13 “wet desert”: The image of the Amazon as a lush forest growing on a desert was apparently popularized in Goodland and Irwin 1975.
14 Rainforest soils: This argument is crisply stated in Wilson 1992:273–74.
15 Counterfeit Paradise: Meggers 1996 (orig. ed., 1971).
16 Slash-and-burn as ecologically sensitive response: Interviews, Meggers; Meggers 1996: 20–23. See also, Kleinman, Bryant, and Pimentel 1996; Luna-Orea and Wagger 1996.
17 Unchanged harmony: Five centuries after Columbus, “the Amazon still grips the popular imagination as nature at its purist, home to peoples who [to quote Rolling Stone in 2007] preserve ‘a way of life unchanged since the dawn of time.’ ” (Heckenberger 2009).
18 Yanomamo as windows into the past: E.g., Brooke 1991 (“a tribe virtually untouched by modern civilization whose ways date from the Stone Age”); Chagnon 1992. In the latter, Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson calls the Yanomamo “the final tribes living strong and free in the style of the preliterate peoples first encountered by Europeans five centuries ago.” To Wilson, “the Yanomamö way of life gives us the clearest view of the conditions under which the human mind evolved biologically during deep history” (ix).
19 “mega-Niño events”: Author’s interviews, Meggers; Meggers 1994; 1979 (other climatic constraints).
20 El Niño fires: Cochrane and Schulze 1998; Pyne 1995:60–65. Fires from a big El Niño in 1925–26 were described in a short, apparently self-published monograph by Giuseppe Marchesi (Marchesi 1975) that I found in a used-book store in Manaus. According to Marchesi, the fires on the Río Negro were so intense that the smoke blocked out the sun in Manaus, hundreds of miles away.
21 Recovery time of forest: Uhl 1987; Uhl and Jordan 1984; Uhl et al. 1982.
22 Upper limit of a thousand: Meggers (1954) says that the rainforest will not permit societies to surpass the “Tropical Forest” pattern of slash-and-burn subsistence (809), which she defines as “villages of 50–1,000 pop[ulation]” (814, fig. 1). The implication is that environmental limits set the maximum village population at one thousand.
23 Meggers dismisses Carvajal: Meggers 1996:187 (“Evidence [of environmental limits] casts doubt on the accuracy of the early European descriptions of large sedentary populations along the floodplain”). Oddly, Meggers endorsed Carvajal in the same book (“These eyewitness reports of numerous large villages are substantiated by archaeological evidence,” 133). See also, Meggers 1992a, 1992c.
24 Unchanged lives, population: Meggers 1992 (two thousand years, 199).
25 Meggers and Marajó: Author’s interviews, Meggers; Popsin 2003; Meggers and Evans 1957. See also Schaan 2004.
26 Meggers’s law: Meggers 1954 (“There is a force,” 809; “level to which,” 815). Meggers called the stage of slash-and-burn cultivation the “Tropical Forest” pattern. In the brackets, I have replaced references to that term. Her law drew on the environmental-determinist arguments of earlier geographers such as Ellen Churchill Semple, whose Influences of Geographic Environment trained two generations of researchers: “The geographic element in the long history of human development has been operating strongly and operating persistently … [and] is for all intents and purposes immutable in comparison with the other factor in the problem—shifting, plastic, progressive, retrogressive man” (Semple 1911:2).
27 Marajó as offshoot: Meggers and Evans 1957:412–18. See also, Evans and Meggers 1968. Meggers and Evans were influenced by Julian Steward, editor of the influential Handbook of South American Indians, who also thought that Marajóara culture originated somewhere else—the Caribbean, he suspected (Steward 1948).
28 Diminishing influence: “Few contemporary scholars accept the hypothesis of environmental limitations and lack of cultural development in the Amazon Basin” (Erickson 2004:457).
29 “Rather than admiration”: Cunha 1975:1. I thank Susanna Hecht for letting me use her translation, which is from her forthcoming compilation of da Cunha’s Amazonian writings. In the meantime, the original version of this marvelous book can be found at http://www.librairie.hpg.com.br/Euclides-da-Cunha-A-Margem-da-Historia.rtf.
30 Not a disaster: I paraphrase anthropologist Roland Bergman (Bergman 1980:53, quoted in Denevan 2001:60).
31 Rock paintings: Author’s visit; Consens 1989.
32 Roosevelt reexcavates: Author’s interviews, Roosevelt; Roosevelt 1991 (“outstanding indigenous,” 29; “100,000,” 2).
33 Earlier challenges to Meggers: Author’s interviews, Balée, Denevan, Erickson, Peter Stahl, Woods. Donald Lathrap of the University of Illinois (1970), Michael Coe of Yale (1957), and Robert L. Carneiro of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (1995, see refs.) mounted the most important ones.
