UCSB Archaeologist Disputes Common Belief About Collapse of Maya

[Adsos Letter]

Source: University of California Santa Barbara
Press Release

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– For decades, the Maya –– and their descendents –– have gotten a bad rap from archaeologists, anthropologists, and other scholars who cite the ancient civilization's agricultural practices for its eventual collapse. While they agree that other factors contributed to the fall of Maya society roughly 1,000 years ago, they claim the civilization's slash-and-burn approach to farming caused such widespread environmental devastation that the land simply could not sustain them.

However, research conducted by Anabel Ford, an archaeologist at UC Santa Barbara and director of the university's MesoAmerican Research Center, suggests the contrary may be true –– that the forest gardens cultivated by the Maya demonstrate their great appreciation for the environment. Her findings are published in the current issue of the Journal of Ethnobiology in an article titled "Origins of the Maya Forest Garden: Maya Resource Management."

A forest garden is an unplowed, tree-dominated plot that sustains biodiversity and animal habitat while producing plants for food, shelter, and medicine. Tailored to the local geography, the Maya cultivated the forest as a garden for thousands of years. Today, the Maya forest is dominated by these useful plants, nurtured by traditional farmers of the region who grow a wide array of food, medicine, and spices as well as materials for construction, tools, and utensils. Their forest gardens provide nourishment for their families, maintain soil fertility, secure water, and clean the air.

"We conclude that the vegetation changes that took place between 4,500 and 3,000 years ago were largely a consequence of unstable climatic conditions," said Ford, who co-authored the paper with Ronald Nigh, an ecological anthropologist at Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, a social science institute in San Cristobal, Mexico. "This climatic chaos forced the Maya to adapt from a society of mobile horticulturists to one of agriculture in a single location." The result was the Maya Forest Garden, a highly productive and sustainable form of resource management that was the foundation of the Maya civilization from 3,000 to 1,000 years ago.

Link: http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=2144

[aquart]

1. Yes, but then what happened?

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Weather change

"This climatic chaos forced the Maya to adapt from a society of mobile horticulturists to one of agriculture in a single location."

And I have read this before as one possible cause. Hell Diamond has been all over this for oh close to a decade now

http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Fail-Succeed/dp/0670033375

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. No, that was what caused them to*start* the forest gardens

Either side of your quote:

"'the vegetation changes that took place between 4,500 and 3,000 years ago were largely a consequence of unstable climatic conditions' ... The result was the Maya Forest Garden, a highly productive and sustainable form of resource management that was the foundation of the Maya civilization from 3,000 to 1,000 years ago."

What happened 1000 years ago isn't clear, and the article doesn't address it at all.

[AllentownJake]

4. The Olmec calendar said the world would end in 1012

and they all went into hiding.

[roguevalley]

6. perhaps warfare brought about by over population.

[Hekate]

5. KnR to read tomorrow

:hi: