PENN STATE, UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—Humans settled in southwestern Amazonia and even experimented with agriculture much earlier than previously thought, according to an international team of researchers. “These islands are elevated above the surrounding savanna, so they do not flood during the rainy season,” said Capriles. Capriles noted that it is rare to find human or even archaeological remains that predate the use of fired pottery in the region. “They did not really believe that those forest islands were early Holocene archaeological sites. The current study provides strong and definitive evidence of the anthropocentric origin of these sites, because the archaeological excavations uncovered early Holocene human burials.