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Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory is a research topic within History. Science Explorer counts 4.5k research works in it since 1950. 10.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the historical ecology of Amazonian landscapes, focusing on pre-Columbian human impact, plant domestication, landscape management, and the formation of anthropogenic soils. It investigates the long-term interactions between human cultures and the Amazonian environment, highlighting the influence of indigenous practices on forest composition, agrobiodiversity, and cultural landscapes.

  • Amazonia
  • historical ecology
  • pre-Columbian
  • landscape management
  • anthropogenic soils
  • plant domestication
  • cultural landscapes
  • forest composition
  • agrobiodiversity
  • indigenous practices
Research works
4.5k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
479
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+20%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Brazil
60% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Which countries lead Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory research?

By volume, Brazil and the United States publish the most (683 and 153 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Brazil 683 works
  2. 2 United States 153 works
  3. 3 Argentina 65 works
  4. 4 France 63 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 39 works
  6. 6 Portugal 36 works
  7. 7 Spain 33 works
  8. 8 Germany 28 works
  9. 9 Mexico 26 works
  10. 10 Ecuador 18 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Brazil: 59.7%United States: 13.4%Argentina: 5.7%France: 5.5%6 others listed: 15.7%60%largest
Brazil683 · 59.7%United States153 · 13.4%Argentina65 · 5.7%France63 · 5.5%6 others listed180 · 15.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory research?

By volume in 2022-now, Universidade de São Paulo publishes the most Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory research, followed by Universidade Federal do Pará and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 41 works
  2. 2 Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil 38 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 32 works
  4. 4 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina 26 works
  5. 5 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 26 works
  6. 6 Universidade Federal do AmazonasBrazil 22 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 19 works
  8. 8 Universidade Federal de PernambucoBrazil 18 works
  9. 9 Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)Brazil 15 works
  10. 10 Universidade Federal do Oeste do ParáBrazil 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory include Detlef Weigel, Johannes C. Lehmann and Gregory P. Asner.

  1. 1 Detlef Weigel Germany 111k citations
  2. 2 Johannes C. Lehmann United States 98k citations
  3. 3 Gregory P. Asner United States 98k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory?

The most cited paper in Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory is "Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal - a review" (Bruno Glaser, Johannes C. Lehmann, Wolfgang Zech, 2002), with 2,893 citations. Next come "Black Carbon Increases Cation Exchange Capacity in Soils" (2,211) and "Nutrient availability and leaching in an archaeological Anthrosol and a Ferralsol of the Central Amazon basin: fertilizer, manure and charcoal amendments" (1,907).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal - a review Bruno Glaser, Johannes C. Lehmann, Wolfgang Zech · Biology and Fertility of Soils Jun 2002 2,893
2 Black Carbon Increases Cation Exchange Capacity in Soils Biqing Liang, Johannes C. Lehmann, Dawit Solomon et al. · Soil Science Society of America Journal 22 Aug 2006 2,211
3 Nutrient availability and leaching in an archaeological Anthrosol and a Ferralsol of the Central Amazon basin: fertilizer, manure and charcoal amendments Johannes C. Lehmann, José Pereira da Silva, Christoph Steiner et al. · Plant and Soil Feb 2003 1,907
4 The Pristine Myth: The Landscape of the Americas in 1492 William M. Denevan · Annals of the Association of American Geographers Sep 1992 1,468
5 Neotropical secondary forest succession: changes in structural and functional characteristics Manuel R. Guariguata, Rebecca Ostertag · Forest Ecology and Management Jul 2001 1,390
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory research done?

The largest centres of Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory research in 2022-now are São Paulo (Brazil), Belém (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Manaus (Brazil). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Manaus and Belém.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 São PauloBrazil 87 works
  2. 2 BelémBrazil 65 works
  3. 3 Rio de JaneiroBrazil 60 works
  4. 4 ManausBrazil 42 works
  5. 5 Buenos AiresArgentina 27 works
  6. 6 RecifeBrazil 27 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 25 works
  8. 8 BrasíliaBrazil 25 works
  9. 9 Belo HorizonteBrazil 25 works
  10. 10 LisbonPortugal 25 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ManausBR · 41.7 works73×
  2. BelémBR · 64.7 works69×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory than the world average.

See Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory on the map

Where is the best place to study Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory?

Among universities, judged by research, Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade de Brasília and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 6.71%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Universidade de Bras…Universidade de São …Universidade Federal…Universidade Federal…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Universidade de São PauloBrazil 69.09.9%17.9×41 -13.5%
2Universidade de BrasíliaBrazil 52.916.2%17.1×11 -2.1%
3Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 49.06.2%29.8×26 +17.1%
4Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil 43.03.3%85.8×38 +1.0%
5Universidade Federal do AmazonasBrazil 41.83.7%91.4×22 +105.6%
6Universidade Federal do Oeste do ParáBrazil 38.85.4%227.9×13 +6.8%
7Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 36.04.7%23.3×19 +55.6%
8Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil 35.09.0%16.1×12 -23.0%
9Universidade Federal de PernambucoBrazil 29.73.3%31.9×18 +67.7%
10Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)Brazil 28.75.4%17.3×15 -8.9%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory, country by country

Is Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 20% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0043% in 2024.

still counting0.0025%0.0050%0.0075%Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory0.0063% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory10.9% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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