141
Ecologr in the Long View:Settlement
Histories, Agrosystemic Strategxes,and
Ecological Performance
KarlW. Butzer
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
TherecentColumbianpolemiccontrastedbeneficialNew Worldland usebefore1492
withdestructiveOld Worldland mana,gement.
Sincearchaeolo,gists
are uniquely
equippedto documentand modellon,g-term
settlementand land-usehistories,thereis
bothchallen,ge
and opportunityto empiricallyexaminetheecolo,gical
impactofparticular a,grosystems
withinlon,gtimefrawes. Thispaperexaminestherisk-minimization
and ecolo,gicalfine-tunin,g
of theMediterraneana,grosystem,
and its lon,g-term
ecolo,gicalperformgnce.TheMediterraneanecosystem
is theproductof millenniaof co-evolution betweentheenvironmentand humanactivities,buttraditionalland usehasbeen
conservative
and ecolo,gically
adaptive,despitesporadicdisequilibrium.Thedeviations
from thenormposea numberof testablehypothesesforfurther
examination,not onlyin
theMediterraneanre,gionbutalsoin otherareassuchas theNew World.
Introduction
The recent polemic surroundingthe Columbian Encounter served to underscorethat the most interesting
issues of today are those that cross disciplinarylines.
Whereas theoreticaldebates within archaeologyremain
ignored by other social scientists, bioarchaeologicalresearchin Mesoamericaor the Pacificregion is widelycited
in the national or internationalliteraturedealing with
human ecologicalimpact.Archaeologywas highly visible
in earlierscientificexchangesabout agriculturalor human
origins, and archaeologytoday not only has an opportunity but an obligationto becomeengagedin mattersof the
human use and modificationof the environment.This
paperjuxtaposesquestionsof Mesoamericanand Mediterraneanland-useand environmentaldegradation,centered
on a regionalexplicationof the complexityand sophistication of adaptivestrategiesin the Mediterranean
world.The
concludingsection identifiesquestionsthat archaeologyis
particularlysuitedto address.
One of the unfortunate myths broadly disseminated
before and during the Columbianpolemic was that of
ecologically-invisibleNew Worldpeoples. Living in harmonywith nature,NativeAmericanssupposedlyemployed
environmentally
sensitiveand sustainableagricultural
practices that preservedthe wildernessof the Americaswith
"barelyperceptiblehuman disturbance."That claim, le-
gitimized by the Smithsonianvolume, Seedsof Chan,ge
(Shetler 1991: 226), flies in the face of generationsof
archaeologicalresearchthat demonstratedlarge populations andintensifiedagriculturein Mesoamericaand other
partsof the New World,includingurbanismand complex
social organizationin some. Regardlessof an ethos of
harmonywith nature,high populationdensitiesmust be
providedwith food, and the recordfromNorth and South
Americaprovidescountlessexamplesof ridgedor ditched
fields, terracedhillsides, destroyed forests, or persisting
roadwaysthat suppliedenergy for great mound sites or
monumentalcities (Denevan1992; Doolittle 1992; Whitmore and Turner1992). To deny that New Worldpeoples
humanizedand modifiedthe environment,or createdtheir
own culturallandscapes,is to reinforcethe metaphorof
the 17th-centurypreacher,Cotton Mather,who referred
to them as primitiveaborigines,blendinginto the forest
like beavers(see Zuckerman1987: 144).
A moreappropriatequestionto raiseis whetherthe large
populationsin centersof New Worldcivilizationwere able
to grow and persistwithout ecologicaldamage (Williams
1989; Butzer 1992a). Demographicpressuresand finite
resourceswill eventuallycurtail fallow cycles or require
expansionof agricultureonto fragilesoils, and the accumulatingevidencerevealsthat there was no magicalformula to avoid the ecologicalconsequences.AroundTexcoco, in the Basin of Mexico, CarlosCordova(personal
142 Ecologyin theLongView/Butzer
communication,1994) has recentlyidentifieda series of
late Aztec sites within massivesheets of alluvium,derived
from soil erosion in the foothills. Similar implications
follow from the limnologicalwork of O'Hara,Street-Perrott, and Burt (1993) in the Tarascanheartlandof Lake
Patzcuaro,where indigenousland use provokedepisodes
of soil erosion as earlyas 1900 B.C., and soil destruction
peaked during the three centuriesprior to the Spanish
intrusion. In the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, severalprotractedepisodes of pre-Conquestsoil erosion have been
identified.Large-scaledeforestationis evenverifiedin Late
Formativeor Classic contexts in the Basin of Mexico
(Gonzalez,Fuentes,and Fuentes 1980) and coastalVeracruz (Byrneand Horn 1989) .
