contingent diversity on anthropic landscapes队伍在人为景观多样性.pdfVIP

Diversity 2010, 2, 163-181; doi:10.3390/d2020163 OPEN ACCESS diversity ISSN 1424-2818 /journal/diversity Article Contingent Diversity on Anthropic Landscapes William Balée Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, 7041 Freret St., New Orleans, LA 70118, USA; E-Mail: wbalee@; Tel.: +1-504-862-3055; Fax: +1-504-865-5338 Received: 4 December 2009 / Accepted: 25 January 2010 / Published: 1 February 2010 Abstract: Behaviorally modern human beings have lived in Amazonia for thousands of years. Significant dynamics in species turnovers due to human-mediated disturbance were associated with the ultimate emergence and expansion of agrarian technologies in prehistory. Such disturbances initiated primary and secondary landscape transformations in various locales of the Amazon region. Diversity in these locales can be understood by accepting the initial premise of contingency, expressed as unprecedented human agency and human history. These effects can be accessed through the archaeological record and in the study of living languages. In addition, landscape transformation can be demonstrated in the study of traditional knowledge (TK). One way of elucidating TK distinctions between anthropic and nonanthropic landscapes concerns elicitation of differential labeling of these landscapes and more significantly, elicitation of the specific contents, such as trees, occurring in