The lost woodlands of ancient Nasca : a case-study in ecological and cultural collapse
Beresford-Jones, DavidAuthor
Beresford-Jones, David.Author
British Academy.
Oxford : Oxford University Press,
2011.
The vanished civilization of the Nasca is famous for its enigmatic giant ritual pathways through the desert pampa of Peru. But how and why did the civilization collapse? This detailed archaeological study argues that deforestation of river valleys, in particular the loss of the huarango tree, may have been to blame.
Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
The vanished civilization of the Nasca is famous for its enigmatic giant ritual pathways through the desert pampa of Peru. But how and why did the civilization collapse? This detailed archaeological study argues that deforestation of river valleys, in particular the loss of the huarango tree, may have been to blame.
Description based on print version record.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction -- The south coast desert -- A lost landscape: ancient settlement of Samaca and Ullujaya -- Tracing landscape change: the geomorphological record -- Tracing human ecology: the archaeobotanical and malacological record -- deforestation -- The Huarango: the genus Prosopis on the south coast -- The Huarango in the desert riparian and agriculural ecosystem -- The Sonoran desert: an ethnoecological analogue? -- Putting the tree back into the landscape -- Appendix A: a comparison of Sonoran Desert and South Coast Peru flora.
Indians of South America
Nazca culture
Environmental archaeology
Deforestation
Environmental disasters
Nature
Landscape archaeology
Latin America
Regions & Countries - Americas
History & Archaeology