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In a forthcoming volume entitled "Time, Complexity, and Historical Ecology" by William Balée and Clark Erickson, special emphasis is placed on landscape, "a multidimensional physical entity that has both spatial and temporal characteristics and has been modified by human actiivty..." Where historical ecology differs from landscape ecology is the recognition and predominance of anthropocentric forces upon the landscape. One of the first pioneers of historical ecology, Carole Crumley, notes that "historical ecology traces the ongoing dialectical relations between human acts and acts of nature, made manifest in landscape." Her belief is that the physical evidence of these activities provide the scholar a totality for study and analysis that is multiscalar, diachronic, and holisitic. -- LANDSCAPES :Landscapes can be defined as the relationships resulting from the exchange between the natural world and humanity (Balée & Erickson, 2006b; Crumley, 1994a). The form in which humans affect the environment, thus creating landscapes, can be deliberate or unintentional; knowing the mode in which interaction occurs is necessary in analyzing this reciprocal relationship (Balée & Erickson, 2006b). :The landscape is a core concept upon which effective and informative research is dependent. A landscape is the anthropogenic environment, taking into account not only humans’ effect on the environment but also its reciprocal effect on human behavior and culture. In this sense, the term landscape is applicable to any environment that has had a human presence. The landscape can be explored using climate records, ethnography, topography records, oral accounts, historical documents, photographs, maps, policy records, and environmental history. Archaeological data and the study of biological artifacts such as microvertebrate remnants can provide support for theories of human modification of the land; the population size, composition, and location can indicate a change in the forest through fragmentation or deforestation which may have been caused by human activity (Stahl, 2006). Similarly the formation of fruit tree groves in what was thought to be pristine regions sometimes could reflect an anthropogenic footprint (Kreike, 2003). However, specific landscapes are not always clearly defined, and the interpretations of them in different regions are contingent upon the perceptions and culture of the author, actor, audience, and the time and place of the region being discussed. :Landscape concepts differ greatly when applied to different historical groups. In European tradition, a notion of landscape had its roots in property rights, boundaries, and artistic expression; it also played a significant role in support of colonial expansion and exploitation of resources (Pikirayi, 2003). On the other hand, landscapes play a much different role in the traditions and cultures of many African communities; within these societies, their interactions with the environment are more often based on religious beliefs and social identification (Schmidt, 1994). In various historical contexts, though not always intentionally, landscapes have been utilized in policymaking, conservation, and preservation decisions. Landscapes have also been utilized in policymaking, conservation, and preservation decisions, though not always intentionally. In Zimbabwe, for example, religious cults can influence the conservation of particular regions that they have designated as the sacred groves of their ancestors (Ranger, 2003). :The construction of landscapes can unite or divide communities of people. When cultures, states, or communities identify with a geographical aspect of their region, such as the Zambezi River for the Tonga people, this aspect becomes an agent of unification (McGregor, 2003). Such geographical features can become powerful political tools in unifying different groups of people under a central leadership. Landscapes can be divisive when boundaries of land ownership are created, causing friction between groups because of ideologies of origin, race, ethnicity, and property boundaries. This is especially true when native populations become influenced by an intrusive foreign leadership, which can shift focus away from a more egalitarian (if present) way of life to one dependent on property and control of resources (Pikirayi, 2003). Colonial Malawi went through similar reorganization with a shift in agricultural practices resulting in uprisings from local people (McCracken, 2003). Landscapes as such are spheres of conflict as well as synthesis. :The reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment is one of the most important elements to consider when analyzing landscapes. As pointed out by William Balée and Clark L. Erickson, “Culture is physically embedded and inscribed in the landscape as nonrandom patterning often a palimpsest of continuous and discontinuous inhabitation by past and present peoples” (p. 2, 2006b). Humans must face the challenge of adapting to changing environments and adjust their practices accordingly; likewise the environment is modified as a result of its constantly evolving relationship with humanity. For example, humans must adjust their agricultural practices with the limitations of resources such as fertile soil or water. :The concept of landscapes is integral to historical ecology because it is the point of intersection between disciplines; crossing disciplinary boundaries is historical ecology (Balée, 1998a). The natural environment, once it has interacted with humans becomes a permanent part of landscape; the culture of the people in the area and the ecology of the environment together weave the tapestry of the landscape. Historical ecology is in large part, the research on landscapes which represent mutual causation between the environment and humans. (Balée & Erickson, 2006b) THEORY :Historical ecology is a research program theoretically oriented