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

1. Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden Christopher T. Fisher’s Presented by Lisa McDevitt

2. 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

3. 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

4. Background • Why the Pátzcuara Basin? • Previous Conflicting Research: • Descendents of Tarascan empire possess “intrinsic knowledge” of nature (Toledo 1991) • 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 Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

5. What caused the land degradation?

6. What Is Land Degradation? “Environmental change initiated by humans that results in a perceived productivity loss” http://orbisunumlana.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/v9909e011.jpg Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Erosion.jpg

7. “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

8. Methods • Collection of Earth Science (i.e. sediment samples, depositional profiles, and erosional features) and Archaeological Data at several sites around the Lake PátzcuaroBasin • 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

9. Findings Image:http://www.davehaskell.com/images/tzintzuntzan.jpg Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

10. 3 Conclusions: http://www.crowcanyon.org/about/press_releases/pr_06_01_05_pic.jpg • Degradation in the Lake Pátzcuaro basin began with the formation of the TarascanEmpire • Landscape stability was maintained as population grew. • The degradation in the area was the result of the unintended consequences of human action Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

11. Impact • Idea that adopting the practices of indigenous farmers will aid in conservation is flawed • Converting “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 Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden

12. 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’sLesson: 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