1491 - A Book Review

I just finished reading 1491 - New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C. Mann and wanted to take some time this week to review this robust and exhaustive study of the ancient Americas.

This review comes fittingly as today is Columbus Day; which as an aside, has to be the the most moronic and unhistorical holiday this country has. What really are we celebrating? Are we celebrating the year that a borderline traitorous European, certainly tyrannical, was the "first" to step foot on the Americas? And by "first" do we really mean "first wealthy, well-funded, European explorer"? As this book points out, the Americas were more populated, and in some ways advanced, than Europe of the same time period. Furthermore, to disregard Leif Ericson's (and probably countless others) landing here some 500 years earlier is questionable at best. But history needs a face, and being that Spain and Portugal ruled the world at the time, Christopher Columbus is that man.

But I digress, the book 1491, is phenomenal. In my eyes, Charles Mann provides one of the most exhaustive and well-documented studies of historical North and South America ever put to print. To capture the findings in this book in a single review would be near impossible, but to summarize I'll do my best. Mann's 1491 title serves facetiously as the account of the America's prior to European "discovery".

I was taught, as every other school child was, that the populating of this country was a direct result of individuals (likely of Asian-descent) crossing the Bering Strait some 12,000 years ago. In turn, these nomads gradually wandered as far south as Chile, gradually populating and creating pocket societies along the way. In turn, we're led to believe that the Americas (certainly North America) had a population of people existing mainly in small, nomadic bands; living sparsely on the land, and that, for all practical purposes, America was still a vast wilderness upon Columbus' "discovery". Further, Columbus "discovered" this sparsely populated, and very unsophisticated, land in 1492. Charles C. Mann makes abundantly clear that archaeologists and anthropologists in the last thirty years have proved nearly every aspect of those assumptions wrong (and in some cases, very, very wrong).

Here are a few random and ground-breaking discoveries outlined in detail throughout this book:
• In 1491 there were probably more people living in the Americas than in Europe (likely 10's of millions).
• At Olmec in 30 A.D., use of the zero has been discovered: An invention, widely described as the most important mathematical discovery ever made, which did not occur in Eurasia until 600 A.D.
• At the time of Columbus' landing, cities like Tenochtitlán (on Lake Texcoco, outside of present-day Mexico City), were far greater in population than any contemporary European city. Tenochtitlán, unlike any capital in Europe at that time, had running water, beautiful botanical gardens, and immaculately clean streets.
• The Spanish conquest and successful overthrow of empires in South America was likely due to the fact that the societies had been decimated by smallpox (introduced by Europeans and spread rapidly), in many cases up to 90% of the populations, allowing the conquistadorss to "win" so easily.
• The earliest cities in the Western Hemisphere were thriving before the Egyptians built the great pyramids.
• In many cases, the mathematical and scientific accomplishments of the Americas preceded those oft credited to European and Asian counterparts. These include many aspects of astronomy, the modern day calendar, farming, the wheel, plumbing, government and writing.
• The first paleo-Indian migration to the Americas could have occurred as early as 25,000-35,000 B.C. arriving in boats, not by foot.
• Large-scale pyramids, with surrounding societies, have been discovered in Peru preceding those built at the Great Pyramids of Giza by several hundred years.
• Pre-Columbian Indians in Mexico developed corn by a breeding process so sophisticated that the journal Science recently described it as “man’s first, and perhaps the greatest, feat of genetic engineering.”
• Native Americans transformed their land so completely that Europeans arrived in a hemisphere already massively “landscaped” by human beings. Read more...

Tikal, Guatemala

I just returned from a couple of weeks in Central America (Guatemala and Belize) and will be posting various things in the coming weeks about the trip. I thought I'd start with the Tikal ruins as, for anyone that has been there will know, it was a breathtaking experience.

