Environmental and historical archaeology of the Galápagos islands: archaeobotany of Hacienda El Progreso, 1870–1920

Illustrated catalogue of phytoliths from modern plants of the Galápagos Islands: Economic species of San Cristóbal Island

“…The results of this work, however, contributed in suggesting that the introduction of the several species of grasses existing on San Cristóbal today happened with human colonization and the start of intensive agriculture associated with El Progreso plantation. Vegetation clearing and expansion of grasslands were probably executed to sustain grazing activities that were an important economic aspect of the plantation enterprise [22,52,53]. The results presented here support the premise that the landscape around the modern village of El Progreso is an anthropogenic landscape resulting from about two centuries of continual agriculture and grazing that started in the 1860s [52].…”

“…Vegetation clearing and expansion of grasslands were probably executed to sustain grazing activities that were an important economic aspect of the plantation enterprise [22,52,53]. The results presented here support the premise that the landscape around the modern village of El Progreso is an anthropogenic landscape resulting from about two centuries of continual agriculture and grazing that started in the 1860s [52]. The modern vegetation of the Agricultural Zone of San Cristóbal Island is a result of vegetation clearing, the introduction of plants and animals, episodes of abandonment of the landscape, and the adaptation of new plant species.…”

“…It is crucial to understand the socio-political context of colonization during the middle 19th century to identify the history of invasive plant species on the archipelago. Most of the existing naturalized plants were intentionally introduced to the Galápagos by colonizers to maintain dietary patterns and cultural traditions [53]. People traveled with known plant species carrying a pre-conceived meaning and use of these species.…”

Origin and dispersion pathways of guava in the Galapagos Islands inferred through genetics and historical records

“…The CH region in our study includes the provinces of Tungurahua and the northern portion of Azuay (Figure 1); the Galapagos Islands received numerous immigrants from Tungurahua during their early human settling, including indigenous people of the Salasaca culture, which have established communities in the archipelago (Granda & Chóez, 2013; Grenier, 2007; Wogan, 2009). Meanwhile, northern Azuay includes the areas around the city of Cuenca, which is the birthplace of Manuel J. Cobos; Cobos is one of the most famous settlers in the Galapagos Islands, who established a massive sugar cane plantation in San Cristobal Island (Hacienda El Progreso) and a dye processing company in Floreana (Astudillo, 2018; Lundh, 2004; Pérez, 2005). The contribution of the Ecuadorian coast to the Galapagos guava populations, particularly the CC which includes the city of Guayaquil, is also reasonable.…”

Taxonomic Demarcation of Setaria pumila (Poir.) Roem. & Schult., S. verticillata (L.) P. Beauv., and S. viridis (L.) P. Beauv. (Cenchrinae, Paniceae, Panicoideae, Poaceae) From Phytolith Signatures

“…Owing to widespread production across several plant groups and excellent preservation as microfossils, phytoliths have found an ever increasing role as proxies in diverse fields of scientific enquiry including archeaobotany of the centers of civilization and cultivation (Schellenberg, 1908 ; Pearsall, 1978 ; Rovner, 1983 ; Piperno, 1984 ; Shillito, 2013 ; Gao et al, 2018 ), paleoecology and paleoclimatology (Rovner, 1971 ; Carbone, 1977 ; Fox et al, 1996 ; Piperno, 2006 ; Albert et al, 2007 ), the mapping of ancient land use patterns, and vegetation structure (Gross, 1973 ; Pearsall and Trimble, 1984 ; Fisher et al, 1995 ). Phytolith profiles of present day crop species and soil samples of ancient sites have been compared and calibrated for developing historical calendars for the origin of agriculture and routes of spread and diversification of crop species and calculating the crop ratios (Rovner, 1983 ; Piperno, 1998 , 2009 ; Pearsall et al, 2003 ; Albert and Henry, 2004 ; Fuller et al, 2007 ; Itzstein-Davey et al, 2007 ; Tsartsidou et al, 2007 ; Hunt et al, 2008 ; Crawford, 2009 ; Lu et al, 2009 ; Zhang et al, 2010 , 2012 ; Zhao, 2011 ; Chen et al, 2012 ; Madella et al, 2014 , 2016 ; Weisskopf et al, 2014 ; Out and Madella, 2016 ; Weisskopf and Lee, 2016 ), the food and non-food uses of plants in crafts and building materials (Ryan, 2011 ), agricultural practices (e.g., irrigation, Rosen and Weiner, 1994 ; Slash-n-burn; Piperno, 1998 ), paleoagrostology (Piperno and Pearsall, 1998 ), taphonomy (Madella and Lancelotti, 2012 ) and colonization of islands and distant lands (Astudillo, 2017 ).…”