A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
1467 entries
terra preta
A deep, fertile, charcoal-rich dark soil found in patches throughout the Amazon basin, created by Indigenous peoples over centuries through the deliberate incorporation of charcoal, bone, pottery shards, compost, and manure into the naturally poor tropical soil. It was practiced at least 2,500 years before European contact and then largely forgotten. Patches of terra preta remain strikingly fertile today.
Etymology
Portuguese — terra (earth) + preta (black). Black earth — the same concept as chernozem, but made by humans rather than by grass.
Notes
The rediscovery of terra preta has inspired the modern biochar movement, the idea that charcoal deliberately added to soil can sequester carbon and improve fertility.