archaeology and contemporary environmental issues

A/VJT# /WmRONOTC5

MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY PUBLICATION FOR EDUCATORS

8)

Volume 30 No.

2 Fall

2009

TOWARDS A GREENER FUTURE:

ARCHAEOLOGY AND CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

byTorben

C.

Rick

T'he

^secretisout!Archaeologists

have something

tosay

about contemporary

environmentalissues

and

thesustainabilityof

our

planet Earth.Thisis

notsurprising to archaeologists

who have

long

known

the

importance of deep time

perspectives for

shedding

light

on

issuesranging

from

thebeginnings

of

plant

and

animal domestication

and

agriculture tothe originofstates

and

politicalhierarchy.Archaeologists

and

anthropolo- gists

working from an

ecological perspective also

have

helped illuminate the eternal questions:

Who

are

we?

Where

did

we come from? Why do we

^exist?

Yetarchaeologicalcontributionsto

contempo-

rary

environmental

issues are far

from mainstream.

Archaeologists continueto fightanuphillbatdetogetenvironmental archaeology recognized

by

ecologists, biologists, resourcemanagers,

and

es- peciallythe general public.

The

ride,fortunately,isturning.

There

are

new

collaborative studies be-

tween

archaeologists

and

ecologists;

ecologistsincreasinglyrecognize the value of long-termhistoricalperspectives intheir

own

work;

and

collaborativeenvironmental inginitiatives

from

theNational Science

Foun

otheragencies are

growing

in

number. Today w

archaeologists' publications appearingin ecological or interdisciplinaryscientificjournals.

Such

publicationspro- vide

important deep

time contextforcurrent environ-

mental

issuessuchasglobal

warming.

30th

The

public

and

probably

K-

12students

and

teach- ers

have

yet tofullyappreciate archaeology's ever-increas- ingrelevance tounderstanding

modern day environmen-

talproblems. Jared

Diamond's

successful

book

Collapse (2005) helped increase

knowledge about

archaeological data

and

itsrelevance tounderstandingancient

human

en- vironmentalrelationships.

But

for

many

the relevantquestions arenotyet completelyclear.

Can

archaeologistsprovide cautionary

tales

about

theenvironmental mistakes

of

ancient peoples?

Can

they generateinformation

on

sustainable

ways of

liv- inginthe past that

may

help us transcend currentprob- lems?

Can

archeologistsprovidethecontextfor

how environments

function overcenturies, millennia,ormore,

which

canhelp us project into the future?

The answer

is yes, all of the

above and more

(Costanzaetal.2007;

Redman

1999; Rogers 2004).

Three

case studies

—

^the

^Hawaiian

^Islands,

France's

Rhone

Valley,

and

California's

Channel

Islands

—

^illustrate archaeology's

many

contributionstounderstandingtherange cient

human

environmentalinteractions.

*A

Human Modified Paradise?

Anyone who

has

been

to the

Hawaiian

Islandscanattest to their incredible natural beauty

and

their remarkable Polynesian cultural heritage.

Some of

the

most compre-

Inside:

Simulating the

Post,

Teaching

in

the

Digital

Age,

Arctic

Climate Change

AnthroNotes Volume 30 No. 2

Fall

2009

hensivestudies

of

ancient

human environmental

interac- tions

come from Hawaii and

otherPacific Islands.

Once

these islands

were viewed

asa paradisefree

from human

interventionbutresearchoverthelastseveral decadeshas

shown

thatancient

maritime

agriculturalists activelymodified

and

degradedPacificIslandland

and

sea- scapes(Kirch

2004,

2007). PatKirch, aleadingPacificIs-

landarchaeologist,

and

hisinterdisciplinary

team

havegath- eredarchaeological

and

ancient

environmental

datathat

improves

our understanding

of

past

and

present

Hawaiian

environments,

shedding

light

on how

best to

manage Ha-

waiianecosystemsintothe future(Kirch2004, 2007). Kirch

and

his

team

have used Hawai'i as a

model

system for understanding

human

ecologicaldynamics.

This model

demonstratesthe interplayofclimatic events,

human

^agri-

culturalactivities,

and

landscapetransformationinshaping

both

thesocial

and

naturalworlds.

Though

theinitialdateof

human

colonization

of

Hawai'i is still

under

investigation, Polynesiansprobably arrived

around A.D.

800.

