David Beresford-Jones
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264768
- eISBN:
- 9780191754005
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264768.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This book presents an archaeological case of prehistoric human environmental impact: a study of ecological and cultural change from the arid south coast of Peru, beginning around 750 bc and ...
More
This book presents an archaeological case of prehistoric human environmental impact: a study of ecological and cultural change from the arid south coast of Peru, beginning around 750 bc and culminating in a collapse during the Middle Horizon, around ad 900. Its focus is the lower Ica Valley — today depopulated and bereft of cultivation and yet with archaeological remains attesting to substantial prehistoric occupations — thereby presenting a prima facie case for changed environmental conditions. Previous archaeological interpretations of cultural changes in the region rely heavily on climatic factors such as El Niño floods and long droughts. While the archaeological, geomorphological, and archaeobotanical records presented here do indeed include new evidence of huge ancient flood events, they also demonstrate the significance of more gradual, human-induced destruction of Prosopis pallida (huarango) riparian dry-forest. The huarango is a remarkable leguminous hardwood that lives for over a millennium and provides forage, fuel, and food. Moreover, it is crucial to the integration of a fragile desert ecosystem, enhancing microclimate and soil fertility and moisture. Its removal exposed this landscape to the effects of El Niño climatic perturbations long before Europeans arrived in Peru. This case study therefore contradicts the popular perception that Native Americans inflicted barely perceptible disturbance upon a New World Eden. Yet, it also records correlations between changes in society and degrees of human environmental impact. These allow inferences about the specific contexts in which significant human environmental impacts in the New World did, and did not, arise.Less
This book presents an archaeological case of prehistoric human environmental impact: a study of ecological and cultural change from the arid south coast of Peru, beginning around 750 bc and culminating in a collapse during the Middle Horizon, around ad 900. Its focus is the lower Ica Valley — today depopulated and bereft of cultivation and yet with archaeological remains attesting to substantial prehistoric occupations — thereby presenting a prima facie case for changed environmental conditions. Previous archaeological interpretations of cultural changes in the region rely heavily on climatic factors such as El Niño floods and long droughts. While the archaeological, geomorphological, and archaeobotanical records presented here do indeed include new evidence of huge ancient flood events, they also demonstrate the significance of more gradual, human-induced destruction of Prosopis pallida (huarango) riparian dry-forest. The huarango is a remarkable leguminous hardwood that lives for over a millennium and provides forage, fuel, and food. Moreover, it is crucial to the integration of a fragile desert ecosystem, enhancing microclimate and soil fertility and moisture. Its removal exposed this landscape to the effects of El Niño climatic perturbations long before Europeans arrived in Peru. This case study therefore contradicts the popular perception that Native Americans inflicted barely perceptible disturbance upon a New World Eden. Yet, it also records correlations between changes in society and degrees of human environmental impact. These allow inferences about the specific contexts in which significant human environmental impacts in the New World did, and did not, arise.
David Beresford-Jones
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264768
- eISBN:
- 9780191754005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264768.003.0007
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The huarango are a species of the genus Prosopis, one of the most common plants found along the watercourses of New World deserts and members of a family of nitrogen-fixing, bean-producing plants — ...
More
The huarango are a species of the genus Prosopis, one of the most common plants found along the watercourses of New World deserts and members of a family of nitrogen-fixing, bean-producing plants — the legumes — whose importance to humankind is second only to that of the cereal grasses and with which our relationship is even older. Today, perceptions of the genus are deeply divided between appreciation of its value on the one hand, and intense dislike of it as a thorny, invasive weed on the other. This chapter sifts through the reasons for this and a history of misidentification, in order to identify the particular characteristics of the huarango and, thereby, its true value as a human resource in the past. It suggests that thousands of years of co-evolution with humans have left their mark on the tree's form on the south coast of Peru.Less
The huarango are a species of the genus Prosopis, one of the most common plants found along the watercourses of New World deserts and members of a family of nitrogen-fixing, bean-producing plants — the legumes — whose importance to humankind is second only to that of the cereal grasses and with which our relationship is even older. Today, perceptions of the genus are deeply divided between appreciation of its value on the one hand, and intense dislike of it as a thorny, invasive weed on the other. This chapter sifts through the reasons for this and a history of misidentification, in order to identify the particular characteristics of the huarango and, thereby, its true value as a human resource in the past. It suggests that thousands of years of co-evolution with humans have left their mark on the tree's form on the south coast of Peru.
David Beresford-Jones
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264768
- eISBN:
- 9780191754005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264768.003.0008
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter considers the subtler role of Prosopis in underpinning a fragile desert ecology. It is perhaps difficult to exaggerate the dominance of this genus within its desert environments, ...
More
This chapter considers the subtler role of Prosopis in underpinning a fragile desert ecology. It is perhaps difficult to exaggerate the dominance of this genus within its desert environments, especially on the coast of Peru, where rather few tree species occur naturally. It is shown that no other desert tree has as pervasive an influence upon the soil's physical, chemical, biological, and moisture properties; the sub-canopy microclimate; the neighbouring vegetation; and the wildlife and insect populations. The huarango integrates diverse parts of the desert ecosystem. In modifying the environmental extremes characteristic of deserts, especially one as arid as the Peruvian south coast, Prosopis makes what would otherwise be inhospitable lands habitable for other species, including humankind. In other words, if we are to lay bare the ecological consequences of deforestation on the south coast, we need to understand why, here, the huarango is what ecologists term a ‘keystone species’.Less
This chapter considers the subtler role of Prosopis in underpinning a fragile desert ecology. It is perhaps difficult to exaggerate the dominance of this genus within its desert environments, especially on the coast of Peru, where rather few tree species occur naturally. It is shown that no other desert tree has as pervasive an influence upon the soil's physical, chemical, biological, and moisture properties; the sub-canopy microclimate; the neighbouring vegetation; and the wildlife and insect populations. The huarango integrates diverse parts of the desert ecosystem. In modifying the environmental extremes characteristic of deserts, especially one as arid as the Peruvian south coast, Prosopis makes what would otherwise be inhospitable lands habitable for other species, including humankind. In other words, if we are to lay bare the ecological consequences of deforestation on the south coast, we need to understand why, here, the huarango is what ecologists term a ‘keystone species’.