Suchevidenceraisesquestionswhetherindigenousagriculturewas indeed "sustainable,"a questionreconsidered
below. It would also seem to urge cautionagainstwholeheartedlyembracingcontemporary,traditionalagriculture
as a "system,"ratherthan as a sourceof informationto be
drawnupon in selectingmore beneficialagriculturalpracticesandstrainsof crops(Butzer1992a,1993a). As repugnant as high-investmenttechnodevelopmentis to most of
us, it would be irresponsibleto recommendtraditional
land managementpracticessimplyon emotionalor ideological grounds,without pragmatictesting and comparatlve eva.uatlon.
Prehispanicenvironmentalmodificationis quite pertinent for conservationargumentsor issuessuchas biodiversity. The early Spaniardsencountered deforested landscapes from Mexico to Panama (Sauer 1966: 265-88;
Butzerand Butzer 1993), some of whichhad been reconstitutedby a centuryago, while earlierphasesof deforestation are amplyattestedbypalynology(Rue 1989; Abrams
and Rue 1988; McDade 1994; Piperno,Bush, and Colinvaux 1991). Large swaths of the Peten rainforestwere
completelycleared2000 yearsago, but have since recovered sufficientlyto be cited as reservoirsof primevalbiodiversity(Rice, Rice, and Deevey 1985; Vaughan,Deevey,
and Garrett-Jones1985). That not only challengessome
popularassumptionsbut, more constructively,could be
used to estimateratesfor the reconstitutionof forestsand
Butzer 1990). Biologistsare certainlyno better qualified
with the human
than archaeologiststo deal systematically
side of that interrelationship.Like most largerproblems
confronting human society today, ecological issues are
sufficientlycomplex to demand a new and greatly exinteractionand colpanded medium of interdisciplinary
laboration.Archaeologyshould, indeed must, be a major
player.It has unique capabilities,not only to generatean
indispensablearchaeologicaldatabase,but also to understandlong-termland use andits implications.
The MediterraneanAgrosystem:Fine-tuning
and Risk-minimization
The Columbianpolemic servesto highlightsome critical issuesof ecology in the long view,specificallythe myth
of the devastatedColoniallandscape(Butzer1992b). Did
early European settlers indeed introduce agricultural
methods, livestock, and technologies that promptlydegradedNew Worldecosystems?As a categoricalassertionit
agrosystem,with its cattle,sheep,and
is the Mediterranean
plow technologythat continuesto be singled out as particularlydestructive (Klein 1920; Simpson 1952; Sale
1990; Melville 1990). In realitythere are two different
issues here, one whetherthis agrosystemand its components are inherentlydestructive,the other whether the
transferof this agrosystemto the New Worldautomatically
had a negativeecologicalimpact.The firstof these questions will here be consideredin some detail, while the
second is reviewedin the finaldiscussion.
The basicMediterraneanagrosystemthat can be documented from Greek and Roman sources, or verifiedby
sophistiethnographicand archivalwork, was remarkably
cated (White 1970; Dimen and Friedl1976; Spurr1986;
Delaigue1988; Butzer1993b,1994;Wells 1992: 87-101;
also Burford 1993). It had four basic components: a)
outfield cultivationof a selectionof grainsand legumes,
suited for local soils and climate; b) infield tending of
variousgreen vegetablesand condiments,in kitchen or
marketgardens;c) orchardcrops,not only grapevinesand
olive groves, but also an arrayof other fruit trees;and d)
livestock,among which sheep, goats, or pigs were more
commonly kept than cattle, with the exception of draft
thelr specles dlverslty.
These are a few examplesof archaeologyinterdigitating oxen.