34 Meggers reaction: Author’s interviews, Meggers; Meggers 1992b (“polemical,” 399; “extravagant,” 403). See also Meggers 2004, 2001.
35 Montaigne: Montaigne 1991:233–36.
36 “forest animals”: Condamine 1986, quoted in Myers et al. 2004:22.
37 “Where man has remained”: Semple 1911:635. The ideas in Influences of Geographic Environment were typical for their day. “The Amazon winds its slow way amid the malarious languor of vast tropical forests in which the trees shut out the sky and the few natives are apathetic with the eternal inertia of the hot, damp tropics,” Semple’s Yale contemporary, Ellsworth Huntington, wrote in 1919 (Huntington 1919:49). “It is generally agreed,” Huntington said, “the native races within the tropics are dull in thought and slow in action. This is true not only of the African Negroes, the South American Indians, and the people of the East Indies, but of the inhabitants of southern India and the Malay peninsula” (Huntington 1924:56). See also, Taylor 1927.
38 Meggers-Roosevelt dispute: Author’s interviews, Meggers, Roosevelt, Balée, Denevan, Erickson; Meggers 1992a:37 (colonialism, elitism); Baffi et al. 1996 (CIA membership).
39 Painted Rock Cave excavations: Roosevelt et al. 1996; Fiedel et al. 1996; Haynes et al. 1997. Press coverage was unusually thorough. (Gibbons 1996; Wilford 1997a; Hall 1996). In Science, Roosevelt presented her estimate of initial occupation as ~11,200 to 10,500 uncalibrated radiocarbon years B.P. (380); I converted the mean, 10,600 B.P., into calendar years with Stuiver et al. 1998.
40 Contemporaneity with Clovis: This is subject to debate, with Clovis-firsters challenging Roosevelt’s earliest radiocarbon dates, and Roosevelt crying foul because (in her view) the Clovisites apply more stringent standards to challengers than they do to Clovis (Haynes et al. 1997). Further confusing the issue is the participants’ disagreement over the best way of calibrating raw radiocarbon dates from this period.
41 138 crops: Clement 1999a, 1999b.
42 Stone axes: Author’s interviews, Denevan; Denevan 1992b. I am grateful to Prof. Denevan for sending me a copy of this article, upon which my discussion of stone axes is based. See also the updated version of the argument in Denevan 2001:116–23. To some extent, Denevan was anticipated by Donald Lathrap, who called slash-and-burn “a secondary, derived, and late phenomenon within the Amazon Basin,” which only made economic sense after the introduction of maize (quoted in ibid.:132). Denevan argued for a much later, post-1492 introduction of slash-and-burn.
43 Experiments with stone and steel axes: Carneiro 1979a, 1979b; Hill and Kaplan 1989 (difference between hardwoods and softwoods). True, Carneiro’s workers had no experience with stone axes, which one assumes unfairly magnified their inefficiency. But Carneiro also did not include the effort required to obtain the stone (often far away), make the ax, and keep it sharp, all of which were time sinks. Girdling, too, has been suggested, but it is also very slow.
44 Three years: Beckerman 1987. I thank Prof. Brush for helping me get this book.
45 Yanomamo history: Author’s interviews, Balée, Petersen, Chagnon.
46 Yanomami and steel tools: Author’s interview, Ferguson; Ferguson 1998 (lifestyle changes, 291–97), 1995; Colchester 1984 (seventeenth-century change, 308–10). Ferguso
n’s thesis is disputed, in part because it downplays the antiquity of Yanomamo warfare (author’s interview, James Petersen).
47 Controversy on Yanomami gifts: These and other charges were publicized and amplified in Tierney 2000. Tierney’s charges of exacerbating epidemics seem to have been refuted (see note to p. 112), but the furor over them obscured discussion of uncontrolled gifts of steel tools (Mann 2001, 2000a).
48 Absence of slash-and-burn in North America: Doolittle 2000:174–90 (“gossamer,” 186; “once fields,” 189).
49 Small farmer slash-and-burn as contributor to deforestation: Author’s interviews, Clement, Fearnside; Fearnside 2001. Fearnside’s figure is a step down from the estimate that slash-and-burn was responsible for 55 percent of total tropical forest clearing in the Americas in Hadley and Lanly 1983.
50 Nutrient loss: Hölscher 1997. I thank Beata Madari for giving a copy of this article to me.
51 Western Amazon: Author’s visits; author’s interviews, Alvarez, Calla, Clement, Erickson, Hecht, Ranzi, Rioja, Schaan, Stahl, Walker; Erickson 2010; Franca et al. 2010; Saunaluoma 2010; Pärssinen, M., et al. 2009; Schaan et al. 2008; Walker 2008. Portions of this section appeared in Mann 2008.
