Human Impact on Ancient Environments

by Charles L. Redman

Book Overview

Threats to biodiversity, food shortages, urban sprawl... lessons for environmental problems that confront us today may well be found in the past. The archaeological record contains hundreds of situations in which societies developed long-term sustainable relationships with their environments -- and thousands in which the relationships were destructive.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816519633
• ISBN13: 9780816519637
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Map of Where We've Been Environmentally

Dr. Redman, an archaeologist with anthropological and historical expertise, doesn't care about myth or political correctness. He simply, factually, and with precision demonstrates that man - for better or worse - has been impacting his environment since the days he hopped off the glacier and wanted dinner. The idea of the "green" primitive people, the noble savages in commune with nature, is broken down. Redman demonstrates that humans have used whatever technologies were available to them to manipulate their environment, usually for short term gains and at the expense of long-term environmental quality. But not always. He also lists examples in which various cultures have managed to strike some sort of equilibrium with their environments, at last for periods of time up to a thousand years or more. Dr. Redman is optomistic about the future, but sounds important warnings for complex societies, including ours. This is a must-read for anyone concerned about environmental issues and involved with environmental policy. And that should be all of us.

Last Train To Jupiter

Of the 25 books I've read in the past year this is the one that will have the most lasting impact. The dominant media factions would have us believe that all native people before European contact lived in pristine eco-edens ruled by peaceful matriarichies, with no toll taken on their habitat. Guess again! Hundreds developed sustainable relationships...but thousands were horribly destructive. "Humans have had a role in transforming virtually every environment and locale on this earth"-(fact) no matter which continent they inhabited. If we as a species don't learn from our mistakes of the past...we'd better find another planet to relocate to.