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Science 4 February 2000:
Vol. 287. no. 5454, p. 788
DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5454.788
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ARCHAEOLOGY:
The Good Earth: Did People Improve the Amazon Basin?

Charles C. Mann

Despite its rich flora, Amazonia has many thin, aluminum-rich soils that can't hold nutrients and are toxic to crucial soil bacteria. Societies that try long-term farming, say researchers, will destroy the soil completely--and their resource base along with it. But evidence has gradually accumulated that this picture of the Amazon may be overly simple.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Prehistorically modified soils of central Amazonia: a model for sustainable agriculture in the twenty-first century.
B. Glaser (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 187-196
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)