At

thattime,theylikely

found

a tropicalislandarchipelagopopulated withforests

and

birds

Ancient dryland agricultural field system with

embankments

as visible from the cinder cone of Pu'u Kehena in Kohala district, Hawai'i (Photo by Patrick Kirch).

that

had

evolvedintheabsenceof

humans and

other

com-

mon

^predators.

Driven by an expanding

population

of

ancient

Hawaiians

totalingas

many

as

400,000

people,

Ha-

waiianagricultural

and

other

human

activities

had

a variety

of

impacts

on

islandlandscapes,plants,

and

animals (Kirch 2007).

Human

hunting

and

landscapeclearing,forexample, caused the extinction

of some

terrestrial birds.

Sediment

cores

document

dramatic alteration

of Hawaiian

island vegetation

communities

overthelast1

000

years,including widespread

burning

that resultedin

human

modifiedland- scapeslargelyusedforagriculture(Kirch

2007:

15).

Intensification

of

agriculturalsystemsoverseveral centuries,including the useofirrigation,continuedto

modify and

transformthe

Hawaiian

Islands.

These

changes placed increased pressure

on

the

landscape and influenced

sociopolitical

developments

including the formation

of Hawaiian

polities.

The

rise

of some Hawaiian

islandchiefs, forinstance,correlatedwithenvironmentalvariables,with

some

leadersseekingto increase agriculture

and

otherre- sources to offset

famines and

other

downturns

(Kirch 2007:22).

Rat remains in Hawai'i

and

elsewhereinthe Pacific Islandshelp

tellusthatnotall

human

environmen-

talimpactsareintentionalordirect.

Rats, afterall,

probably were

unin- tentionallyintroducedas

stowaways on

ancient Polynesian canoes.

On

Hawai'i

and

otherislands, ratslikely

were

responsible for the extinction

of some

bird species

by

causing a decline in dry-land forests

through consumption of

massive quantities

of

seeds, fruits,

and

seedlings,

and

also

by

preying

on

eggs

and young

birds.

The Hawaiian

dataillustrate importantlessons fortoday.First,hu-

mans have profoundly

influenced

Hawaiian

ecosystemsforcenturiesor evenlonger.

Any attempt

tounder- stand

Hawaiian

ecosystems

must

take

Page 2

AnthwNotes Volume 30 No. 2

Fall

2009

thisintoaccount.Recent environmentalpatternsinHawai'i areverydifferent

from

thoseindeepertime,reflected in

an

archaeologicalrecordripe

with examples of

extinction

and

landscapealteration.

Another

lesson

comes from

the perils

of un- checked

population

growth

that resulted infamine,envi-

ronmental

degradation,

and concomitant

social

and

politi- calchanges

—

^{difficultissuesthatarerelevantbutrarelyad-}

dressedin today'sdensely

populated world

(Kirch

2004)

.

Roman Land Degradation: Southeastern France

If

you

travelto the

Rhone

Valley located in

French wine

country,

you

willfind

an

area thathassustained

human

oc- cupationformillennia.

Not

surprisingly,

you

also willfind

an important

archaeologicalrecordof

human

interactions

with

local ecosystems.

This

record has illuminatedlong-

term

patternsof landscape degradation analyzed

by Sander van der Leeuw and

his

colleagues

in the

ARCHAEOMEDES

^project (van der

Leeuw 2000; van

der

Leeuw

etal.

2004)

.

One of

the

most dynamic and

complicatedperi- odsof

Rhone

Valley history

was

the

Roman

period.

Span-

ning

some

sixcenturies

— ^{from 50}

^{B.C.tothesixthcentury}

A.D. —

^the

^Rhone

^Valley

was brought

intothebroaderglo- balized

economies of Europe,

Asia,

and

Africa that trans-

formed

thelandscape in

new and unique ways

(van der

Leeuw

etal.

2004:

115).

To

evaluate theeffects

of Roman

settlement

and

agrarian systemsinthe

Rhone

Valley,

van

der

Leeuw and

hiscolleagues evaluatedscores

of

archaeologicalsites,soil profiles,

Roman maps and

otherhistoricaldocuments, along

with

climaterecords overa

roughly

10,000-year period.

The team

focusedinpart

on

the lessonsancientsoilscan

tellusabouttheenvironmentalproductivityofcertainland- scapes,their suitabilityfor agriculture,the history

of

ero- sion

and

othercauses

of

landscape degradation,

and

ulti-

mately how such

factors affected

human

settlement

and abandonment.