Tikal is located in the Peten region of Northern Guatemala, deep in the humid jungles of Tikal National Park. My wife and I spent an entire day there with our guide, Hannibal, who was born and raised in a small village bordering the Park. His wealth of knowledge of the area was amazing. As a brief synopsis, Tikal was the capital of the vast Mayan Empire peaking in about 200 AD (the site has been dated as far back as 400 BC in some areas). The Mayans were a highly sophisticated group of the Classic Period with an empire stretching throughout present-day Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán), and the northern Central American region, including Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. As to an idea of their size, the Mayan empires in and around Tikal are said to have been populated with over a million and a half people (larger than present-day Barcelona, or San Diego). The Mayans are known for having the only fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, incredible art, monumental architecture rivaling that of the Egyptians, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. Tikal has thousands of structures, most still buried beneath trees, foliage and 1500 years of jungle growth. Tikal was long known to have existed by locals, but was "discovered" by Ambrosio Tut in 1848 who was roaming the jungles in search of chiclero - or gum, from the local gum tree.

Having spent the day there, I was most impressed with the area known as the Acropolis, and all six temples (I-VI). The six step-pyramids in Tikal are enormous pyramids, some exceeding 200 feet. Many of these pyramids can be climbed; the most memorable being temple five which must be ascended by a small, vertical, wooden ladder over 18 stories high. If you're afraid of heights, there's no chance you should try this. At the top of the pyramid you can see out miles over the jungle canopy and can spot three of the other pyramids peeking above the tree line. The view is unbelievable.

Being the amateur archaeologist that I am, I was most intrigued by the nearly 23 square mile residential area that is yet to be excavated. I'd love to be a part of the team that someday can dive into the ruins and everyday lives of the many that lived in Tikal, and built it's mighty empire.

Finally, I was more than impressed with the extent to which the Guatemalan government has gone to protect and conserve the site. Truly, the Cambodian, Egyptian and Jordanian governments (among others) would serve themselves well to take a page out of the Guatemalans book to do MUCH more to preserve their respective sites. Sure, this site is designated a UNESCO site, but for those of you that read my post on the issue, you know that this does little to no good in my eyes and much more is necessary when it comes to conservation/preservation of these magical ruins. The Guatemalan's have gone further designating the 222 square mile Tikal National Park protected land. In addition, there are adequate signs and safety measures in the Park. The government has gone so far as recording (through two checkpoints at the entrance to Tikal) every driver's speed through the Park leading up to the site to prevent drivers from speeding, and putting the native animals (jaguars included) in jeopardy of being hit. Fantastic stuff. Read more...

The Terracotta Warriors

As you all are aware by now, I'm an archaeology nut. I love it. Wanted to be an archaeologist as a kid, almost went back to school for it three years ago, and to this day can be found scouring the desert for artifacts on my vacations home. And per my previous post, I plan on visiting most of the major sites around the world in my lifetime. So naturally, the things that excite me most in this world are stories of new discoveries, or of those discoveries left to be found. I thought I'd blog today about one of my favorite archaeological sites; not necessarily for what has been found thus far, but for what is left to be found.

In 1974 near Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China, farmers uncovered one of the most incredible sites ever found: The Terracotta Warriors. I could write an untold number of blog entries on the find (and if you want to read about it in depth, please click here) but in brief the first Emperor of China, Shi Huang Di, commissioned for a tomb to be built for himself that was of a scope larger than anything ever undertaken. Over 700,000 workers built a tomb for Shi Huang Di that included palaces, towers, homes, over 100 rivers of flowing mercury (thought at the time to prolong life), possibly the largest collection of jewels and relics of all time within the tomb, and over 8,000 life size terracotta warriors (not one alike), horses, chariots, and strongmen guarding the entrance. These terracota warriors are one of China's most visited attractions each year.

These existing discoveries are an amazing thing to visit, but what has yet to be discovered would surely be larger: Shi Huang Di's tomb. To date, no entrance to this tomb has been found. Much of what we know about it's contents come from the writings of an ancient historian, Sima Qian. He describes the lavish burial with priceless treasures quite meticulously. The archaeologists on this site largely know where to find the tomb as there is an unnatural 76 meter tall and 350 square meter wide earthen mound behind the warriors. Further, through remote sensing technology, the Chinese have found evidence within the mound of a 30 meter high building buried above the main portion of the tomb. It appears to have four large stair-like walls. Although there is evidence of a fire that struck this site in antiquity (likely started by a General five years after the Emperors burial), the contents of the tomb are largely believed to be intact. It would surely be one of the largest caches of history and treasure ever uncovered. Along with Atlantis, it could be argued that this is the single largest undiscovered treasure troves known from history. Wouldn't you love to be the one that first discovers the entrance? Read more...

