The thread continues to unwind... (Gene Hunn)

On Sun, 19 Nov 1995 jbroadus at seanet.com wrote:

> A comment on Gene Hunn's statement:
>
> (snip) Mexican Indian societies pre-Conquest achieved very high
> >densities but the worst environmental deterioration in Mexico seem
> >attributable to colonial and post-colonial land use patterns, driven by
> >external demand. My point is that it's not simply density but the nature
> >of the system: is it oriented toward competing in a global market or is
> >it more locally or regionally contained.
> (snip)
>
> I do not claim to be an expert on this, Mesoamerican archaeology was merely
> my minor at University of Texas back in the '60's, even before we could read
> Mayan writing. But correct me if I'm wrong--I thought there was a fair amount
> of evidence of severe environmental degradation in the large Maya

I believe the jury is still out on the primary cause(s) of the Classic
Maya collapse. The hypothesis that the Peten grasslands were
anthropogenic has, I believe, been discounted. We now know that the
Maya practiced intensive ridged field farming in marshy environments,
analogous to the "chinampas" of the Valley of Mexico. There is eveidence
of deforestation for fuel wood & construction in the vicinity of Coban
that may have led to the abandonment of that site. And the osteological
evidence for deteriorating nutrition is also well documented. I don't
wish to claim they never exceeding sustainable populations. However,
when they did they suffered the immediate consequences. The forest
reclaimed their cities. The severe erosion now evident in western Oaxaca
and central highland Chiapas and elsewhere is apparently largely
attributable to colonial period mismanagement. And, of course, the
recent deforestation of the Lacandon rainforest is largely due to cattle
ranching schemes piggy backed on a road system constructed for oil
exploration & highgrading of tropical hardwoods, not subsistence farming.

Gene Hunn.
>
------------------------------------- >
Name: Jerry Broadus > jbroadus at seanet.com
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>