around the mutual/reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment. It was once believed that egalitarian societies were not capable of significantly altering the environment. However, historical ecology as a research approach attempts to prove that theories such as environmental determinism or environmental limitations on human societal and political complexity do not illustrate a holistic view of this relationship. Historical ecology does not perceive humans as existing on one side of an ideological divide as either an ecologically noble savage or homo devastans. Instead historical ecologists believe in an intermediate existence between the two in which human impact on the land is not viewed as categorically degrading. :Researchers have developed different theories about what historical ecology encompasses. These vary depending upon each researcher’s area of specialization, from ecology, anthropology, political science, history, and beyond. Theories span a wide gambit ranging from Neo-Darwinism to Neo-Malthusianism. One thing many theories have in common is an emphasis on human history and agency in the formation of known environments, or landscapes. The following highlights some of the theories proposed within the field. :One theory focuses on the impact climate has upon the creation (and duration) of culture. According to this theory, climatically adaptive behaviors are transmitted through culture. When these behaviors are no longer adaptive (e.g. necessary for sustaining life in a current environment) this behavior becomes tradition, or a means to ensure the future survival of the group, should the climate return to previous conditions (Gunn 1994). This theory however, fails to fully encompass the modern conception of historical ecology in its neglect of the role culture may play in climate change. By failing to account for the role humans may play in affecting the environment, this theory is more closely related to environmental determinism than to historical ecology. : Research conducted in the feral forests of the Eastern Petén also disproves the environmental determinism hypothesis. In this region, the Mayans enriched otherwise poor soils to improve the production of economically viable botanical species. Researchers have found the botanical species of these forests that became the most prolific across this landscape were those encouraged by the Mayans (Campbell et. al. 2006). :Such human influence on the land extends throughout the Amazon. Amazonian anthropologists have theorized that these lands were continuously manipulated via resource management by the region's inhabitants (Cleary, Denevan, Posey, Stahl 2006). This theory argues against Spencerian notions that landscapes are evolving toward an ideal end. Instead, it maintains that landscape manipulation by humans may influence an area's evolution and may simplify the landscape's diversity in a non-detrimental fashion (Winterhalder 1994). This also debunks Neo-Malthusian contentions that constant demand on resources is crisis-ridden; the manipulation of resources may instead increase biodiversity and the productivity of the landscape (Patterson 1994). Recent research shows that humans' effect on the landscape is not definitionally degrading. :In historical ecology operative forces of human agency are considered somewhat less evolutionary and somewhat more historical. Although history is comprised of evolutionary components, historical ecology reinforces the importance of humans and their past actions within landscape (Whitehead 1998). There is an ongoing debate over whether history is solely relevant to humans or whether biological processes absent of human interaction should also be included under the banner of history (Ingerson 1994). :A Thai study examined communities of different population sizes and their differing relationships with the local environment. This case study combines theories of ecological transition and environmental history, resulting in the conceptualization of a continuum used to describe this fluid relationship. This perspective views cultures as falling along a continuum that ranges from equilibrium to disequilibrium depending upon their relationship with the environment. Equilibrium references a society with a balanced ecological relationship where what is taken out of the landscape is returned to the landscape. Disequilibrium references a society in which the resources are exploited. This continuum emphasizes the notion that although all societies impact the land, not all human effects are irreversible. Consumerist populations can progress towards equilibrium through controlling population size and enforcing non-need based consumption. Historically, the development of Thailand has allowed communities with different forms of landscape utilization to exist. This case study emphasizes the role history has had in the resultant landscape (Sponsel 1998). :This case study also contradicts Neo-Malthusian theories in that this crisis-based view that sees the degradation of the environment correlated with the consistent demand placed upon resources incapable of reproducing in proportion to demand. In Thailand, the exploitation of the environment is not need-based, but instead maintained by increasingly global economies. :There are also the expansionists' theorists who refute this notion and believe that nature maintains the ability to reproduce in response to demand. Expansionists argue in favor of technology overcoming possible resource shortages. Increasingly global economies permit growing access to technologies, which, in this theory, overcome the limits the environment places on human land-use. The expansionist theories allow for the role of advanced or innovative technology in order to develop less exploitative land-use policies. The existence of expansionist theory, theorizing that the interaction between humans and the environment fluctuates throughout history, encapsulates the necessity of