soft technology
- PART II. AMAZONIAN CULTIVATION
- 4. A diversity of Habitats and field systems
- 5. Fields of the Mojo, Campa, Bora, Shipibo, and Karinya
- 6. Pre-European riverine cultivation
- 7. Pre-European forest cultivation
- PART III. ANDEAN IRRIGATION AND TERRACING
- 8. Irrigated fields
- 9. Terraced fields
- 10. Terrace and irrigation origins and abandonment in the Colca valley
- PART IV. RAISED AND DRAINED FIELDS
- 11. Lost systems of cultivation
- 12. The Mojos raised fields
- 13. The Titicaca raised fields
- 14. Ditched fields, drainage canals, and river canalization
- PART V. CONCLUSIONS
- 15. Implications of indigenous agricultural technology
- APPENDICES
- 1A Cultivated plants of South America
- 1B Roster of cultivated plants by species name
by "Nielsen BookData"