52 Meggers survey: Meggers et al. 1988; Meggers 1996:183–87.
53 Central Amazon archaeology: Author’s interviews, Bartone, Heckenberger, Neves, Petersen; Heckenberger, Petersen, and Neves 2004; Neves et al. 2004; Mann 2002a. I convert uncalibrated radiocarbon years as per Stuiver et al. 1988. The site discussed here is called Hatahara, after its owners.
54 Rainfall and canopy: Brandt 1988.
55 Importance of agroforestry: Interviews, Clement. See also, Denevan 2001:69–70, 83–90, 126–27; Posey 1984; Herrera 1992.
56 Bluffs as preferred sites: Denevan 1996.
57 More than half are trees: Clement 1998 (80 percent); 1999a:199. I am grateful to Dr. Clement for sending me copies of his work.
58 Uses of peach palm: Interviews, Clement; Mora-Urpí, Weber, and Clement 1997 (“only their wives,” quoted on 19); Clement and Mora-Urpí 1987 (yield); Denevan 2001:77 (saws).
59 Domestication of peach palm: Clement 1995, 1992, 1988.
60 Agricultural regression and fallows forests: Balée 2003 (“These old forests,” 282); 1994.
61 Anthropogenic forests: Interviews, Balée, Clement, Erickson, Nigel Smith, Stahl, Woods; Balée 1998; 1989 (11.8 percent, 14); Erickson 1999 (I am grateful to Prof. Erickson for sending me a copy of this paper); Smith 1995; Stahl 2002, 1996.
62 “Gift from the past”: I have lifted this phrase from the title of Petersen, Neves, and Heckenberger 2001.
63 Terra preta: Much of what follows below is taken from the excellent Lehmann et al. eds. 2003; Glaser and Woods eds. 2004; and Petersen, Neves, and Heckenberger 2001. For a popular treatment, see Mann 2002b, 2000b. Lehmann et al. argue that from a scientific standpoint ADE (Amazonian dark earth) is a better term than terra preta. I use terra preta to avoid acronyms.
64 Terra preta valued: Smith 1980:562. Smith’s fine early article on terra preta was largely ignored on publication—“I got two reprint requests for that article,” he told me. “Nobody was ready to hear it.” 355 Terra preta distribution estimates: Author’s interviews, Woods, Wim Sombroek; Sombroek et al. 2004:130 (.1–.3 percent); Kern et al. 2004:52–53 (terra preta sites every five kilometers along tributaries).
65 Maya heartland: The Maya heartland—from Petén, Guatemala, and Belize north to southern Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico—covers about fifteen thousand square miles, a third or half of which was devoted to agriculture.
66 Charcoal: Glaser, Guggenberger, and Zech 2004; Glaser, Lehmann, and Zech 2002. My thanks to Prof. Glaser for giving me a copy of these articles.
67 Microbial activity: Author’s interview, Janice Theis; Theis and Suzuki 2004; O’Neill et al. 2009; Grossman et al. 2010.
68 Charcoal and global warming: Author’s interview, Ogawa; Okimori, Ogawa, and Takahashi 2003.
69 Kayapó: Author’s interviews, Hecht; Hecht 2004 (“low-biomass,” “cool,” 362–63; “To live,” 364). I am indebted to Prof. Hecht for several fascinating discussions.
70 Terra preta experiments: Author’s interview, Steiner; Steiner, Teixeira, and Zech 2004.
71 Río Negro site: Author’s interviews, Bartone, Neves, Petersen; Heckenberger, Petersen, and Neves 2004, 1999.
72 Timing of terra preta at plantation: Neves et al. 2004:table 9.2.
73 Xingu and black earth: Heckenberger et al. 2003 (“regional plan,” “bridges,” 1711; “built environment,” 1713). For criticism, see Meggers 2003.
74 Santarém terra preta: Interviews, Woods, Sombroek; author’s visit; Kern et al. 2004.
75 Meggers reaction: Meggers 2001 (“without restraint,” 305; “accomplices,” 322). A response appears in Heckenberger, Petersen, and Neves 2001. 359 “rev up”: DeBoer, Kintigh, and Rostoker 2001:327.
76 “Rather than adapt”: I swipe this phrase from Erickson 2004 (“Native Amazonians did not adapt to nature, but rather they created the world that they wanted through human creativity, technology and engineering, and cultural institutions,” 456).
10 / The Artificial Wilderness
1 “all the trees”: Columbus 1963:84. I discovered this quotation, and the ideas around it, in Crosby 2003:3–16, 1986:9–12 (knitting together Pangaea).
2 Invention of Columbian Exchange: McNeill 2003:xiv.
3 Kudzu: Blaustein 2001; Kinbacher 2000.
4 A thousand kudzus everywhere: Crosby 1986:154–56 (spinach, mint, peach, endive, clover), 161 (Darwin), 191 (Jamestown, Garcilaso).
