ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the theoretical and methodological issues surrounding the interpretation of assemblages of microfossils such as pollen, phytoliths and particulate charcoal in terms of the impact of prehistoric agriculture on forested environments. The earliest indications of prehistoric agriculture in forested environments in the neotropics are often environmental disturbances identified in palaeoenvironmental records. There are two dominant characteristics of tropical ecosystems: a complexity of biological interactions and a deficiency of plant mineral nutrients in the soil. Biotic complexity creates special problems when humans attempts to create simpler artificial systems such as agricultural fields. In tropical forest ecosystems, nutrients essential for plant growth are bound up in plant biomass. Researchers throughout the neotropics have advanced the knowledge of prehistoric agriculture through the analysis of sediment cores. The potential for getting the long view on people-plant relationships in the lowland neo-tropics and for documenting practices that are sustainable is considerable.
