ABSTRACT
Historical ecology is a research programme that aims to understand interactions between human societies and local environments over time. It draws inspiration from archaeology, human ecology and ethnosciences, and is now applied worldwide to disentangle mutual influences between cultures and landscapes. Nevertheless, paradigm changes of the last decades in both the social and the natural sciences, as well as the development of new technological tools, have made it necessary to gather in a single book experiences and methods for the next generation of historical ecologists. Drawing inspiration from field projects in southern and eastern Amazonia, this book approaches the detection and characterisation of archaeological features, examines how living organisms can serve as witnesses of past human activities and finally reviews ethnoecological methods dealing with local knowledge on ancient anthropogenic landscapes.