5 Cod and sea urchins: Jackson et al. 2001.
6 Keystone species: Wilson 1992:401.
7 “widowed land”: Chapter title in Jennings 1975.
8 Passenger pigeons: Schorger 1955 (vomiting, 35; rain of droppings, 54; huge roostings, 10–15, 77–89; excommunication, 51; one out of four, 205).
9 Muir and pigeons: Muir 1997:78–82.
10 Audubon and pigeons: Audubon 1871 (vol. 5):115.
11 Seneca and pigeon: Harris 1903:449–51. 365 “living, pulsing”: French 1919:1.
12 Leopold and monument: Leopold 1968.
13 Mast competition, lack of passenger pigeons: Interview, Neumann, Woods; Neumann 2002:158–64, 169–72; Herrmann and Woods 2003 (I thank Prof. Woods for giving me a copy of this paper).
14 Seton’s estimate: Seton 1929 (vol. 3):654–56. See, in general, Krech 1999: chap. 5.
15 Lott’s and other modern estimates of abundance: Lott 2002:69–76 (“primitive America,” 76); Flores 1997; 1991 (“perhaps” twenty-eight to thirty million, 471); Weber 2001 (“more likely” twenty to forty-four million). Shaw (1995) and Geist (1998) suggested the number should be ten to fifteen million.
16 Inka tree farms: Daniel W. Gade, pers. comm.
17 De Soto never saw bison: Crosby 1986:213.
18 La Salle’s buffalo: Parkman 1983 (vol. 1):765.
19 “post-Columbian abundance”: Geist 1998:62–63.
20 Elk begin to appear: Kay 1995.
21 California: Preston 2002 (Drake, 129).
22 “The virgin forest”: Pyne 1982:46–47. See also, Jennings 1975:30.
23 “artificial wilderness”: I borrow the phrase from Callicott and Nelson eds. 1998:11.
24 More “forest primeval” in nineteenth century: Denevan 1992a:377–81 (“pristine myth” article).
25 Cronon, academic brouhaha: Cronon 1995a, 1995b; Soulé and Lease eds. 1995; Callicott and Nelson eds. 1998 (“Euro-American men,” 2). An abridged version of Cronon 1996b appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, 13 Aug. 1995.
26 Making gardens: Janzen 1998.
27 Creating future environments: I have borrowed the phrase and the thought from McCann 1999a:3.
11 / The Great Law of Peace
28 Nabokov in New York: Boyd 1991:11–12.
29 Early history of Haudenosaunee, Deganawidah story: Fenton 1998; Snow 1994:58–65; Hertzberg 1966. Deganawidah
’s “stutter” may indicate his origin in an Algonkian-speaking group—the Haudenosaunee referred to those ways of speech as stuttering. Some Algonkian scholars believe that he was transmitting their cultural political knowledge to the Haudenosaunee, who in this tradition are seen as relatively recent interlopers.
30 Rules of operation: Tooker 1988:312–17. The basic source is Morgan 1901:77ff.
31 Checks and balances: Grinde 1992:235–40; Tehanetorens 1971 (“especially important,” sec. 93; impeachment grounds and procedures, secs. 19–25, 39 (“warnings,” sec. 19); rights of individuals and nations, secs. 93–98). A modern translation is online at http://www.iroquoisdemocracy.pdx.edu/html/great-law.html.
32 “they will not conclude”: Williams 1936:201.
33 Iroquois women: Wagner 2001; Parker 1911:252–53 (“Does the modern American woman [who] is a petitioner before man, pleading for her political rights, ever stop to consider that the red woman that lived in New York state five hundred years ago, had far more political rights and enjoyed a much wider liberty than the twentieth century woman of civilization?”). I thank Robert Crease for helping me obtain this source.
34 Underwood’s estimate: cited in Johansen 1995:62.
35 Condolence Canes: Barreiro and Cornelius eds. 1991; Fenton 1983. 383 Age of council: Mann and Fields 1997. See also, Johansen 1995.
36 Haudenosaunee as second oldest: Some of the Swiss cantons have continuously functioning parliaments that are older, too. But I did not include them because the individual cantons seem more comparable to the individual nations of Haudenosaunee than to the league as a whole.
37 Great Law as inspiration: Grinde and Johansen 1991; Grinde 1977; Johansen 1987; Wright 1992:94 (“Their whole”).
38 Differences between Constitution and Great Law: Venables 1992:74–124.
39 “pluralistic achievements”: Bailey 2005:19.
40 European intellectuals’ fascination: Calloway 1997:189–91; Delâge 1992; Grinde and Johansen 1991: Chap. 3; Brandon 1986 (Utopia, 9–12; operetta, 103–04); Hobbes 1985 (quotes, 186–87).
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus Page 55