ABSTRACT
The Spaniards called this vast region stretching along the banks of the Amazon River which included the highly populated islands between the Nhamund and the Tapajs River mouths the Province of Saint John, since they arrived there on the June 1542, St. John's Day. In Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) soils, it is possible to find several plant species currently used by human populations, such as cacao, papaya, cupuau, Brazil nuts and kapok. Most of these species are found in abandoned indigenous plots along with palms and bamboos, and are thus involved in what William Bale has called cultural forests, or anthropogenic forests. Mineralogical analyses performed on greenstone pendants from the lower amazon river have shown that most were made of the nephrite variety of jade as well as from other greenstones that simulate jade, but that might be of local origin.