When Good Ideas Go Bad

Have you ever seen an idea, proposal, law, or entire company that has the unfortunate distinction of being a good idea gone bad? You know what I'm talking about here: A great idea to start that wasn't quite carried out all of the way, or thought through entirely... I stumble across these once in awhile and I happened upon one this week that I thought I'd share. This week's good idea gone bad revolves around UNESCO's World Heritage list.

For those of you not familiar UNESCO's World Heritage List, it is a UN entity that (according to their Web site):

Seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.

Sounds good to me. Basically, sites that we all love to visit such as the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef, the Pyramids, and 848 other sites around the world (to see the full list, click here) are named to the list and protected. Cool. No brainer. Here's the problem though:

The UN has created this list (good), but doesn't provide any funding (real bad). Think about this one for a second: These sites are instantly recognized as the "it" places to see in countries around the world when they are named to the list. Every year, new sites are listed, announced, and generate a tremendous amount of buzz. Hmm.... in turn, tens of thousands of new people flock to these areas that didn't know about them beforehand. No funding + thousands of people = damage to historical sites. Or as travelport puts it:

UNESCO Sites:
Even more ironic is the mounting concern that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is actually speeding the demise of the planet’s most venerable places by designating them World Heritage Destinations. World Heritage status carries with it no funding, but brings an onslaught of tourists that many of the 830 sites “of outstanding value to humanity” are unable to sustain, especially the ones in developing countries.

UNESCO's mission statement about "protecting" these areas lists eight bullet points on how they plan to accomplish such "protection". Six of the eight points listed start with the word "Encourage". So here's my news flash: As much as I'd like to think that states, countries, and governments will automatically fund sites that UNESCO "encourages" them to protect, we all know better. And until UNESCO starts funding these newly (and existing) named sites, I'd just assume not name them at all. Read more...

Top Ten Archaeological Trips

By now you all know how much I love archaeology, ancient ruins, and the destinations in this world that are home to these magnificent places. Several years back I made my own top ten list of these destinations and promised myself that I'd do everything in my power to visit them. Several of these sites I have already visited, several more are scheduled, and a few more I hope to see later in life. I thought it would be interesting to list my top ten list with my thoughts on each. Obviously there are hundreds of worthy candidates, and I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on any sites they think should be put into the list. So without further adieu, here is my dream list:

