Were indigenous populations responsible for large-scale rainforest burning?
Noting that the incidence of fires appears to peak between 1000 and 1250 years before present — a time when indigenous populations are believed to be near their highest levels, Hammond told mongabay.com that “one scenario explaining the abundant charcoal from this period may be much greater human activity, and thus significantly larger native populations. With larger populations, a larger agrarian food system must be in place. Consequently, more forest would have been rotated through a process of clearing and burning.” Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon – photo by Rhett A. Butler. The authors note that while there is a lack of evidence of large pre-Colombian populations in Guyana, Hammond says that he wouldn’t expect to find any archeological remains given local conditions. “Artifacts in the region would likely have been constructed from bone or wood — materials less likely to persist as evidence today,” he said. “Further, if one considers the difference in environmental pH conditi