But specificplantsand animalsare less informativefor
with problemsof ecology, in both the past and present.
an agrosystemthantheirsystematicintegraMuch of the primarywork on environmentalchange, characterizing
ecologicaldegradation,or sustainabilityhas been monop- tion in termsof ecology,schedulingand management,or
olized by biologists or earth scientists,who admittedly cuisine (Butzer 1988b). Each of the components was
carefullyadjustedto the local environmentalmosaic,and
havethe specializedskillsrequisitefor certaincategoriesof
includedwinteraswell as summercropsthatwereplanted,
the
analyticalresearch.But contemporaryecosystemsare
product of millennia of co-evolution between environ- tended, and harvestedaccordingto an elaborateseasonal
includedcomplicated
mentalcomponentsand human activities,especiallysince schedule.Their micro-management
instructionsfor plowing, spading,transplanting,grafting,
lifeways(Birkset al.1988;
the establishmentof agricultural
.
.
.
.
.
.
23, 1996 143
Journcllof FieldArchcleology/Vol.
pruning, selection or applicationof fertilizers,watering,
and pest control. Intercroppingwas the norm for fruit
trees and outfieldcrops,with a growing appreciationthat
grassfallow,nitrogen-bindinglegumes, and crop rotation
all helpedto maintainor restorefertility.
Stockraisingincludeda nucleusof householdanimals,as
well as herdsof sheep and goats movedunderclose supervision within the municipalcommonageor in a seasonal,
transhumantcycle between lowlands and adjacenthighlands (Vassberg1984; Halstead 1987; VVhittaker1988;
Butzer 1988a; Boyazogluand Flamant1992). Goats and
sheep provided dairy products or wool, with selective
cullingof young male animalsand occasionalslaughterof
an adultfemalein times of food shortage.Animalgrazing
on stubbleafterthe harvestprovidedindispensablemanure
for outfieldcrops.Herdsof pigs wererestrictedto environmentswith oak woodlandsthat allowedseasonalfattening
on acorns.Finally,cattle were commonlyraisedon prime
pasturesand bred to produce draft animals.Only at the
peakof Romanurbanismwas cattle-raisingpracticedwith
improvedbreeds, to supply meat and dairy products to
urban markets (White 1970; Garnsey 1988; Butzer
1992b).
This Mediterraneanagrosystememphasizedrisk-minimization, by a sequence of autumn, winter, spring, and
earlysummerplantingsthat anticipatedsporadic,earlyor
late, killing frosts. The mix of outfield agriculture,orchards, and infield gardens with micro-irrigationall reduced the risksof prolongedsummerdrought. Livestock,
less vulnerableto climaticperturbationsby virtue of their
mobility,offeredanotherbufferagainstsubsistencestress.
Animalsalso supplied manureor fuel, fiber, and animal
protein that furtherreduced subsistencerisk. Finally,the
production of grains, fresh vegetables, preservedfruits,
cheesesand hams,leatheror wool, and aboveall,wine and
olive oil, representeda viablebut flexiblecommercialcomponent. That in turn favoredintra- and interregionalexchange networks(Renfrewand Wagstaff1982; Osborne
1983; Garnsey1988). Dur1987; Garnseyand VVhittaker
ing periodsof populationgrowthand regionalintegration,
such networksprovidedincentivesfor optimizing market
opportunities,mitigatingthe dangersof periodic subsistence stressthroughinterregional"averaging."
In view of the deep-seatedNorth Europeanand North
Americanbiasesand misconceptionsabout the traditional
Mediterraneanagrosystem,it is ironic that it was one of
the world's most diversifiedruraleconomies, its stability
predicatedon highlycomplexmanagement.The interlocking, risk-minimizingstrategieswere so effectivein anticipating periodic shortfallsthat disastrousfamineson the
scaleexperiencedin NWEuropeduringmedievaland early
modern times had no counterpartin the Mediterranean
Basin. Furthermore,its commercialcomponents could
readilybe scaledback duringperiodsof decliningurbanism, lowerpopulationlevels,andreducedregionalintegration, but expandingagain during times of economic and
demographicgrowth.Thus ruralpopulationscould adjust
theirallocationof laborandsurplusesto changingdemand
acrossthe centuries,or compensatefor local crop failures
in some yearsby greatermarketreturnsduringothers.
