Why did production of terra preta stop after European contact?
Although decimation of Amazonian population and collapse of elaborate social systems that supported terra preta creation (to make all that pottery and all that charcoal, and incorporate it up to two feet in the ground really does take a village) was a contributing factor, it was undoubtedly the introduction of the steel axe by the Spanish thatin combination with the impact of contactled to slash-and-burn by small bands replacing slash-and-char by large groups. When clearing land with a stone axe, a conservation of all biomass and an intensification of soil production becomes a necessity. Steel axesand, later, chainsawscontributed to exploiting the very short-term benefits of ash. Remember that traditional methods can die out in a single generation, and in Amazonian social structure, the elders were responsible for all technical knowledge. It makes sense that the elders were hardest hit by epidemics, and loss of their cultural knowledge combined with social disruption led to the replace
