A mobilidade dos Yanomami tem papel decisivo na construção da paisagem amazônica ao produzir clareiras a serem regeneradas após cada mudança de residência. Esse processo não deve ser reduzido apenas ao seu aspecto de ecologia histórica, pois está intimamente ligado à organização social horizontalizada, orientada pelas alianças intercomunitárias. Nesse estudo é proposto um mapeamento das trajetórias de alguns grupos Yanomami, no Toototopi, Homoxi, Marauiá e os resistentes ao contato, Moxihatetemapë. Nos três primeiros, onde o posto de contato exerce uma atração pelo diferencial de potencialidades de troca, recuperei em minha experiência de quase uma década nesses lugares, para investigar a intencionalidade dessa mobilidade e de sua continuidade perante a novidade representada pelo posto. Os Yanomami souberam manter uma relação pendular de aproximação e afastamento dos postos de contato permanente, utilizando-se de segundas residências, próximas e longe do posto, do rio, aproveitando o que lhes interessava na relação de contato e recusando os elementos que pudessem levar a um sistema colonial ou a uma perversão das relações sociais com a criação de algum mecanismo coercitivo; isso se fez mediante a uma atualização sobre a alteridade, uma antropologia reversa, enquanto os estrangeiros ainda eram minoritários. Percebendo a intencionalidade estratégica desse ato, cuja recusa radical é a resistência ao contato dos Moxihatetemapë. Há uma relação prioritária com a construção (e defesa) da paisagem amazônica, expressa na cosmopolítica de Davi Kopenawa. / The mobility of the Yanomami plays a decisive role in the construction of the Amazon landscape by producing clearings to be regenerated after their moving among residences. This process should not be reduced only to its historical ecology, since it is closely linked to the social organization horizontality, regulated by inter-community alliances. In this study I mapped the trajectories of some Yanomami groups in Toototopi, Homoxi, Marauiá and Moxihatetemapë, the latter resistant to contact. In the other three, the \"attraction post\" established by the government causes both an attraction and a resistance given its exchange potential. My experience of almost a decade in these posts investigating the intentionality of indigeneous mobility and its continuity is reviewed. The Yanomami have invented intelligent ways to maintain a pendular relation to be near and distant from these permanent contact sites, using second residences, near and far from health services, by the river or taking advantage of what interested them in their contact while refusing the elements that could lead to a colonial system or a perversion of social relations due to the creation of some coercive mechanism; this was done through an update on alterity, a reverse anthropology, until foreigners were still in minority. The strategic intentionality of this processes of radical refusal mirrors the resistance to contact of the Moxihatetemapë. I therefore advocate a relation between this and the construction (and defense) of the Amazonian landscape, expressed in the cosmopolitics of Davi Kopenawa.

Though some researchers have argued that the Big Barrens grasslands of Kentucky were the product of anthropogenic land clearing practices by Native Americans, heretofore, this hypothesis had not been tested archaeologically. More work was needed to refine chronologies of fire activity in the region, determine the extent to which humans played a role in the process, and integrate these findings with the paleoenvironmental and archaeological record. With these goals in mind, I conducted archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations at Crumps Sink in the Sinkhole Plain of Kentucky. The archaeological record and site formation history of Crumps Sink were compared with environmental and archaeological data from the Interior Low Plateaus and Southern Appalachian Mountains for an understanding of how the site fits into the larger story of human-environmental interactions in the Eastern Woodlands. Based on the data recovered, I argue that through land burning Archaic hunter-gatherers were active managers of ecosystems to a greater degree than previously acknowledged. Excavations at Crumps Sink revealed stratified archaeological deposits spanning the late Middle Archaic to Terminal Late Archaic periods. Radiocarbon dates and an analysis of projectile point typologies provided information on the chronological and cultural history of the site. Magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, plant available phosphorous, and soil micromorphological analyses were conducted to examine landform dynamics in response to environmental change and to trace the anthropogenic signature created by human activities at the site. Masses of lithic debitage, animal bone, and burned sediment nodules per ten-cm-level provide an indication of human occupation intensity and shifting activities over time. Radiocarbon dates were used to reconstruct rates of sediment accumulation in the sink. These varying datasets were considered together for a holistic understanding of localized environmental and anthropogenic impacts on the landform. Between 7200 and 5600 cal. BP, during the Middle Holocene Thermal Maximum and corresponding with the late Middle Archaic period, sediment accumulation was sustained with one identifiable episode of very weak soil development. Background magnetic and chemical