Year: 2016
Type: reference-entry
Abstract: How do human and landscape histories reciprocally affect each other? Can we distinguish between deliberate and unintended anthropic transformations of the landscape? This chapter summarizes evidence from pre-Columbian Amazonia in order to discuss the relation between three dimensions of anthropic landscape transformations: landscaping, landscape legacies, and landesque capital. Conflation between these three categories can lead to theoretical road closures and certainly risks oversimplifying both causality and consequence when anthropic landscape modifications are considered. On the other hand, paying attention to their differences defines a rich field of research in which historical ecology, earth-scientific thinking, and human niche construction theory converge.
Author: Manuel Arroyo-Kalin
Institution: University College London
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2401419073