Learning the wisdom of living in harmony with nature from prehistoric Amazonia and exploring from the perspectives of archaeology, paleoclimatology, and paleoenvironmental science

Q1. What inspired you to become a researcher?

A1. Captivated by photos from Andean fieldwork, I changed my path

My interest in archaeology was sparked by Nahoko Uehashi's fantasy novel series Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, which I was fascinated with as an elementary school student. I was deeply moved by how she depicted history from the perspective of ordinary people, rather than the kind of history taught in school. Around the same time, I watched the film Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King, which was set in ancient Central and South America. It stirred a sense of adventure in me, even when I was a child.

I entered university in the science track, but I was captivated by photos from fieldwork in the Andes region that a professor showed in an anthropology class. In my third year, I switched to the Department of History and Culture in the Faculty of Letters and began pursuing archaeology in earnest.

Archaeology is a field of study that allows us to understand the past of eras and regions without written records. My specialty is Andean-Amazonian archaeology, focusing on the Andean and Amazon regions centered on Peru in South America, particularly the border areas between them. My goal is to uncover how people lived from the time humans arrived on the South American continent more than ten thousand years ago until the Spanish invasion in the 15th century.

Q2. What research are you currently working on?

A2. Understanding how people lived in harmony with nature

I am currently approaching the increasingly serious problem of deforestation in the Amazon from an archaeological perspective. Until the 20th century, the Amazon rainforest was thought to have been untouched. However, recent research has revealed that prehistoric people supported larger populations than previously imagined and practiced large-scale agriculture while managing the forest rather than destroying it.

The soil in the Amazon is naturally acidic and unsuitable for agriculture. However, over thousands of years, prehistoric people created fertile black soil called "Amazonian Dark Earth" by continuously mixing in organic matter. In areas where this soil existed, traces have been found of crops such as cassava and cacao, as well as evidence of more than a dozen species of palm trees cultivated around settlements. This black soil is also widely distributed in my research area, and I am working to identify what crops were grown there.

My research combines three disciplines: archaeology, paleoclimatology, and paleoenvironmental science. Recently, after three years of exploratory excavation, I discovered laminated sediments in Lake Milagros in Peru. In this lake, where mud accumulates in annual layers like tree rings, it is possible to track past environmental changes with remarkably high temporal resolution. I am excited to see what discoveries will emerge from this site.

Q3. A message to those aspiring to become researchers

A3. Pursue what truly captivates you

My research area had been untouched for about half a century due to factors such as guerrilla activity, making it a blank spot in history. Every excavation yields new discoveries. A particularly memorable achievement was finding traces of human life from the earliest period when humans arrived in the Amazon during cave surveys that began in 2023. Reaching the beginning of human history in South America was a discovery I could hardly believe.

Cooperation with local people is essential for fieldwork. Through these interactions, I have become keenly aware that my research has the potential to contribute to solving social issues such as deforestation in the region.

For those aspiring to become researchers, I hope you will value your intellectual curiosity. Pursue whatever truly captivates you, it can be anything. The world of archaeology that I dreamed of as a child is a hundred times harder than I imagined, but that also makes it extraordinarily fascinating.

(Article: Yasuhiro Hatabe)