ANT 3101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: El Mirador, 5, Mesoamerican Chronology
Document Summary
Anthropology: the study of all people in all times and in all places, the study of humankind. Archaeology: one of the four subcategories of anthropology, deals with humans in the past, focus on long time spans and social change, rely strongly on material remains. Summary of human history: early prehistory 2. 5 mya-200 kya, origins and spread of modern humans 200 kya-15 kya, origins of food production 15 kya-ca. The ancient maya: pre-classic period (400 bc- ad 250, classic period (ad 250- 900) El mirador (collapse: deforestation, to beautify city and build more pyramids to appeal to the gods (fix issues, erosion, deforestation led to increased erosion, drought. Lessons learned: environmental problems are inked to social practice, normal problem solving does not always lead to good solutions, technological solutions do not always emerge to rescue people. Tamarandito (success: fallow period reduced, turning over crops too quickly, soil erosion up to 25 times, waterholes filling in with dirt.