Initial

Roman

settlementinthe

Rhone

Valley

was

rapid. Itinvolvedexpansioninto

some of

the

most

desir- able settings, followed

by

a contraction that

appeared

to

have balancedoutthe

number of

peopleinthe valley(van der

Leeuw

etal.2004).

The Romans brought

with

them an economy and

agricultural system focused

on

grapes, ol- ives,

and

wheat.

They

relied

on

crops that

would be

eco- nomicallylucrative,investingheavilyintheclearing,drain- ing,

and

irrigationofareasthat

had

thusfar

been viewed

as marginal.

Wine

production

was

particularlyintense,

com-

parabletothe agribusiness

of

the 19th

and 20th

centuries (vander

Leeuw

etal.2004:122).

A

period

of

contraction

and famine during

the

second and

thirdcenturies

A.D.

resulted in asocialcrisis, largelybecausethe

Roman

system

of

agriculture

was

frag- ile

and

onlyviableduringperiods

when

climaticconditions

were

favorable(vander

Leeuw

etal.2004).

Heavier

rain- fallthan expected caused

widespread

erosion

and

system disruption, part

of

a

complex

interplayof

human-induced

degradation, climate change,

and

politicalfactorsin

an

in- creasingly globalized

market

system.

Roman

activities

and

landuse

pushed

theenvironmental

and

socialsystemclose toitslimits

of

productivity.In the

Roman

agriculturalsys- tem,thelandscape

was dependent on human

intervention to functionproperly.

This undermined

the system'sresil-

iency

and

its abilityto adapt in the face

of widespread change

(vander

Leeuw 2000; van

der

Leeuw

etal.2004).

Like the Hawaiian

case study,

the

ARCHAEOMEDES

^projectdemonstrates thatenviron-

mental

variables

cannot

be

viewed

separately

from

social

and

political

developments

since these

and

otherfactors areintricatelyintertwined.

Moreover,

theseanalyses sug- gestthat today's

Rhone

Valleyecosystemsaretheresult

of

long-term

human

settlement

and

climaticcharacteristics.

To

effectivelyunderstandthese ecosystems,they

must

beviewed

on

millennial as well as shorter

time

scales

of

a

few

de- cades orless.

California's

Oceans

Devastated

by

overfishing,nutrientenrichment,pollution, climate change,

and

otherfactors,

our

oceansare inastate

of

crisis

with many

ecosystems

and

fisheries at or near collapse.

The impending

threats to earth's oceans

and an

increasingawareness

of

the antiquity

of human

exploita- tion

of

coastal areashave

prompted

archaeologists to ex- plorelong-term

human

exploitation

of marine

ecosystems

AnthroNotes Volume 30 No. 2

Fall

2009

Elephantsealsonthe beach adjacenttoa badly erodingsite

on San Miguel Island, California. Sites in the area have pro- duced

few

to no elephant seal bones over the last 10,000 years. However, they arethe

most

abundant animal on the island today. Photo courtesy Torben Rick

and

the

ways

in

which

these studiescanhelpinformpresent

day

issues.

In California,Ihave

worked

with

an

interdiscipli- nary

team

investigatingacontinuousarchaeologicalrecord of

human

exploitationof

marine

ecosystems

on

the

Chan-

nel Islands

spanning some 10,000

years (Braje

2009;

Erlandson

and

Rick

20

10;Rick

and

Erlandson 2008).

Our

researchdemonstratesthatthe

Channel

Islands'land

and

seascapeshave

been

actively

shaped by

theislands'ancient hunter-gatherers.

These men and women

harvesteda vari- ety of

marine and

terrestrial resources

and engaged

in a sophisticated

exchange

systemwiththecoastalmainland.

One of

thehallmarks

of

California's

Channel

Is- landstodayisthe presence

of

over

150,000

seals

and

sea lions

from

sixdifferentspecies.

These

sea

mammals

breed

and

haulout (rest

on

the shore) in

one

ofthelargestcolo- nies south

of

Alaska.Today, northern elephantseals

and

California sealions, followed

by

northernfurseals,arethe

most abundant and conspicuous

seals

and

sealions

on

the islands withsmaller

numbers of

harborseals.

Guadalupe

fursealsare rarely seen.Incontrast,the archaeological record suggests thatseal

and

sea lion populations

were compara-

tively limited for

much of

the last

10,000

years while

Guadalupe

furseals

were

the

most common

^species

with

elephantsealremainsrarelyidentified(Erlandson

and Rick 2010; Rick and

Erlandson

2008)

.

