[Terrapreta] Online TP Presentation Jan 31st at Wageningen University

[Shengar at aol.com]

Hi All,
 
This find is from RedGreenBlue at  
_http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/3451-terra-preta-33.html_ 
(http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/3451-terra-preta-33.html) 
 
 
 
 
Online TP Presentation Jan 31st - Today, 10:07 AM 

 
  
____________________________________



Tomorrow there will be an  interesting TP presentation at Wageningen 
University... also available  online.


Quote:
1491:  New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus : With a special 
reference  to the Terra Preta

Place: LA13 
Time: 19.30 , January 31th  

Presentation by Charles Mann, Amherst MA , U.S.A. ,

Gertjan  Becx, Joep van den Broek and Guido van Hofwegen (Resilience 
Foundation,  Wageningen) 

This lecture is available in real-time/online on  INTERNET via link _WUR 
Video  Archive_ (http://wurtv.wur.nl/presentations/roadkit3/)  (  
_http://wurtv.wur.nl/presentations/roadkit3/_ (http://wurtv.wur.nl/presentations/roadkit3/) 

What  was the Western Hemisphere like before Europeans arrived? Most of us 
have  a few impressions from school long ago, or from movies and the popular  
culture: Columbus, the conquistadores, and the first Thanksgiving. Most of  
those ideas are wrong, says author Charles Mann in his book: 1491 - New  
Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus . The bestseller book combines  research of 
the past decades on the pre-Columbian Americas . 

Mann  argues that the Americas had a far larger population than was 
previously  assumed. The Americas inhabited multiple cultures, languages and large  
cities. Mann claims that the idea of a pristine, natural environment in  the 
Americas before 1491 is untrue. The ecological conditions there were  shaped by 
human activity far before European colonization. 

One of  the greatest achievements of the native population of the Amazon, and 
main  topic of the presentation, is the creation of Terra Preta. Terra Preta 
is  a very stable soil type with a very high fertility. Researchers conclude  
that this soil type is able to produce 4-10 times as much food as other  
tropical soils. The creation of this soil was crucial for sustaining large  
populations.

Terra Preta are probably a product of indigenous soil  management involving a 
labor intensive technique of slash-and-char. In  addition, the presence of 
fish bones and special bacteria and fungi play a  role. Until now some of the 
questions on the miraculous fertility of Terra  Preta have been answered, but 
many questions with respect to the origin,  distribution, and properties remain. 
Currently, Wageningen researchers  attempt to unravel some of the remaining 
mysteries surrounding Terra Preta  and they even attempt to recreate Terra 
Preta. After the presentation of  Charles Mann some of the Terra Preta research 
conducted at Wageningen  University will be discussed. 

The 1491 book introduced Terra Preta  to a broader audience. It received very 
positive reviews, was on several  bestseller lists, and was on a number lists 
for best book of the year.   

Erich J.  Knight 
Shenandoah Gardens
E-mail: shengar at aol.com
(540)  289-9750


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/terrapreta_bioenergylists.org/attachments/20070130/22dfc528/attachment.html