Agricultural Landforms Introducer: Clark L. Erickson

Indigenous agriculture of the Americas has a long history as a research topic in cultural geography, cultural anthropology, and archaeology. Native peoples developed a vast range of strategies from intensive agriculture (raised fields, terracing, irrigation) to agroforestry. Over time, human activities transformed much of the environment into highly productive anthropogenic landscapes. William Denevan dedicated his career to understanding indigenous knowledge through research on the complex agricultural landforms. Two early publications explore agricultural intensification, conversion of marginal wetlands and slopes into productive spaces, role of social organization in farming, human response to climate change, and abandonment of fields. In the process, Denevan presents methodological approaches to record, classify, date, and analyze field systems that continue to be relevant.