These

differences are clearly apparent at Point

Bennett on San Miguel

Island. In thisarea tens

of

thou- sands

of

California sealions,elephantseals,

and

northern fur seals

come

to breed everyyear.

Some 400

years ago,

however,

there

was

alargeNative

American

villagesitein the

middle of

these

contemporary

breeding grounds.

This

sitecontainsvisible

house

features,

abundant

artifacts,

and

faunal remains

dominated by marine

fishes

with

smaller

amounts of

seals

and

sealions.

The

presence

of

thisvillage

and

other

nearby

sites

of

even greaterantiquity suggests thatthecurrentbreeding

grounds

atPointBennett did not exist justa

few

centuriesago (Erlandson

and Rick

2010).

The

disconnect

between

theancient

and modern abundance and

distribution

of

seals

and

sea lions

shows

thatancient peoples strongly influenced prehistoricseal

and

sea lion

biogeography and abundance. The modern

sys-

Channel Islands artifacts: beads and microdrills (top);

shell and

bone

fishhooks (middle); projectile points (bottom). PhotocourtesyTorben Rick.

Page 4

AnthroNotes Volume 30 No. 2

Fall

2009

Archaeological shell

midden

on Santa Rosa Island, California. Photo courtesyTorben Rick.

tem

simply has

no

historicalbaseline

and

appearstobethe result of

contemporary

conservation

and

protection ef- forts.

This

casealsodemonstratesthe incredibleresilience

of

thesystem, as theseanimals recovered

from

theverge

of

extinction(caused

by

the 19thcentury'sglobal fur

and

oiltrade)injust

about

acentury.

Ancient

Channel

Islandpeoplesalsoreducedshell- fish size,

abundance, and

probably age profiles

through

intensivepredationthat

began

over10,000years ago.Simi-

larto thecaseofthe

Hawiian

rats,the

human

introduction ofdogs,

and

possiblythe islandfox, also severely altered seabirdbreeding^habitats.Conversely,ancient

human

hunt- ing

of

seaotters

may have enhanced and improved

the productivityofabalones, urchins,

and

othershellfishspe-

cies.

These

examplesdemonstratethatancient

Channel

Island seascapes (andlandscapes)

were shaped by human

activitiesformillennia and,likeHawai'i

and

the

Rhone

Val- ley, are riddled

with

theancient ecological footprints

of

past peoples. Perhaps

most

importantly,

and

surprising to some,thesedataillustratethathunter-gatherers,notjustlarge agriculturalsocieties,

had

astronginfluence(bothpositive

and

negative)

on

theecosystems theyinhabited,including the oceans.

Using the Past

to

Improve

the

Future

Archaeologists

around

the

world

arecarryingout sophisticated interdisciplinary studies

on

the

ways

ancientpeoples,

from

hunter-gathers to imperial agriculturalists

— ^and

^everythingin

^between —

^have

influencedthe

environments where

theylived.In- creasingly,archaeologistsare rising tothe challenges

of contemporary environmental

crises

by

provid- inginformation

on

long-term

human

environmental interactions

and

the

ways such knowledge

canin-

form contemporary

issues.

While

archaeology's contribution to

contemporary

environmentalissues continuestounfold,a

few

trends areemerging.

As we move

^{into a}

new

era

when

urgent environmentalissueslikeclimatechange,extinction

and

biodiversityloss,

and

air

and

waterquality

seem

tobe takingabackseatto healthcarereform,terrorism,

and

the global

economic downturn,

itis

important

to

remember

that

environmental

issuescutacrossvirtuallyallother po-

litical

and

socialmatters.

This

lessonisoften

pushed

aside, glossed over, or

championed

only

by

a minority.

The

ar- chaeologicalrecordillustratesalltoowelltheinstabilitythat

unchecked

environmental degradation can have

on human

society.

Archaeology, however, can provide

much more

thanjustcautionarytales.

The

three case studies

demon-

stratethat

we

cannot understandpresent

day

environments, ecosystems, orbiologicalorganisms

without documenting

theirlong-termhistories

and

relationships

with

thepeople

who

lived

and

thrivedinthose

environments

formillennia.

While

biologists

and

others

work

to restore de-

graded

ecosystemstotheir"natural"state, archaeologyil- lustratesthatthisnaturalstatehas

been

heavilyinfluenced

by

ancient

human

activities.Infact,ecologicalbaselines

and benchmarks

usedtoguide

contemporary

restoration

and management

have

changed

dramaticallyovertime.

