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Ancient lands and lands in formation: new applications of remote sensing for archaeological surveys of Amazonian floodplains

Abstract

The Amazon’s floodplains and landscapes are part of many theories about human occupation in this region, but there are still numerous knowledge gaps about the diverse environments and temporalities that comprise this ecosystem. The Amazonian floodplains are flooded seasonally and formed by sediment-laden rivers. Although they are recognized for abundant aquatic resources and fertile soils, no archaeological survey methods have been designed for them and as a result few archaeological sites have been recorded in the floodplains of the Brazilian Amazon. How can areas subject to such intense geomorphological dynamism be surveyed? In an attempt to fill these gaps, a case study was conducted in an area of the floodplain between Alenquer and Curuá (western Pará, Lower Amazon) to understand fluvial dynamics and propose specific tools and survey methods for floodplain areas. The methodology included analyzing floodplain transformations by examining satellite imagery from 1991 to 2015. Geomorphic deposition was interpreted to detect more ancient and stable areas where sites were more likely to be preserved, and a chronology of floodplain formation was proposed. This research contributes methodology for surveying extensive areas that are subject to the continuous dynamics of seasonal flooding.

Keywords
Archaeological survey; Floodplains; Geographic Information Systems; Amazonian archaeology; Fluvial geomorphology

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