Extensivepastoralismwas integral to the flexibilityof
that agrosystem,as a meansto utilize extensivemountainous landscapesunsuitablefor agriculture,withoutcompeting for arableland. It also served as a "pioneer"form of
land use in the resettlementof depopulatedareaswhich
could only graduallybe convertedto agriculture.Recent
experimentalstudiesof pasturemanagement,productivity,
and nutrient cycles have yielded unexpected results
(Bernaldez 1995) . Traditional management created a
parklandvegetationof open treesthroughregularpruning
and the controlleduse of fire (Trabaud1991). Wild and
semi-domesticated legumes were naturally dispersed
throughlivestockmovements,enrichingunimprovedpastureswith nitrogenas well as phosphates.The tree canopy
favors microclimaticsheltering, and liveoak litter significantlyimproves soil nutrient levels. Even bushy or
shrubbymatorral vegetationprotectsagainsterosion and
enhancesinfiltration,while its leavesprovide browse and
its woody partscan be convertedto charcoal.
In other words, the ecology of supposedlyunimproved
pasture land in the MediterraneanBasin is largely
beneficial,its structureand dominantformsreflectingcoevolutionin responseto summerwaterstressand human
manipulation(Bernaldez1991, 1995). Such managedenvironments represent a controlled subclimaxformation
and are known by the Spanishterm dehesa.From this
perspective,transhumancecan be seen as an effectivecomplement to agricultureas well as a sustainableform of
utilizationfor marginallands.Mediterraneanagropastoral
systemswerenot only tightlyintegratedbut carefullymanaged.The demiseof pastoralismduringthe last 50 years,in
part under governmentpressure,has led to expansionof
(Tomaselli
unproductive, thorny and bushy matorral
1977; MontoyaOliver1983; Bernaldez1991). Much like
the analogous chaparralof southern California,it is a
potential tinderbox,waiting to explode in wildfiresthat
also destroyinterfingeringwoodland(Le Houerou 1987).
The Bottom Line:Long-termPerformance
of the MediterraneanAgrosystem
This ecological analysisof the Mediterraneanagrosystem servesto explicatethe complexweb of strategiesthat
are designed to minimize vulnerabilityand risk. They
reflectnot only the cumulativeexperienceof 10 millennia
144 Ecologyin theLongView/Butzer
in a summer-dry,subtropical
of agriculturaltrial-and-error
climate?but also local and externalinnovationsthat were
tested, adapted,and disseminated.This historicaltrajectory can be amplyreconstructedby archaeologyanddocumentarysources.It can also be independentlymonitored
from geoarchaeologicalrecordsof alluviationin response
to soil erosion, or from bioarchaeologicaldata on changing vegetation.There now are over three dozen, detailed
and dated pollen cores from all around the Basin that
recordlocal land use and ecological modificationover at
leastthe last six to eight millennia.
Withoutelaboratingon that investigationand its methodological underpinningshere, these palynologicaldata
allow a) qualifieddistinctionof pastoraland agricultural
"indicators",b) identificationof basicagriculturalmodes,
and c) semiquantitativeassessmentof vegetation disturbance, deforestation,or secondaryregenerationof woodland (Bottema,Entjes-Nieborg,andvan Zeist 1990).
Suchresultsdivergefrom charcoalor seed identification
from site flotationstudies, becausethey representa composite picture for a larger area, much of it unutilized,
ratherthan the disturbedenvironsof a site. Pollen spectra
of the same age from a lake or swampcore and from an
archaeologicalsite within the same watershed also are
radicallydifferent(van Zeist and Bottema 1991: fig. 41a
versus 41b). Long pollen cores tend to be limited in
resolutionby samplingintervals,and dating must all too
often be interpolatedbetween widely spacedradiocarbon
dates. Yet the advantagesare obvious, with a relatively
continuous trace of composite ecological change, sometimes punctuatedby strong regionalperturbations,comparedwith the discontinuousrecordsand much sparseror
secondaryarborealrecord typical of charcoaland seeds
from an archaeologicalsite (see Vernet,Badal,and Grau
1983; Vernet,Thiebault,and Heinz 1987; Miller 1991).
This is primarilya matterof scale,but it is more than that,
because survivalof more distant woodlands within the
samewatershedfacilitatesecologicalrecoveryas the degree
of disturbanceis reduced.In that sensethe multiplewatershedsof complexenvironmentssuch as those of the MediterraneanBasin also differ fundamentallyfrom mid-oceanic,islandecosystems,the ecology of which can be more
rapidlyand perhapsirretrievablydegraded(Flenleyet al.
1991; Kirchet al. 1992).