As

the Hawai'i,

Rhone

Valley,

and

California casesdemonstrate,

knowledge of how

ecosystems

change

in light

of human

activities

and

climaticeventsovercenturies, millennia,or

more

can help us betterunderstand,predict,

and

prepare forthefuture'senvironmentaluncertainty.

AnthroNotes Volume 30 No. 2

Fall

2009

Archaeologicalstudiesalsodemonstratethatthere has

been no

singulartrendinthe pasttowards

human

over-

consumption and environmental

degradation or ancient

harmony and management. Long-term

archaeological per- spectiveserase

any

notionthatnature,especiallyduringthe last

10,000

years, can

be

separated

from human

actions

and

impact.

We must show

thenext generationof archaeolo-

gists,anthropologists,

and

thepublicthatarchaeology has

much

totell us

about

thepresent

and

futurestate

of

the Earth'senvironments.

Our

greatestchallengeistocontinue to

make

archaeologyrelevant

and meaningful

tothe

mod-

ernworld.Criticaltothisendeavor's success are university undergraduate

and

secondary schoolcurricula, aswellas

museum

exhibits

and

outreach

programs

thatfocus

on

the archaeology

of

long-term

human environmental

interac- tions.

We must move beyond academia

toengageteachers, students,

and

the generalpublic

on

the

importance of

un- derstandingthe

human

past to

promote

agreenerfuture.

References

Redman,CharlesL.1999.

Human

ImpactonAncient Environments.

UniversityofArizonaPress.

Rick,Torben

C,

andJon

M.

Erlandson,eds.2008.

Human

Impacts onAncientMarineEcosystems:

A

^GlobalPerspective.Universityof CaliforniaPress.

Rogers,_J.Daniel.2004.

The

GlobalEnvironmentalCrisis:

An

Ar- chaeologicalAgendaforthe 21stCentury.InC.Redman,S.James,

P.Fish,and_J.Rogers,eds., TheArchaeologyofGlobal Change:The Impactof

Humans

onTheirEnvironment,_pp.271-277. Smithsonian Institution Press.

vanderLeeuw,SanderE.2000.Desertification,LandDegradation, andLand

Abandonment

inthe

Rhone

Valley,France.InG. Barker and D.Gilbertson,eds., TheArchaeologyofDrylands: Living

At

the Margin,_pp.327-345.Routledge.

van der Leeuw, Sander ^E., Francois Favory, andJean-Jacques Girordot.2004.

The

ArchaeologicalStudy of EnvironmentalDeg- radation:

An

Example fromSoutheasternFrance. InC.

Redman,

S.James, P. Fish,andJ. Rogers,eds.,

The

ArchaeologyofGlobal Change:TheImpactor

Humans

onTheirEnvironment,_pp.112-129.

Smithsonian Institution Press.

Braje,

Todd

_J.2009.

Modern

Oceans,AncientSites:Archaeology and MarineConservationonSan MiguelIsland,California.Uni- versityofUtahPress.

Costanza, Robert, LisaGraumlich, WillSteffen,CaroleCrumley, John Dearing, KathyHibbard, RickLeemans,Charles

Redman,

andDavidSchimel.2007.Sustainabilityor Collapse:

What Can We

Learn fromIntegrating the Historyof

Humans

^withthe Restof Nature?

AMBIO: The

Journal ofthe

Human

Environment36:

522-527.

Diamond,Jarred.2005.Collapse:

How

SocietiesChoosetoFailorSuc- ceed.VikingPress.

Erlandson,Jon M.,and TorbenC.Rick.2010. ArchaeologyMeets MarineEcology:

The

Antiquity ofMaritimeCulturesand

Human

Impactson MarineFisheries andEcosystems.Annual Review of MarineScience2, in press.

Kirch, Patrick

V

2004. OceanicIslands: Microcosmsof "Global Change."InC.

Redman,

S.James,P.Fish,and_J.Rogers,eds.,

The

ArchaeologyofGlobalChange:TheImpactof

Humans

onTheirEnvi- ronment,_{pp. 13-27.}SmithsonianInstitution Press.

Kirch, Patrick

V

^2007. Hawaii as a

Model

System for

Human

Ecodynamics.AmericanAnthropologist109:8-26.

Torben Rick

is

Curator of North American Archaeology and

Curatorfor

Human Environment

Interactionsinthe

De- partment of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural

History.

MEET ARCHAEOLOGIST TORBEN RICK

Torben Rick. Photo courtesy Marcia Bakry

To view

the pocfcast interview, visit

http://anthropology.si.edu/video interviews.html

Page 6