tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568915967186844196.post8698892202473686687..comments2024-03-26T14:19:33.332-07:00Comments on Bench Grass: Gather the Bones, 12: Disembedded CapitalErik Lundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05728486209757153685noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568915967186844196.post-43200405794364761352011-10-17T17:07:09.708-07:002011-10-17T17:07:09.708-07:00It's interesting. I saw this in Mann's 149...It's interesting. I saw this in Mann's <i>1491</i> the other day. I'm always a little reluctant to buy into anything that starts with the Little Ice Age, but there's a little more meat to this than the usual cavalier handling of the LIA, where it comes and goes with every little political crisis.<br /><br />I guess that (from my point of view) the question is whether the archaeology supports a generalised population movement up onto the high ground to leave low-lying prairie to the beavers. (It is certainly discernable at some sites, is my understanding.)<br /><br />We also have a problem in that much of the clearing would be by burning to open up browse rather than for planting. Not only is the mechanism for a reduction in burns less than obvious, but the archaeological evidence for a post-Columbian cessation ought to be clear. At least, that's what I'm thinking based on memories of a decade-old urban geography class that touched on this with respect to urban bog landscapes.Erik Lundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05728486209757153685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568915967186844196.post-73835532744328404562011-10-17T14:55:47.703-07:002011-10-17T14:55:47.703-07:00Erik, have you seen this? On one hand it supports ...Erik, have you seen <a href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/335168/title/Columbus_blamed_for_Little_Ice_Age" rel="nofollow">this</a>? On one hand it supports a conventional view of post-contact demographics, on the other hand it rather supports your idea of a New England landscape managed to maximise fur production.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17153530634675543954noreply@blogger.com