Equallyso thereareproblemsin reconcilingpollen core
data with episodes of destructiveland use inferredfrom
soil erosionas recordedin dated colluviumor alluvialfills.
Such geomorphologicalcriterianormallyare discontinuous, documentingrupturesof soil and slope equilibrium
(vanAndel, Zangger,and Demitrack1990; vanAndeland
Runnels 1987). Yet the natureof cause-and-effectin the
crossingof such a thresholdis open to interpretation,in
part becausechannelfills,overbankdeposits,debrisflows,
and colluvial spreads reflect different processes, and it
remainsdifficultto exclude extremeweatherevents and
their recurrenceintervalfrom a complementaryrole in
erosionor deposition.Equallydifficultis exactdatingand
accuratecorrelationwith a particularstageof a local settlement history (e.g., Wells, Runnels, and Zangger 1990;
Bell and Boardman1992: Section C). For example,does
initialclearance,long-termpressure,or the constructionor
partial(versustotal) abandonmentof agriculturalterraces
push disturbanceor degradation beyond that critical
thresholdthat promotessoil erosion in a particulararea?
Last but not least, a pollen core will sample a unique
columnof sediment,whereassoil erosiondataarespatially
distributedin a complexlandscape,or must be linked by
difficultlateralcorrelations.Not surprisinglythe results
may diverge,as evidentfrom comparisonof two interpretations of Lake Lerna in the GreekArgive Plain (Jahns
1993 versusZangger1991). Ideally,palynologicalrecords
should be supplementedby measurementsof magnetic
susceptibilitythat give a continuous,quantitativetraceof
mineral sediment accretion,potentiallysensitive to soil
erosionin the catchment.
For our purposes,episodesof soil erosion give a signal
for disequilibriumthat complements the palynological
datainterpretedhere. Ideallyall these categoriesof informationrequirecomparisonanddiscussion,againsta background of regionalsettlementhistory(that is rarelyavailable), but that indeed would require book-length
presentation.What follows is an outline that seeks to
identify basic patterns and place certain archaeological
.
.
ssues
lnto
>
tocus.
In general,vegetationwas relativelyundisturbeduntil
about 5000 B.C. (calibrated)in the easternMediterranean
region and until roughly2000 B.C. in the westernBasin.
Nonetheless,therewere scatteredepisodesof moderateto
intense disturbance,due to agropastoralintrusion into
localcatchments,generallyfollowedby partialor complete
woodland recovery.There also is some evidence of soil
erosion, varyinggreatlyin intensityfrom place to place,
and timing (van Andel, Zangger, and Demitrack1990;
Bruckner1986; J. T. Abbott, personalcommunication,
1994).
A combinationof agricultureandincipientarboriculture
(chestnut,walnut)is firstevidentin Syriaby 5000 B.C. and
in Greece about 3000 B.C., but olives or grapes, as a
hallmarkof true Mediterraneanagriculture(Goor and
Nurock 1968; Stager 1985), are only verifiedlater: in
Palestineshortlyafter3500 B.C.; in Greeceabout2000 B.C.;
and in the westernMediterraneanafter 500 B.C. (Baruch
23, 1996 145
Journglof FieldArchcleology/Vol.
1986; Jahns1993; Reille 1979, 1984; Runnelsand Hansen 1987; Reille and Lowe 1993; Menendez Amor and
Florschutz1961). That E-W gradientis compatiblewith
directarchaeologicalevidencefor olives or grapesor their
products(Jashemski1979; Stager 1985; Heltzer and Eitam 1987; Zohary and Hopf 1993), as well as for plow
agricultureand possiblyhillsideterracing(see Wells1992:
29-57, 123-130). In some places,but not in others, the
apex of agriculturaldevelopmentled to modest soil erosion (van Andel, Zangger, and Demitrack1990; Butzer
1993c). Unexpectedis that this agrosystemsubsequently
was regressive,as earlyas 300 B.C. in some areas,or as late
as A.C. 1000 in others,with woodlandreconstitutionduring the early or late Middle Ages (Reille 1976, 1977;
Lamb, Eicher, and Switsur 1989; Bottema 1984; Ikuniholm and Striker1987).
