11/15 lecture

Resilience

“Resilience is viewed as a key idea to tackle risk, particularly in an uncertain arena… the concept can be understood as being either concerned with restoring equilibrium, or adapting to differing circumstances affecting both the city and its citizens… The alternative view of resilience, best understood as concerning adaptation to a changing normality, is however more problematic to implement” (White 2010:108)

• resilience: “bounce-back-ability”

sustainability

“…the right of the present generation to use what it needs of the natural resources now available, (recognizing) equally our obligations to use what we need that our descendants shall not be deprived of what they need.”

(Pinchot 1967(1910):80)

niche construction

“niche construction”: the idea that organisms don’t just react to their environments but also change their environments to increase their success"

• ex. beavers

Mesoamerica

• very diverse landscape

• different areas

  • highland, etc

Maya civilization

• one of many Mesoamerican civilizations

• typical maya city

  • pyramids, community plaza, etc

• development of cities and alliances among cities started around 2000 ya.

• development of writing that has finally been deciphered

  • philosophical and other abstract concepts? etc

• elaborate pottery and Maya objects

  • in addition to modifying environments, people did lots of crafts

• tombs and temples indicate social complexity and elites

  • obvious ruler

  • ex. tample of Palenque

    • King/lord Pacal was buried here in a JADE SUIT (rich boy) and a jade mask

      • now in a national museum in Mexico City

reading

• mayan civ came to a stop. why?

• this is the issue of sustainability

• “resilitnece model” of sustainability

  • bounce back a ability

• Tikal

  • pond was made from limestone "

    • go over rocks vs water

    • niche construction and changing env

• Lake Petén

  • can grow maize

• Lentz et al. p 119

  • central area

  • LiDAR survey

• Tikal excavation

  • time consuming, $

  • small areas of excavation even though so many ruins were there

  • they also excavated infrastructure such as drains

• History of Tikal

  • 800-700 BCE first inhabitants

    • basic village

  • 600 BCE earliest monumental architecture

    • takes 6-8 generations for this to happen

  • 350 BCE becomes a polity (political unit) with regional effects

    • * about the time that Fisher is talking about in Tzacauil

    • drought happens in Tikal

      • they double-down and become more complex… v

  • 200 CE a major regional power

    • we have all the writing about warfare, tribute, etc

  • 378 CE conquered by teotihuacan

    • evidence: materials in different places

  • bounces back against Teotihuacan, and drought: local rebound to greatness!

  • UH OH: now a VOLCANO?

    • resilience

  • 695 CE military vicROys by Jasaw Chan K’awiil and his son

  • monument architecture and regional control

    • tikal drain shows resilience because maintenance makes a system work

    • another DROUGHT!

      • 10th century CE —> abandonment, fin

  • “adaptive systems operate at multiple scales, including the level of the individual community” (Lentz et al. 2018:114)

  • “economic, social, and ecological systems are vitally interconnected: (

    • all cogs of the machine must be working

polity

Lents et al definition: It’s basically another word for “state” but more generic and vague.

• you’d use state for political systems with more clear borders

what happened specifically at tikal?

on the basis of:

• paleobotanical evidence

• evidence of erosion

• expansion of agriculture to support a larger population

• niche construction (including moving rocks)

  • “Extensive Preclassic agricultural ….