Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Pátzcuaro

Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

Christopher T. Fisher’s

Presented by Lisa McDevitt

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

Landscape Archaeology (a.k.a. Human Ecodynamics)

“Few people, however, least of all our politicians, realize that a primary cause of the collapse of . . . [civilizations] . . . has been the destruction of the environmental resources on which they depended”

-Jared Diamond (2003:43).

http://www.anthro.illinois.edu/faculty/cfennell/syllabus/anth453/wood1.jpg

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

Christopher T. Fisher, PhD Archaeologist, Associate Professor,

Colorado State University

Received PhD and MA from University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research focuses on the links between humans and their environments, both past and present

Conducted fieldwork throughout the U.S., Mexico, Portugal, and Albania

Director of Legacies of Resilience, a long-term research endeavor to explain socio-ecosystem evolution over large time scales

Image: http://resilientworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/fisher_notescrop.jpg

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

Background• Why the Pátzcuara Basin?

• Previous Conflicting Research:1. Descendents of Tarascan empire

possess “intrinsic knowledge” of nature (Toledo 1991)

2. Ancient farming techniques caused significant erosion (O’ Hara et al. 1993)

http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/141149/1/The-Tarascan-Civilisation,-1942.jpg

What caused the land degradation?

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

What Is Land Degradation?“Environmental change initiated by humans that results in a perceived productivity loss”

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Erosion.jpg

http://orbisunumlana.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/v9909e011.jpg

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

“Gardenization” and Landesque Capital

“Degradation Time Clock”

“What happens to the garden once it is abandoned?”

http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v15/n1s/images/scientificamerican0105-90sp-I5.jpg

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

MethodsCollection of Earth Science (i.e. sediment

samples, depositional profiles, and erosional features) and Archaeological Data at several sites around the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin

Analysis of Surface Remains

Analysis of soil characteristics and soil structures as indicators of erosion

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

Findings

Image:http://www.davehaskell.com/images/tzintzuntzan.jpg

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

3 Conclusions:1. Degradation in the Lake Pátzcuaro basin

began with the formation of the Tarascan Empire

2. Landscape stability was maintained as population grew.

3. The degradation in the area was the result of the unintended consequences of human action

http://www.crowcanyon.org/about/press_releases/pr_06_01_05_pic.jpg

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

ImpactIdea that adopting the practices of indigenous

farmers will aid in conservation is flawedConverting “wild” land to “garden” forces a

human-dependent environment; abandonment of the “garden” leads to trouble

A cycle of Creative Destruction and Destructive Creation in the human-environment relationship

More research necessary to better understand the matrix of factors contributing to land degradation

References Fisher, Christopher T. “Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Pátzcuaro

Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden.” American Anthropologist 107.1 (2005): 87–95. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.

O’Hara, Sarah L., Alayne F. Street-Perrott, and Timothy P. Burt 1993 “Accelerated Soil Erosion around a Mexican Highland Lake Caused by Prehispanic Agriculture.” Nature 362(6415):48–51.

Toledo, Victor M. 1991 “P´atzcuaro’s Lesson: Nature, Production, and Culture in an Indigenous Region of Mexico. In Biodiversity: Culture, Conservation, and Ecodevelopment.” Margery L. Oldfield and Janis Alcorn, eds. Pp. 146–171. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Diamond, Jared 2003 “The Last Americans: Environmental Collapse at the End of Civilization. Harper’s Magazine 306(June): 43–51.”

"About." Legacies of Resilience. Legacies of Resilience, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://resilientworld.com/about/>.

"Department of Anthropology." Chris Fisher. Colorado State University, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://anthropology.colostate.edu/pages/faculty/fisher.aspx>.

"The Tarasco Culture and Empire." : Mexico History. Mexiconnect, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/225-the-tarasco-culture-and-empire>.

Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden