JDG wrote:
I'm jumping in a little late here, and will get to Doug's post on
Chapter 1 in a moment, but I thought that I'd also post some
thoughts on the Introduction.
Welcome to the discussion, John, glad to have you join us.
<snip>
Secondly, Diamond makes clear in his introduction that one of his
major examples will be the collapse of the Anasazi (sic)
civilization in the Southwest United States. I'm already looking
forward to this Chapter as I spent my Independence Day holiday
visiting five National Parks which preserve various ruins from this
civilizational. One of the things the National Park Service
emphasized is that the term "Ancestral Puebloan" is preferred for
this civilization over the term "Anasazi." The term "Anasazi" is
linked to a Navajo word meaning "ancient enemy." Additionally, most
historians now agree that the ancestors of the modern-day Puebloan
people in Arizona and New Mexico are, in fact, the same people who
constructed the ruins that had been termed "Anasazi" in origin.
Although I am generally a "brontosaurus" person, preferring the use
of popular terms, I can also definitely sympathize with the
arguments in favor of not defining a culture as an "enemy." Thus,
Diamond's choice of the term "Anasazi" instead of "Ancestral
Puebloan" immediately perks my interest - hopefully it is explained
later on.
Could it be that the NPS is necessarily PC to the extreme?
Continuing on this point, Diamond states rather affirmatively that
the collapse of the Ancestral Puebloan culture "clearly illustrates
the intersection of environmental damage and population growth with
climate change (..drought). Neither freindly or hostile neighbors,
nor (except towards the end) warfare, appear to have been major
factors in the Anasazi (sic) collapse." This paragraph is much
more definitive that the interpretation currently provided by the
National Park Service, which emphasizes that the causes of the
abandonment of the major ruin sites is largely unknown, and is
likely due to a mix of factors. Additionally, the National Park
Service emphasizes that the people who built the ruins at places
like Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and Aztec Ruins (no relation to the
Aztec culture of Mexico) did not disappear, but in fact moved
South. These people went on to other achievements, including the
construction of the large pueblos at Gran Quivira, Abo, and Quarai
in New Mexico, and the production of numerous petroglyphs at the
present-day site of Albuquerque. It will be interesting to see if,
and how, Diamond addresses this in his chapter on this subject.
Indeed.
Unfortunately I've been very busy and haven't had a chance to do Chapter 2
yet. I'm going to try and get it done by Saturday evening, no later than
Sunday.
--
Doug
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