LocalagriculturaldeclineduringClassicaltimes (Argive
Plain: Jahns 1993; western Anatolia: van Zeist and
Bottema 1991) reflectedprovincial?urbandecayin some
areascontrolledby Rome and mayhave been accentuated
by soil destruction.Agriculturalrecessionis also apparent
during the Greek Dark Ages about 1000 B.C. (Bottema
1984). Distinctivein severalareasis strongpastoraldisturbance, in western Anatolia and northern Greece about
1200 to 800 B.C. (Bottema 1984; van Zeist and Bottema
1991: 82), in Iberiaaround 1000 to 500 B.C. (Stevenson
and Harrison1992), or in Palestineand NorthwestAfrica
from A.C. 900 to 1400 (Baruch1986; Reille 1976, 1977;
Ritchie 1984). These representtimes when the areasin
questionwere exposedto pastoralistinvasionsfrom either
temperateEuropeor the adjacentdeserts,and such disturbancesometimesled to substantialsoil erosion.Ironically,
however,the pollen recordsof northernGreeceshow that
forest degradationincreasedspeciesdiversityby an order
of magnitude(Bottema1984); biodiversityissuesin tropical and temperateforestsarenot identical.
A combinationof charcoalstudiesand palynologysuggests that increasinghuman modificationof the environvegetation shift
ment accentuateda climatically-induced
during mid-Holocene times, favoringa change from deciduous to live oak woodland and an increasingprominence of matorral,beginningat some point between4000
and 2000 B.C. (Vernet, Badal, and Grau 1983; Vernet,
Thiebault, and Heinz 1987). A recent, discriminating
study in sw Spain (Stevensonand Harrison1992) argues
managedgrazing,by meansof controlthatexperimentally
led use of fire, was underwaysince 4000 B.C.; by 500 B.C.
the local dehesasystemhad been perfected,with no basic
changethroughRoman,Islamic,or Christiantimes.Alternatively, in the temperate woodlands of Anatolia and
northern Greece, sylvopastoralpractices favored some
treesoverothersafterabout 1700 B.C. (Bottema1984; van
Zeist and Bottema1991).
This synopsisgives a glimpseof the complexityof ecology in the long term. The history of land use and landscapeecology in the MediterraneanBasinwas a checkered
one, with punctuatedchanges,long intervalsof stability,
and shorterepisodes of mismanagement,periodicallyinterruptedby ecologicalrecovery.Despitea recentspateof
archaeologicalor documentarystudies devoted to longterm settlementand land-use,particularlyin Greece(e.g.
Renfrew and Wagstaff 1982; Keller and Rupp 1983;
Snodgrass1987; van Andel and Runnels 1987; Cherry,
Davis,andMantzourani1991; Wells1992), but alsoin the
Levantand Spain,the ruralhistoriesof largeareasremain
little explored.But what standsout is that this relatively
modest environmenthas supportedagriculturalpopulations across 5-10 millennia, and urban societies for
some 20004000 years. Whereasthe landscapehas indeed been humanized, modified, impaired, or altered,
traditionalagropastoralsystemshave maintainedtheir basic productivityacross200 generationsor more. For all
purposes,in the long test of history,Mediterraneanlanduse systemshave been sustainable,despite sporadicevidence for destructivehuman intervention in time and
space.
Implications for Mesoamerican Land-use
Histories
This Mediterraneanrecordappearsto be analogousto
the more fragmentaryevidencecurrentlyemergingfrom
Mexico and CentralAmerica.That should not be surprising because long ecological records will not reflect an
idealizedrelationshipbetween people and their environment, but ratherthe harshrealitiesof events or circumstancesthat could not be controlled.Intervalsof destructive land use in PrehispanicMesoamericaare not an
indictment against the conservationismof New World
agrosystems,any more than they are of their Mediterranean counterpart.Both traditionsembodied millenniaof
experiencethat was translatedinto a refined system to
minimize subsistencerisk. Both, in the main part, were
successfulin achieving that goal, although internal or
external stress at times required a shift of prioritiesto
short-termsurvival,with unfortunatebut not generally
irreversibleecologicalrepercussions.
Just what happenedwhen the Mediterraneanagrosystem was transferredto Mexico and "superimposed"on
indigenous systems?The limited impact of Spanishlivestock and agriculture,as now documented(Butzer1992c,
1995; Butzer and Butzer 1993, 1995), is once again
.
counterlntultlve:
.
.