signatures in the soils were greater than they were at pre-occupation levels, demonstrating that human activities left a lasting imprint in soils as early as the late Middle Archaic period. Between 5600 and 3900 cal. BP, periods of diminished sedimentation led to more pronounced episodes of soil formation. However, these soil horizons are interposed by pulses of enhanced sediment accumulation. These soil data may signal shifting environmental regimes during the Middle to Late Holocene transition. Between 5600 and 3900 cal. BP scattered plant ash, elevated masses of burned sediment nodules, and pestle fragments in Late Archaic deposits suggest that hunter-gatherers were intensively processing nut mast, potentially in association with early forest clearance and silviculture. Botanical assemblages from a coincident archaeological sequence at the Carlston Annis site in the nearby middle Green River region has demonstrated woodland disturbance and potential silviculture in central Kentucky during this time. During the Late Archaic and Terminal Late Archaic periods (3900-3000 cal. BP), substantial plant ash deposition occurred in a stratum that accumulated relatively quickly. Very low burned sediment nodule masses in this deposit indicate that combustion features were not common in the immediate vicinity and that elevated frequencies of plant ash were the result of burning on a broader expanse of the surrounding landform. Chronologically, the zone with enhanced plant ash deposition is coeval with previously demonstrated occurrences of increased forest fires, grassland expansion, and a shift to early horticultural economies throughout the region. Soil development occurred after 3000 cal. BP, and this episode of landform stability may have lasted for over two millennia until being capped by sediment accumulation from historic agriculture. The late Middle Archaic through Terminal Late Archaic data from Crumps Sink demonstrate that hunter-gatherer activities left lasting signatures in soils in Kentucky. The data from the Late Archaic to Terminal Late Archaic periods (ca. 5600-3000 cal. BP) may indicate intentional land burning by hunter-gatherers to create anthropogenic environments, first for silviculture and then for early plant domestication. This forces a rethinking of labor and subsistence systems within hunter-gatherer societies. Thus, if hunter-gatherers were utilizing long-term forest management methods, they were employing a delayed-return economic system relying on labor investment and negotiated understandings about land tenure. Further characterization of the origin of fire management activities will help us to elucidate the nature of incipient indigenous plant domestication in the Eastern Woodlands.

The success or failure of many organisms to respond to the challenges of habitat destruction and a warming climate lies in the ability of plant species to disperse between isolated habitats or to migrate to new ranges. European semi-natural grasslands represent one of the world's most species-rich habitats at small scales, but agricultural intensification during the 20th century has meant that many plant species are left only on small fragments of former habitat. It is important that these plants can disperse, both for the maintenance of existing populations, and for the colonisation of target species to restored grasslands. This thesis investigates the ecological, geographical and historical influences on seed dispersal and connectivity in semi-natural grasslands, and the mobility of plants through time and space. Seed dispersal by human activity has played a large role in the build-up of plant communities in rural landscapes, but patterns have shifted. Livestock are the most traditional, and probably the most capable seed dispersal vector in the landscape, but other dispersal methods may also be effective. Motor vehicles disperse seeds with similar traits to those dispersed by livestock, while 39% of valuable grasslands in southern Sweden are connected by the road network. Humans are found to disperse around one-third of available grassland species, including several protected and red-listed species, indicating that humans may have been valuable seed dispersers in the past when rural populations were larger. Past activities can also affect seed mobility in time through the seed bank, as seeds of grassland plant species are shown to remain in the soil even after the grassland had been abandoned. Today however, low seed rain in intensively grazed semi-natural grasslands indicates that seed production may be a limiting factor in allowing seeds to be dispersed in space through the landscape. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Accepted. Paper 4: In press. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>

