Wetland Logistics: Geochemical Engineering of Amazonian Raised Fields

Tropical floodplains are notoriously hostile to mass agriculture. Heavy monsoons rapidly leach vital nutrients from the topsoil, while seasonal standing water suffocates and rots crop root systems. Yet, pre-Columbian societies in the Llanos de Moxos transformed these inhospitable wetlands into highly productive agricultural engines capable of sustaining hundreds of thousands of people. The solut...