146 Ecolo,gyin the Lon,gView/Butser
1. The Spanish-Mediterranean
agrosystemwas simplifiedin the New World,becauseof ecologicalconstraints,
insufficientmanpoweror agronomicexpertiseamong the
Europeansettlers,and limited economic competitiveness
versusindigenousagriculturalproductivityandproducts.
2. The indigenousagrosystemexpandedits own repertoire of cultivars,especiallyby incorporatingMediterranean fruit trees in the highlands, or citrus fruits and
bananasin the lowlands,the lastintroducedfromAfricavia
the CanaryIslands.Outfieldandinfieldcropsandmanagement remainedlittle changed.
3. Giventhe almostunlimitedpastureslying beyondthe
northernlimitsof indigenousagriculturein Mexico,stockraisingbecameless controlledbut farmore mobilethan in
the Mediterranean
world.Afterinitialconflictwith indigenous farmers,stockraisers
were pushedout to the frontiers
by governmentpolicy.Balancedagainstdamagessustained
and lands lost, the indigenouspeoples did deriveimportant benefitsfromEuropeanlivestock:reducedsubsistence
risk; improved nutrition with significantlymore animal
protein;and manure-for theirfieldsor fuel for theirfires.
4. Probablyas a resultof high livestockmobility,thereis
no evidenceforvegetationchangeor soil erosionduringat
leastthe firstcenturyof colonizationin Mexico contrary
to well-entrenched,popularassumption.But for reasons
that are unclear,the Colonial governmentattemptedto
interdictfiremanagementof rangelands,possiblybecause
it could not be properlycontrolled,as a resultof the labor
shortageand the inexperienceof hiredherders.
5. Finally,tangible evidence for ecological disbalance,
including stream alluviationwith eroded soil products,
only becomes apparentduring the course of the 18th
century,a time of rapid demographicexpansion(C. D.
Frederick,personal communication,1995; C. Cordova,
personalcommunication,1995). But that comes on the
eve of proto-industrialization
and in the wake of fundamentaleconomic change, not only in Mexico but also in
easternNorth America.
regions there are a number of intervalswith very low
archaeologicalvisibility,typicallylastingfrom 500 to 1000
years.Most of these fall between the earlyNeolithic and
the earlyBronzeAge, and they areverifiedby local settlement surveys.
C? lattiveexperiencesho?ldselectfor vnoreconservationiststrattegies.
By BronzeAge times much largerpopulationshadless impacton forestor soil coverthandid their
Neolithic predecessors.S?bsistence
experienceis atbouthow
to vnininnizeboth lon,g-tertnenvirontnentatl
datvnat,ge
gnd
short-tertns?bsistencerisk. Diversificationof agronomic
strategieswas the key to reducedsubsistencerisk,as suggested by continuing amplificationof the repertoireof
orchard and garden crops, and tentative evidence that
seasonal transhumancesystems were being operationalized. Nonetheless, increasingand more persistentpressureson resourcesreinforcedthe Holocene climatictrend
to a more xericvegetation,thus creatingthe characteristic,
subclimaxvegetationcommunitiesof the Mediterranean
world.Fromthen on, the Mediterranean
environmentwas
more or less continuouslymanagedas an artificialecosystem that, on the whole, was sustainable.
Expatnsionatndwestwardpro,gression
of the Mediterraneatnat,grosystenn,
with its diagnosticolive and grapeproduction, represents
bothatn intensificattio
n atndconntnerciatlizattionof prod?ction,linked to the developtnent
of ?Wrbatn
centersatndtheir vnarketdennatnd.
Commercialization
implies a redirectionand refinementof managementpractices,suchas the seasonalworkcalendar,in the directionof
risk-reducingbut production-satisfyingstrategies that
meet marketdemand.Thatin turnrequiresintensification
and greatercapitalinvestment in technology,cultivars,
livestock,and an appropriateinfrastructureof buildings,
roads, and agriculturallandforms.Subsequentregression
or reexpansionof suchcommercialagricultureshouldhave
closelyparalleledregional,urbanhistories.At some point
urbandemandand high ruralpopulationscould placethe
ecosystemitself under stress,triggeringperiodsof degradation.