O quilombo de Pedro Cubas situa-se, juntamente com a maioria das comunidades remanescentes paulistas, na região do Vale do Ribeira. Incentivos financeiros por parte do governo estadual na região e a valorização das terras a partir de meados do século XX criaram um ambiente de tensão e ameaça ao modo de vida dessa população, a qual existe desde a primeira metade do século XIX. Durante as décadas de 1990 e 2000, diversas dessas comunidades foram finalmente reconhecidas e tituladas com base na Constituição de 1988, a qual assegura aos quilombos a posse coletiva de suas terras centenárias. Diversas pesquisas antropológicas e ecológicas foram executadas no Médio Ribeira em parceria com as comunidades quilombolas da região, muitas delas contribuindo para os processos reivindicatórios dessas populações. No entanto, nenhuma destas pesquisas teve por enfoque a materialidade dessas populações. Inspirado nos pressupostos teóricos da Arqueologia Histórica, Ecologia Histórica e Arqueologia da Paisagem, esta dissertação de mestrado tem como objetivo a identificação de antigas áreas residenciais, com ênfase na utilização de vestígios arbóreos típicos dos padrões de assentamento locais. Com base principalmente em entrevistas e visitas guiadas à áreas antigamente habitadas, uma correlação clara entre determinadas espécies de árvores frutíferas e antigas habitações foi estabelecida. Por fim, espera-se também que essa dissertação venha a contribuir para o crescimento recente dos estudos arqueológicos em comunidades quilombolas e rurais em geral. / The maroon of Pedro Cubas is located, as the majority of the other paulista communities, at the Ribeira Valley region. State government financial incentives and land valorization by the second half of the XXth century created an environment of tension and a threat to this population\'s way of life, which exists since the end of the XIXth century. During 1990 and 2000 decades several of these communities were finally recognized and conceived collective land titles based on 1988\'s Constitution, which assures the maroons the rights to their centennial lands. Many anthropological and ecological researches were made at the Middle Ribeira Valley in partnership with the region\'s maroon communities, contributing to their reivindication processes. However none of these researches emphasized the materiality of these populations. Inspired on Historical Archaeology, Historical Ecology and Landscape Archaeology theoretical assumptions, this master\'s thesis has as its objective the identification of former residential areas with emphasis on the use of typical arboreal vestiges from local settlement patterns. Based mainly on interviews and guided visits to formerly inhabited areas, a clear correlation between determined tree species and ancient inhabited areas was established. Finally it is also hoped that this master\'s thesis contribute to the recent growing of archaeological studies on maroon and rural communities in general.

A mobilidade dos Yanomami tem papel decisivo na construção da paisagem amazônica ao produzir clareiras a serem regeneradas após cada mudança de residência. Esse processo não deve ser reduzido apenas ao seu aspecto de ecologia histórica, pois está intimamente ligado à organização social horizontalizada, orientada pelas alianças intercomunitárias. Nesse estudo é proposto um mapeamento das trajetórias de alguns grupos Yanomami, no Toototopi, Homoxi, Marauiá e os resistentes ao contato, Moxihatetemapë. Nos três primeiros, onde o posto de contato exerce uma atração pelo diferencial de potencialidades de troca, recuperei em minha experiência de quase uma década nesses lugares, para investigar a intencionalidade dessa mobilidade e de sua continuidade perante a novidade representada pelo posto. Os Yanomami souberam manter uma relação pendular de aproximação e afastamento dos postos de contato permanente, utilizando-se de segundas residências, próximas e longe do posto, do rio, aproveitando o que lhes interessava na relação de contato e recusando os elementos que pudessem levar a um sistema colonial ou a uma perversão das relações sociais com a criação de algum mecanismo coercitivo; isso se fez mediante a uma atualização sobre a alteridade, uma antropologia reversa, enquanto os estrangeiros ainda eram minoritários. Percebendo a intencionalidade estratégica desse ato, cuja recusa radical é a resistência ao contato dos Moxihatetemapë. Há uma relação prioritária com a construção (e defesa) da paisagem amazônica, expressa na cosmopolítica de Davi Kopenawa. / The mobility of the Yanomami plays a decisive role in the construction of the Amazon landscape by producing clearings to be regenerated after their moving among residences. This process should not be reduced only to its historical ecology, since it is closely linked to the social organization horizontality, regulated by inter-community alliances. In this study I mapped the trajectories of some Yanomami groups in Toototopi, Homoxi, Marauiá and Moxihatetemapë, the latter resistant to contact. In the other three, the \"attraction post\" established by the government causes both an attraction and a resistance given its exchange potential. My experience of almost a decade in these posts investigating the intentionality of indigeneous mobility and its continuity is reviewed. The Yanomami have invented intelligent ways to maintain a pendular relation to be near and distant from these permanent contact sites, using second residences, near and far from health services, by the river or taking advantage of what interested them in their contact while refusing the elements that could lead to a colonial system or a perversion of social relations due to the creation of some coercive mechanism; this was done through an update on alterity, a reverse anthropology, until foreigners were still in minority. The strategic intentionality of this processes of radical refusal mirrors the resistance to contact of the Moxihatetemapë. I therefore advocate a relation between this and the construction (and defense) of the Amazonian landscape, expressed in the cosmopolitics of Davi Kopenawa.

