Environmental Changes In The Mixteca Alta Region
Over the course of history, humans have had a huge impact on the environment ranging from climatic changes, endangerment of certain species, and pollution of planet Earth. The drive of society to improve the standards of living have resulted in technological advances that to a certain extent have simplified our life; however, the toll it has brought upon Earth is intolerable. Veronica Perez Rodriguez & Kirk Anderson and Hazel Delcourt have addressed the issue on how our predecessors actions have affected them and our life on the long run. Through the practices of archeology, paleoecology, and paleoethnobotany our understanding of present environmental changes have allowed us to understand the desire of our ancestors to aim for such changes.
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In the Mixteca Alta region, several of environmental changes were examined by Veronica Perez and Kirk Anderson. The changes examined were mainly soil-related. For example, in the community of “Magdalena Peñasco the inhabitants have had to reinforce government buildings with stilts since the land has eroded from under them” (Perez & Kirk 2013: 346). This indicates that the strength of the soil to support houses, buildings, and the community has diminished over time. Another example of an environmental change that occurred in the Mixteca Alta region is “there are areas where the topsoil is gone and the exposed surfaces are red Yanhuitlán beds or exposed white caliche” (Perez & Kirk 2013: 346). According to Perez and Kirk, the white caliche is “a hardened accumulation deposit of calcium carbonate where agricultural production is virtually impossible” (2013: 346). Meanwhile, Hazel Delcourt analyzed changes in the forest, changes in dominance of certain trees species, and changes in land mosaic. For example, she concluded that “changes in both the distribution and relative abundance of European forests trees since the last full glacial interval of the Pleistocene have resulted from climatic change, pathogen outbreaks and human activities” (1987: 39). In addition, she brought forth the idea that clearance of land for swidden agriculture could have contributed to the decrease in elm (1987:39). In regards to the change in dominance, Delcourt examined the tree species in the Iroquois sites near Crawford Lake where she proposed the dominance of tree species shifted from beech and sugar maple to oak and white pine (1987:40). These examples of how certain species were replaced by others demonstrates how human activities like agriculture altered the
In the Mixteca Alta region, several of environmental changes were examined by Veronica Perez and Kirk Anderson. The changes examined were mainly soil-related. For example, in the community of “Magdalena Peñasco the inhabitants have had to reinforce government buildings with stilts since the land has eroded from under them” (Perez & Kirk 2013: 346). This indicates that the strength of the soil to support houses, buildings, and the community has diminished over time. Another example of an environmental change that occurred in the Mixteca Alta region is “there are areas where the topsoil is gone and the exposed surfaces are red Yanhuitlán beds or exposed white caliche” (Perez & Kirk 2013: 346). According to Perez and Kirk, the white caliche is “a hardened accumulation deposit of calcium carbonate where agricultural production is virtually impossible” (2013: 346). Meanwhile, Hazel Delcourt analyzed changes in the forest, changes in dominance of certain trees species, and changes in land mosaic. For example, she concluded that “changes in both the distribution and relative abundance of European forests trees since the last full glacial interval of the Pleistocene have resulted from climatic change, pathogen outbreaks and human activities” (1987: 39). In addition, she brought forth the idea that clearance of land for swidden agriculture could have contributed to the decrease in elm (1987:39). In regards to the change in dominance, Delcourt examined the tree species in the Iroquois sites near Crawford Lake where she proposed the dominance of tree species shifted from beech and sugar maple to oak and white pine (1987:40). These examples of how certain species were replaced by others demonstrates how human activities like agriculture altered the