1. The Pyramids, Egypt: The Pyramids of course are probably the most well-known site in the world. And really, this entry should just say "Egypt." The Pyramids are incredible, but you also have to include Luxor, The Valley of the Kings/Queens, Memphis, The Sphinx and Abu Simbel. This is a check-mark for me as I have been to Egypt (and am dying to go back).
2. Petra, Jordan: In terms of "take-your-breath-away" rankings, this may be #1. For those of you that aren't familiar with this place, it's in Southern Jordan and consists of an entire city carved out of rock. There is some debate around when this city was built, but what is known is it belonged to the ancient Nabataeans. Most well-known is the treasury as you exit the siq (was profiled in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade), but fewer people realize that the treasury is just one of a hundred different parts of the city. I think the most spectacular place is the Monastery at Petra (you have to climb over 800 carved stairs up the canyon to get there). I have also had the good fortune of exploring this site as well.
3. The Colosseum, Rome: I think everyone is familiar with the Colosseum; an amazing feat of construction in the old city area of Rome. I was able to visit this site in college on a 3-month backpack trip around Europe.
4. Angkor Wat, Cambodia: Wow. I think of all the places I have been, this may have been the most incredible overall. This site is in the jungles of Cambodia and is as immense a complex as I have ever seen (you really need no fewer than three days here). First built in the 12th century, this fabled lost city is an architectural masterpiece combining Hindu and Buddhist influences.
5. Machu Picchu, Peru: Nestled in a natural setting on the eastern slopes of the Andes lies Machu Picchu, the Incan Empire's defining piece of architecture. The complex was built around 1450, and not re-discovered until the early 1900s. I have not been to this site yet, but promised to see it for the first time with my sister, so hopefully I can make that happen soon.
6. Mayan Ruins of Central America: I grouped these Mayan sites together because there are so many I'm not sure I can separate them. That said, the most incredible examples are Tikal in Guatemala, Copan in Honduras, and Chichen Itza in Southern Mexico. The Mayans are known for their elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories (all built without metal tools). This massive civilization lived from 2600BC - 300AD. I am planning to see both Tikal and Copan in August.
7. Great Wall, China: Built and maintained from the 6th century BC until nearly the 16th century AD, this construction is over 4000 miles long and at its height was manned by over a million men. This construction (along with possibly the Pyramids) is my leading candidate for the most spectacular accomplishment in all of history to present-day. The sheer size of the Wall is almost not comprehensible. I have not yet been to the Wall, but will someday plan to visit the Mutianyu Great Wall sections and the North Pass of Juyonggua.
8. Old City Jerusalem, Israel: The Old City of Jerusalem only covers one square kilometer, but packs more history into its space than perhaps any other place in the world. In addition to it being the historical epicenter of the three major religions, the number of archaeological sites are almost too many to list: The Western Wall, Temple Mount, Holy Sepulchre, Dome of the Rock, and The Cardo ... just to name a few. I spent some time here a few years back and feel like I barely scratched the surface.
9. Teotihuacán, Mexico: This often forgotten site can be summed up in one fact: At it's height in the 1st century AD it was larger than any city of the same era in Europe.... including Rome. I have not yet been here, and haven't planned a trip yet to do so.... Anyone want to come with me?
10. Mesa Verde, Colorado: This is the wild-card of the group, but if you've been here you'll know why I've included it. Mesa Verde was built by the Old Pueblo people (Anasazi's) that thrived in this region from 600AD-1300AD before mysteriously disappearing. The most well-known complex here is the Cliff Palace: A multi-story apartment complex built into a 325-footlong, 90-foot-deep, 65-foot-high cliff. The building had 200 rooms and 23 underground ceremonial rooms (kivas) used for social and religious rituals. There are 400 other cliff dwellings in the National Park as well. I climbed up into this site as a kid and it alone sparked my lifelong fascination with lost cities and archaeology. Read more...

If you could go back in time...

So here's a random thought I've been kicking around in my head today: If you could go back in time, what ancient civilizations or places would you visit? Jessica and I are always talking about our lists of places we'd love to see, our top destinations, or new "it" spots, but what if history and time had no limits? Here are my thoughts on the places/civilizations I'd travel to:

1. The Minoan Civilizations of Greece - 1500BC: The Minoan's were based on the island of Crete (and surrounding islands) and held power in the Mediterranean from 3000BC-1400BC. The Minoan's controlled much of the trade with mainland Greece, Egypt and surrounding islands during that period and are thought to have been one of the most powerful groups of the time period. It's from this dynasty that Classical Greece formed. This culture and civilization are shrouded in much mystery as two earth changing volcanic eruptions largely wiped them from the face of the planet (Thera in 1500BC and Santorini in 1600BC). The Minoan dynasty is probably the leading candidate for Plato's fabled tales of the Lost City of Atlantis.
2. Ancient Rome - 75AD: This is an empire that ruled for over 9 centuries, but if I had my way I'd go back between 50BC and 150AD - at the height of Rome's power. At this time, Rome lorded over much of Africa, all of the Mediterranean, extended as far north as the British Isles, and as far east as the Persian Gulf.
3. Mayan Empire - 900AD: The Mayan Empire stretched over much of present-day Mexico and northern Central America. The population density at this time was similar to Los Angeles today. The fall of this empire is one of the great historical mysteries, and we're left with some of the most fascinating archaeology and ruins in the world including the only complete Pre-Columbian writing system in the Americas.
4. Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon - 600BC: Babylon could be found in present-day Iraq and was one of the great military powers of the ancient world. In addition to its influence on the region that shaped the next 2000 years, Nebuchadnezzar constructed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This society was so advanced that it even developed the first form of negligence law; a concept not rediscovered until the 20th century.
5. Ancient Egypt: Do I even need to say anything here? How about some random unknowns: The Egyptians were responsible for inventing black ink, ox-drawn plows, sails, paper, organized labor, hieroglyphics as an early system of writing, the 365 day calendar and Leap Year, lock and keys, combs, scissors, wigs, makeup, deodorants, toothbrush and toothpaste, cement, glass (just to name a few...). Read more...