Jennifer Watling

University of São Paulo | USP · Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia

This project seeks to illuminate millennial-scale relationships between peoples, plants and landscapes in Amazonia from case studies of four very different regions of the Brazilian Amazon. It unites a large international team of researchers to develop multi-proxy studies which emphasize the cross-over between archaeology, archaeobotany, microarchaeology and palaeoecology, to try and contribute to a better understanding of the history of sociobiodiversity, and its consequences for conservation, of the Amazon biome. Funds from this project were used to build the Microbotany Laboratory, one of few laboratories in the country specialized in the analysis of phytoliths and starch grains. Project funding: São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP 2017/25157-0).

This project investigates the formation of anthropic soils known in Brazil as Terra Preta (Black Earth) that are found throughout Amazonia. They are the result of human activities by indigenous peoples beginning thousands of years ago that resulted in an extremely fertile soil. It is often used for cultivation today and is still being created by indigenous groups. The research focuses on beliefs, practices, creation, use, and fertility of terra preta in the Upper Xingu.

This book comprises the study of four large-scale excavated Late Ceramic Age sites on Guadeloupe (FWI) covering altogether nearly 2 hectares. It presents the analysis of all archaeological remains adapted and translated from the Inrap excavation reports by the different authors. Such archaeological reports are barely known to archaeologists from the other Antilles since only a few paper copies exist and not, or less, accessible due to the language barrier. The second goal is to show the important contribution compliance archaeology made to the archaeology of Guadeloupe since its introduction in 2002. Analysis : Geomorphology, Micromorphology, Soils, Features (post holes, burials and pits), Ceramics, Lithics, Vertebrates, Invertebrates, Starch grains, Phytoliths,