ConcludingHypotheses
Destructive pastoral land use was not endemic, but
In retrospect,it is the temporaryexceptionsto agricul- region- and time-specific.In part it was linked to the
turalstabilityin the long-term Mediterraneanrecordthat incursionof new peoplesfromother ecozones, suggesting
suggestthe most interestinginferences.
thattpriorenvirontnentatl
experience
catnnotbetratnsplatnted
A,grosystenns
evolvethro?,ghtriatlatnderror;earlyol,gric?l- ontonewecolo,gies
witho?tinitiatldoltnat,ge.
Only long-term
t?rewatsexperinnentatl
in natt?Wre,
atndinitiatltechnostratte,giesenvironmentalexperiencewill encode reasonablyaccurate
wereexploitattive,
atndoftenephenneratl.
informationas to how to use a particularenvironmental
Substantialecological damagewas done by very small groups of Neolithic matrix,or as to the dispositionof micro-scaleactivities,
people during fairlybrief periods (Kohler-Rollefsonand
selection of crops and animals,and relatedmanagement
Rollefson1990). Whethersucheventswereso maladaptive strategies.Equallyso, however,uncontrolledpastoralexas to requirelocal abandonmentand settlementdispersal ploitationwas facilitatedby politicaldevolution.This suginto new areas(Butzer 1990) is unclear,but acrosssome
gests that politicollinstatbilityatnd r?Wratl
insec?Writy
will
23, 1996 147
Journgl of Field Arehgeolo,gvv/Vol.
of revnatng,gennent
incentivesfor conservattionist
red?Wse
sources,as long-term optimizationtakes second place to
short-termsurvival.
Finally,simplisticassumptionsabout the efficacyof differentland ethics in differentculturesshould be avoided.
Latndethicsrepresentideatls,whetherexplicitlyincorporatted
in
reatltn,or tratnstnitted
or costnolo,gicatl
in thephilosophicgl
sphere.The cognitivedimenatndseculatr
prat,gvnattic
a vnore
sions of the Mediterraneanagrosystemare revealedin an
explicit, didactic literature represented by agronomic
worksthat span some 2500 years(Butzer 1993b, 1994).
The concept of "good husbandry"pervadessuch GraecoRoman,medieval,and Islamicwritings,not as an ideology,
but as a matter of economic rationaleand proper civic
behavior.Judgementis best based on an assessmentof
performance(Tuan 1968), ratherthan on simplistic,deductiveinferences.
It requiresno emphasisthat these concludingobservations representtestable hypothesesthat can be reformulatedto matchotherregionaland diachroniccontexts,and
fallwell withinthe interestsof manyarchaeologists.This is
where I see the productiveintersectionbetweenarchaeology and ecology in the long run. Archaeologistsare
uniquelyequippedto documentand model not only longterm settlement and land-usehistories,but also to place
these in the broaderintellectualperspectivethey deserve.
Acknowledgments
I remaindeeplyindebtedto JuanF. Mateu(Universidad
de Valencia)for the manyinsightshe providedinto Mediterraneanagricultureand cuisine over manyyearsof collaborationin the field. My interestsin long-termsustainabilitywere refinedas a resultof the symposiumArqueolomediterratneo,
>ffz:Lathuellatdel hombreen el ecosistemat
organized by BernardoMarti Oliver and myself, at the
UniversidadInternacionalMenendez Pelayo in Valencia,
July 1-5, 1991. I have also profitedfrom repeateddiscussions with my students CharlesD. Frederick,Carlos E.
Cordova,and JamesT. Abbott, currentlycompletingdissertationson long-term ecologicalchange in Mexico and
Italy.More indirectly,I havebeen affectedby the novelsof
MarcelPagnol that so vividlycapturethe ethos of persistence in the rural Mediterraneanworld. An abbreviated
version of this paper was given at the PlenarySession,
Society for ArnericanArchaeologyMeeting in Anaheim,
CA, April1994.
ICatrlW Butzer (D.Sc., Universityof Bonn, Gertnatny,
1957) is R. C. DicksonCentenniatlProfessorof Liberatl
Arts attthe Universityof Texgs,Austin. His currentre-
atnd
cult?ratlecolo,gy,
interestsatre,geoatrchateolo,gy,
seatrch
atratndhistoricatl
doc?vnentattion
the interfatceof atrchivatl
MatilMexico.
coloniatl
atnd
Spatin
vnedievatl
in
chateolo,gy
Universityof
of Geo,gratphy,
Depatrtvnent
in,gatddress:
78712.
TX
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