This master's thesis summarizes the results of analytical surface collections and large-scale geophysical survey of early medieval settlement Havraň, cadastral municipality Vestec nad Mrlinou, district Nymburk. The Mrlina river basin was chosen as a model region, as it is an area of continuous archaeological interest with a complete record of High Middle Ages settlement. Havraň seems to be a site with the greatest study potential, the site is also a historically significant place. According to written sources, the settlement Havraň was an administrative centre of a lower order in the Early Middle Ages. There was a motte and bailey with a farmyard and several homesteads in the High Middle Ages. The site was newly researched using analytical surface collections and large-scale geophysical surveys. The aim of non-destructive archaeological research was primarily to understand the form and disposition of early medieval settlement and its changes in the High Middle Ages. A substantial part of the work is the analysis of the ceramic assemblage from the surface collections, evaluation the data in GIS, and correlation with the results of the geophysical survey. During the interpretation of the results, the graduate focused mainly on the basic idea of (1) the chronology of settlement, (2) the spatial extent...

Since the early 2000s, the ecosystem services concept has become increasingly popular internationally. It has also been central in Scandinavian environmental policies and projects. This thesis reviews the history of and the philosophical problems associated with the ecosystem services concept. In this connection, the ‘value’ of nature is explored from a theoretical and a practical lens by scrutinising the ecosystem services discourse. The histories and uses of the ecosystem services concept in Sweden, Norway and Denmark are traced through analyses of governmental-issued texts. The comparison of the three countries shows how this complex concept has been implemented and how it is related to other market-based conservation approaches. The thesis further discusses how pricing nature is both a powerful yet problematic tool in conservation efforts. In the overall discussion of the concept and its application, three issues of tension within the ecosystem services discourse are identified. They are referred to as ‘the ethical problem’ (can we value nature?), ‘the methodological problem’ (how do we estimate the worth of ecosystem services?) and ‘the affective problem’ (what is the effect of valuing ecosystem services?). Ultimately, by analysing the three case studies this thesis argues that the ecosystems services concept can be used to broaden discussions around the value of nature, which might lead to more democratic and accountable conservation.

This thesis is an exploration of the humanimal entanglements between humans and pigeons in the urban setting. It traces human-pigeon histories from pigeons’ domestication forward to the contemporary conceptions of pigeons as a pest animal. Pigeons are made visible in all of their cultural, socio-political, and symbolic and aesthetic dimensions, exposing their deep entanglements with humans across space and time. Using a combination of multi-species ethnography through ‘flaneur’ walks in Uppsala, Sweden and conceptual frameworks drawn from post-humanism, philosophy, and animal studies, pigeon-human relationships are problematized. The pigeon's ability to interrogate dualistic paradigms of nature/culture, wild/domestic, and human/animal are explored. It is argued that pigeons are active in the co-constitution of the urban space alongside humans, and are participating in reciprocal humanimal relations - they are not simply objects to be acted upon but have their own agency. From pigeons we can learn valuable stories about ourselves, and the more-than-human world.

