Announcing the Final Examination of Mr. Thomas Lee for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology.
Date: March 25, 2020
Time: 9:30am
Room: HPH 409A
Thesis title: “Forests and Farmers: A Landscape Approach to Settlement Pattern Analysis in the Bolivian Amazon”
The Llanos de Mojos of the Bolivian Amazon is a domesticated landscape with a long history of management by pre-Columbian communities. This project uses a landscape approach to interpret the settlement patterns of pre-Columbian raised-field farmers in west central Mojos. The pre-Columbian landscape was reconstructed by mapping the distribution of three types of landscape features: forest islands, raised agricultural fields and water systems (rivers, streams & wetlands). Previous research has identified four types of patterned clustering or ‘constellations’ of these landscape features in west central Mojos. These constellations and the immediate area of the landscape that surrounds them afforded Mojos farmers a specific set of tasks or activities to take part in as part of harnessing resources from the landscape. The mapping of landscape features and their associated tasks onto the landscape provides insight into the organization of the communities that constructed and managed them. It was found that the landscape of west central Mojos is organized into two distinct regional patterns. In the northern part of the region, evidence of large farming communities is dispersed along the banks of the permanent rivers with networks of landscape features extending off into remote areas of the savanna. In the southern part of the region, evidence for large farming communities is clustered closer together in remote areas of the savanna with networks of landscape features extending back towards the permanent rivers. The two regions are melded together by a transitional zone that implies a type of interaction between the regions rather than a distinct separation.
Outline of Studies:
Major: Anthropology
Educational Career:
B.A & B.S., 2016, University of Central Florida
Committee in Charge:
Dr. John Walker (Chair)
Dr. Scott Branting
Dr. Michael Callaghan
Approved for distribution by John Walker, Committee Chair, on March 5th, 2020.
The public is welcome to attend.
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