Book ID: 92043
Balee, William L. and Clark L. Erickson
Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology. Studies in the Neotropical Lowlands. 2006. 27 illus. 432 p. gr8vo. Cloth.
The authors examine how alterations in the natural world mirror humancultures, societies, and languages. Treating the landscape like a text,the authors decipher patterns and meaning in the Ecuadorian Andes,Amazonia, the desert coast of Peru, and other regions in the neotropics.They show how local peoples have changed the landscape over time to fittheir needs by managing and modifying species diversity, enhancinglandscape heterogeneity, and controlling ecological disturbance. In turn, the environment itself becomes a form of architecture rich with historical and archaeological significance.