A case study of a prehistoric site named Ängesviken, in eastern Jämtland, is presented in this thesis. Ängesviken is situated in a region that traditionally has been understood as peripheral and without a significant history prior to the Late Iron Age or even the mediaeval period. The site appears to have a continuous presence of human activities through a period of 3000 years, manifested through a horizontal stratigraphy. In order to study this site of abstruse character a multidisciplinary approach is used, where archaeology, paleoecology, and spatiality are combined. The conceptual framework of the study is that landscapes are the result of socio-ecological processes over time. To frame the data provided by chosen methods, theoretical frameworks of cultural niche construction theory and landscape patchiness applied, which provide insight of the socio-ecological systems present at Ängesviken during the last 3000 years. During the Iron Age, the site was used for pastoralism, combined with hunting. The archaeological and geographical context of Ängesviken indicate that the site might have been connected with other regions through networks of trade during this period. During the mediaeval period there is a reorganisation of the outlands, leading to a phase of regrowth, but the site could possibly still have been utilised as hunting grounds as there are mediaeval villages in the region. In the early modern period and modern period, the site is once again used for pastoralism. Today, the utilisation of the site has changed towards modern forestry and occasional hunting of elk. The continuous presence at Ängesviken could be explained by the resources the outlands provided. This case study indicates that the far-reaching networks of trade during the Iron Age led to a process of local modification of the ecosystem driven by an external market. This study shows that the anthropogenic modification of the boreal forest's ecosystem has a longer history in eastern Jämtland than traditionally has been thought. The investigation of Ängesviken highlights the importance of researching abstruse and previously uncertain sites from a multidisciplinary approach, as the different datatypes complement each other and results in a deeper knowledge of the site and the socio-ecological systems in a long-term perspective. / Uppsatsen består av en fallstudie av en arkeolgosik lokal vid namn Ängesviken i östra Jämtland. Platsen ligger i ett område som vid första anblick ter sig perifeiellt placerat i utmarkerna till medeltida byar och tidigmoderna fäbodar. Tidigare har en vikingatida byggnad sam en intilligande grav undersökts arkeologiskt. Arkeologiska undersökningar har visat att människor tycks ha använt platsen under en 3000-års period, men hur platsen använts eller påverkats av denna användning har arkeologin inte kunnat påvisa. För att undersöka mänskliga aktiviteter vid Ängesviken under de senaste 3000 åren, samt hur dessa aktiviteter påverkat landskapet, undersöks platsen från ett tvärvetenskapligt perspektiv. Arkeologi kombineras med paleoekologi och rumslig analys. Det konceptuella ramverket för undersökningen bygger på historisk ekologi där kulturell nische konstruktion kombineras med "landscape patchiness". "Landscape patchiness" har sitt ursprung ur ekologin och lägger fokus på lakala vegetationsstrukturer. De äldsta praktikerna på platsen är ännu inte fullt ut klargjorda men platsens läge i landskapet ter sig som en trolig orsak till de första aktiviteterna. Pollenanalysen visar att området används för djurhållning under järnåldern, en aktivitet som kom att förändra landskapets struktur och platsens ekologi. Järnålderns kulturella nische ter sig multifunktionell där djurhållning har kombinerats med andra nyttjanden av utmarksresurser. Pollenanalysen visar att platsen verkar överges under medeltid för att sedan åter brukas för djurhållning under tidigmodern och modern tid. Undersökningen visar på vikten av tvärvetenskapliga undersökningar av otydliga och tidigare svårtolkade arkeologiska lokaler och sammanhang inom det Skandinaviska inlandet.

