Linking Past and Present Land-Use Histories in Southern Amazonas, Peru

This paper analyzes remotely sensed data sources to evaluate land-use history within the Peruvian department of Amazonas and demonstrates utility comparing present past patterns using continuous datasets, as a complement often dispersed discrete produced by archaeological paleoecological field studies. We characterize distribution ancient (ca. AD 1–1550) terracing based on drawn from high-resolution satellite imagery compare it deforestation between 2001 2019, time-series Landsat data. find that reflected in these two datasets are statistically different, indicating distinctive shift land-use, which we link Inka Spanish colonialism Indigenous depopulation 15th through 17th centuries well growth road infrastructure economic change recent past. While there is significant relationship areas modern-day deforestation, this ultimately explains little (6%) total pattern modern forest loss, do not seem be structuring trajectories land-use. Together, results shed light long-term their enduring legacies present.