Sust-Mesoamerica

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Anthropology

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Oct 30, 2023

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Lecture ● We reviewed how hunter-fisher-gatherers in the Fertile Crescent settled into sedentary life in the earlier Sedentism lesson; however, this same process played out independently around the world in different locations at different times. In this lesson, we will look at how this process played out in Mesoamerica. ● The ancestors of civilizations in the Americas like the Maya and Ancestral Pueblo Peoples (civilizations we will study later) first migrated into the Americas either via the Northwest Pacific Coast ("The Kelp Route hypothesis") or a little bit later through the interior continental corridors as the continental glaciers continued to melt coming out of the last glacial maximum 20,000 years ago. The descendants of these first migrants into the Americas spread out and became well-established throughout the Americas over the next few thousands of years. How did the ongoing changes in climate and environment result in these nomadic hunter-fisher- gatherers becoming more sedentary? The answer to this question is important as the shift of nomadic hunter-fisher-gatherers to sedentary hunter-fisher-gathers then sets the stage for the eventual rise of civilizations throughout Mesoamerica, so let's explore this subject more in this lesson. ● Climate change drives changes in the environment. One way we can infer the conditions under which past peoples lived is by studying paleoenvironmental records and data. Paleodata can tell us about past rainfall (both amounts and trends) along with the types of plants, animals, and the ecosystems that were prevalent (or absent). The early Mesoamerican settlers (from 15,000 to 9,000 years ago) were nomadic hunter-fisher-gatherers (HFG). As part of their diet, they harvested large, migratory animals (e.g., mastodon, bison, horses). These large, migratory animals were very common in the grasslands of Northern America and Mesoamerica; especially before the first people arrived. In addition to using these large, migratory game animals for food, these nomadic HFGs were opportunistic and whenever possible used other food sources (small game animals, nuts, seeds, fruits, etc.).

● By 9,000 years ago, the large, migratory animals (and thus this food source for the HFG) had disappeared from the environmental record. The two reasons given for their disappearance are the combined effects of (1) the Mesoamerican environment changing from grasslands to seasonal tropical rainforest, resulting in the loss of the preferred habitat and food sources (of grasses and brush vegetation) for large, migratory herd animals, and (2) the human hunting pressure on their populations. With the environmental change and the loss of migratory herd animals, to survive humans had to adapt their food sourcing efforts to make up for this now missing source of calories. So what caused the environmental shift from grasslands to seasonal tropical rainforests? ● The I nter T ropical C onvergence Z one (ITCZ) -- also known as the doldrums -- is a large area in the tropics that is characterized by heavy rainfall (thunderstorms) and light winds. The ITCZ is most pronounced over the tropical Pacific Ocean and can be easily recognized from space by a zonally (meaning in the east-west directions) elongated band of thick clouds. The shift in the ITCZ resulted in large-scale environmental and ecological change due to the increase in rainfall in the Mesoamerica region. This increase in rainfall resulted in the general reduction in grassland abundance and increased abundance in seasonal tropical rainforest. How do we know this happened? We can use paleoenvironmental records, such as for rainfall and plant pollen, to tell how the environment and ecosystem evolved over time. The below figure is an example of how scientists use this type of paleodata to reconstruct the past 12,000 years of environmental conditions in Mesoamerica. Some of the highlights include: ● Starting at 12,000 years ago, we can see that precipitation was relatively low and that forbs were abundant. Forbs are grassland plants and thus indicators of a grassland environment. ● Moving from 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, precipitation increases and, at the same time, the amount of forb pollen decreases.

● There is then a long, stable period of high rainfall, from 10,000 years until 4,000 years before present. At the same time of this high rainfall period, the amount of forb pollen goes to zero and the pollen of ramon (a tropical tree) goes way up. This shows us the with consistent, high rainfall, the environment shifted from grasslands (forbs) to tropical rainforest (ramon). ● The above environmental shift, as recorded by the change in pollen type from forb (grassland) to ramon (tropical rainforest tree), results from the change in the region's precipitation (from relatively low at 12,000 year ago to very high from 10,000 to 4,000 years ago). This long period (6,000 years) of high rainfall resulted in an environmental shift. To survive this shift, and at the same time the loss of the large herd animals, nomadic HFGs would have been required to adapt their habits and practices to the new environment. They adapted by adopting more sedentary behavior. ● This shift in habitat, from grasslands to tropical forests, was one of the drivers that caused the extinction of large, migratory animals. Once the large migratory animals were gone, the nomadic HFG groups had to adopt new subsistence strategies to survive. To adjust, they depended more on hunting smaller animals (deer, pig, rabbit, fish, turtle, etc.). They had always hunted them, but now these smaller animals were even more important as a source of protein; especially given that these smaller animals also benefitted from the resources and habitats offered by the new seasonal tropical rainforest ecosystem. These groups also gathered nuts, seeds, onions, legumes, bugs, etc., some of which were new caloric sources that came with this environmental shift from grasslands to seasonal tropical rainforest. As they become more sedentary in their practices, evidence of the earliest attempts at crop domestication start to appear 9,000 years ago. In summary, the environmental switch from grasslands to seasonal tropical rainforest due to climate change and warming led the nomadic HFG in Mesoamerica to become more sedentary HFG. ● Cited Sources: ● Ford, Anabel and Ronald Nigh. The Maya Forest Garden : Eight

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Millennia of Sustainable Cultivation of the Tropical Woodlands, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhm/detail.action? docID=2079155. ● Coming out of the last glacial maximum and through early parts of the warming, the Mesoamerica area was drier and therefore mostly grassland and shrubs. Early inhabitants of Mesoamerica were migratory/nomadic hunter-fisher-gatherers that quickly adapted to follow and track big game animals as an important part of their caloric needs. With the subsequent northerly shift of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (or ITCZ), the Central and Southern Mesoamerica (Central & Southern Mexico and Central America) environment shifted from grasslands to seasonal tropical rainforests due to increased ITCZ-related rainfall. These nomadic Mesoamerican hunter-fisher-gatherers responded and adjusted to the climate & environmental change (the warming, the grasslands shifting to seasonal tropical forests, and the wetter conditions) by becoming more sedentary. During this shift from nomadic to more sedentary behavior, these Mesoamericans increased their reliance on the following for their food needs: (1) hunting smaller, non- migratory game such as deer, rabbit, turtle, pigs, and fish; (2) gathering nuts, seeds, agave, onions, and legumes; and (3) starting to grow corn, beans, squash, and chilis. This switch from nomadic to a more sedentary lifestyle ultimately led to the development of Mesoamerican societies such as the Maya. ●