L'Amazonie a connu une longue histoire d'occupation humaine. La nature et l'échelle de l'impact des populations d'Amérindiens précolombiens sur leur environnement sont encore largement débattues. Dans une approche pluridisciplinaire, la thèse vise 1) à améliorer les estimations de l'étendue des remaniements anciens des paysages par l'Homme et 2) à comprendre comment ces remaniements affectent la structure et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes contemporains par l'étude des complexes de champs surélevés précolombiens des savanes côtières de Guyane française. Pour la mise en place d'une agriculture intensive sédentaire, les agriculteurs précolombiens ont transformé ces savanes saisonnièrement inondées en édifiant des champs sous la forme de buttes de terre circulaires produisant une hétérogénéité topographique marquée et organisée. Pour répondre au premier objectif, nous avons développé deux approches permettant de distinguer les paysages de buttes d'origine anthropique de ceux, dont la physionomie est très proche, résultant de processus naturels. Pour répondre au second objectif, nous avons décrit comment la structure des communautés d'ingénieurs naturels d'écosystèmes (fourmis, termites, vers de terre et plantes) répond à l'hétérogénéité induite par l'Homme, et comment les activités de ces ingénieurs assurent l'auto-entretien des anciens champs contre l'érosion depuis leur abandon il y a environ 800 ans. Notre travail révèle que l'étude de la dynamique temporelle de la végétation permet d'inférer l'origine des complexes de buttes uniquement lorsqu'elle combine différents proxys. L'analyse de la structure spatiale des buttes montre que les complexes de buttes de Guyane présentent une orientation souvent en grille carrée, orientation qui n'a jamais été montrée ni prédite pour des paysages d'origine naturel, indiquant que la géométrie du paysage peut porter la signature de l'intervention de l'Homme. Depuis l'abandon des champs surélevés, les communautés d'ingénieurs naturels se structurent, et concentrent leurs activités, dans les buttes. Nous avons montré que ces activités contribuent à maintenir des habitats surélevés contre l'érosion mais que les rétroactions qu'ils conduisent sur le sol sont modulées par les conditions initiales du milieu. Le paysage observé actuellement dans les savanes de Guyane n'est ni entièrement façonné par l'Homme, ni entièrement naturel mais résulte de l'interaction complexe entre les composantes physiques et biotiques et de l'héritage des activités anciennes de l'Homme. Le résultat de ces interactions est reflété par une mosaïque de buttes plus ou moins érodées. Notre travail représente la première étude montrant l'impact à long terme des activités anciennes de l'Homme sur les écosystèmes de savanes en Amazonie. Nos résultats présentent des applications importantes dans le domaine de l'ingénierie écologique pour la conception de nouveaux agroécosystèmes durables. / Amazonia has a long history of human occupation. The nature and scale of the impact of pre-Columbian humans on their environment are still hotly debated. In a pluridisciplinary approach, this thesis aims 1) to improve estimations of the scale of ancient landscape transformations by humans and 2) to understand how these transformations influence the structure and the functioning of contemporary ecosystems, by studying the particular exemple of pre-Columbian raised-field complexes in coastal savannas of French Guiana. To conduct sedentary intensive agriculture, pre-Columbian farmers transformed these seasonally flooded savannas by building raised fieldsin the form of circular moundscreating a marked and organized topographic heterogeneity. To accomplish the first objective, we developed two approaches to distinguish anthropogenic mound-field landscapes from others, of similar physiognomy, resulting from natural processes. To accomplish the second objective, we described how the structure of the community of natural ecosystem engineers (ants, termites, earthworms and plants) is influenced by human-induced heterogeneity, and how feedbacks generated by these engineers can lead to self-organized maintenance of the ancient fields against erosion since their abandonment around 800 years ago. Our work reveals that the study of the temporal dynamics of vegetation can be used to infer the origin of mound complexes only when it combines different proxies. The analysis of spatial structure of mounds shows that mound complexes of Guiana are strongly oriented, often in a square lattice, an orientation that has been neither demonstrated nor predicted for natural landscapes, indicating that landscape geometry bears a diagnostic signature of human activities. Ever since raised fields were abandoned, the community of natural engineers is structured, and its activities are concentrated, on mounds. We showed that these activities cont ribute to maintaining these raised features against erosion, but that the effectiveness of engineer-feedbacks on soil in countering erosion are modulated by initial conditions of the environment. The current landscapes of French Guianan savannas are neither solely modeled by humans nor entirely natural, but result from the complex interaction between physical and biotic components and from the legacies of past human land use. The result of these interactions is reflected in a mosaic of more or less eroded mounds. Our work represents the first study showing the long-term impact of ancient human activities on Amazonian savanna ecosystems. Our results can have important applications in the framework of ecological engineering to conceptualize new durable agroecosystems.