Lombardo Umberto, Hilbert Lautaro, Bentley McKenzie, Bronk Ramsey Christopher, Dudgeon Kate, Gaitan-Roca Albert, Iriarte José, Mejía Ramón Andrés G, Quezada Sergio, Raczka Marco, Watling Jennifer G, Neves Eduardo, Mayle Francis
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Nature. 2025 Mar;639(8053):119-123. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08473-y. Epub 2025 Jan 29.
The Casarabe culture (500-1400 CE), spreading over roughly 4,500 km of the monumental mounds region of the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia, is one of the clearest examples of urbanism in pre-Columbian (pre-1492 CE) Amazonia. It exhibits a four-tier hierarchical settlement pattern, with hundreds of monumental mounds interconnected by canals and causeways. Despite archaeological evidence indicating that maize was cultivated by this society, it is unknown whether it was the staple crop and which type of agricultural farming system was used to support this urban-scale society. Here, we address this issue by integration of remote sensing, field survey and microbotanical analyses, which shows that the Casarabe culture invested heavily in landscape engineering, constructing a complex system of drainage canals (to drain excess water during the rainy season) and newly documented savannah farm ponds (to retain water in the dry season). Phytolith analyses of 178 samples from 18 soil profiles in drained fields, farm ponds and forested settings record the singular and ubiquitous presence of maize (Zea mays) in pre-Columbian fields and farm ponds, and an absence of evidence for agricultural practices in the forest. Collectively, our findings show how the Casarabe culture managed the savannah landscape for intensive year-round maize monoculture that probably sustained its relatively large population. Our results have implications for how we conceive agricultural systems in Amazonia, and show an example of a Neolithic-like, grain-based agrarian economy in the Amazon.
卡萨拉贝文化（公元500 - 1400年）分布在玻利维亚莫霍斯平原约4500公里的纪念性土丘区域，是前哥伦布时期（公元1492年之前）亚马孙地区城市化最清晰的例子之一。它呈现出一种四层等级的聚落模式，数百个纪念性土丘由运河和堤道相互连接。尽管考古证据表明这个社会种植玉米，但尚不清楚玉米是否为主食作物，以及采用了哪种农业种植系统来支撑这个城市规模的社会。在这里，我们通过整合遥感、实地调查和微观植物分析来解决这个问题，结果表明卡萨拉贝文化在景观工程方面投入巨大，构建了一个复杂的排水运河系统（在雨季排出多余水分）以及新发现的草原农场池塘（在旱季蓄水）。对来自排水田地、农场池塘和森林环境的18个土壤剖面的178个样本进行的植硅体分析记录了前哥伦布时期田地和农场池塘中玉米（玉蜀黍）独特且普遍的存在，而森林中没有农业活动的证据。总体而言，我们的研究结果展示了卡萨拉贝文化如何管理草原景观以实现全年集约化玉米单作，这种单作可能维持了其相对庞大的人口。我们的结果对于我们如何理解亚马孙地区的农业系统具有启示意义，并展示了亚马孙地区类似新石器时代的、以谷物为基础的农业经济的一个例子。