furthering historical ecology as a research paradigm DIVERSITY :Diversity, biological and cultural, are integral parts of historical ecology--each plays an important role in shaping the landscape. Biodiversity is defined as the number of individual species in an individual region or the variability of species in a particular landscape. In the framework of historical ecology humans play a significant role in shaping their landscape and influencing the biodiversity, sometimes decreasing it, sometimes increasing it (Balée 1998b;Stahl 2006). :Context, both historical and physical, is needed in discerning these effects. The land goes through cycles in which it renews itself and through such disturbance biodiversity may increase or decrease. In hypothetical terms, referring to increase in biodiversity by a disturbance, such as fire, it might be seen that fire causes an increase in biodiversity. Fire helps specialized seeds germinate and increases nutrients in the soil. For example, many coniferous seeds are coated in a sappy substance, which needs to be melted, by fire, in order for the seed to germinate. It is important to note that both natural and anthropogenic fires have this effect (Pyne 1998). Humans have learned to control fire, and by doing so humans are able to control their environment and therefore the diversity of the world in which they live. An increase in biodiversity causes an increase in niches, a tighter mosaic of biotic patches, and more dynamism to the cavalcade of species succession. (Pyne 1998:) Through human disturbance the landscape becomes more fragmented causing the pretense of unstable edge environments and favoring r-selected colonist species. However, over time K-selected species are able to take a stronger hold on the environment as the landscape stabilizes (Stahl 2006). R-selected species, such as weeds, are the pioneer species in disturbed environments; they have tolerant populations with high reproduction rates. K-selected species, such as many mammals, have smaller populations and lower reproduction rates. R-selected species thrive in unstable environments unlike K-selected species, which is why they are so prevalent after a disturbance or in fragmented environments, as seen in Stahl’s study on microvertebrates' synecology and anthropogenic footprints in the forested Neotropics where the fragmented landscape resulted a high ratio of colonist species(Clement 2006, Stahl 2006). :Sometimes through this human disturbance of the landscape local biodiversity actually increases, however much this is contrary to the grain of received wisdom. This phenomenon can be scene through the practices of certain indigenous societies, both archaeologically and ethnographically. Indigenous peoples' agriculture and foraging techniques have at times increased the richness of the landscape. The Huaorani of the Ecuadorian Amazon are known especially for their peach palm as well as their wild gardens. These gardens and cultivated spots in the forests attract various fauna to the area thus increasing the diversity of species. (Rival: 1998) The “economic species distribution of forests today are largely due to human intentionality and manipulation over millennia.” (Hastorf 2006: Humans interact with all parts of earth's many landscapes, and in a sense significant parts of the world have long been gardens (Balée 1989, Ingold 1993, Hastorf 2006). When humans keep environment in mind and a part of their lives, it is then that their interaction with the environment may cause an increase in biodiversity. :Examining biological and cultural diversity in the context of historical ecology provides many insights about the complex relationship that exists between humans and the environment. Anthropogenic forces can act to increase or decrease biological diversity by causing disturbance in a landscape. The level of disturbance dictates whether environmental biology increases or decreases. Biological diversity in a landscape is generally measured in terms of genetic diversity (Crumley 1994b). Biological diversity is affected by humans through such actions as deforestation, introduction of nonnative species, hunting practices, livestock farming, and agriculture. The extent of these activities dictates whether biological diversity will increase or decrease. The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis postulates that the highest level of diversity is achieved when an ecosystem periodically experiences a medium level of disturbance (Connell 1978). For instance, in areas where forest fires never occur, or are so powerful that they destroy everything in their path, biological diversity is generally low. In contrast, areas that experience natural fire regimes typically have high levels of biological diversity (Pyne 1998). :The diversity of a landscape can also have significant effects on the biological diversity of human populations. A resource-rich environment may allow for agriculture and populous settlements that usually have high genetic diversity. In contrast, harsh climates in which agriculture is difficult or impossible often have low human populations that are divided into nuclear or semi-nuclear nomadic groups (Gragson 1998). :Another component in the study of historical ecology and diversity is the way that human-environment relationships affect cultural diversity. Many anthropologists argue that the environment is one of the most important factors determining the level of cultural diversity of a people. The amount of resources in an area dictates the number and types of products and services that can be supplied. An example is the role of environmental and cultural factors in the behavior of the Nile River as it related to the development of ancient Egyptian civilization. The Nile allowed the Egyptians to develop a sedentary society that practiced agriculture and livestock farming. As the Egyptians became more intensive in manipulating their environment, largely through the use of irrigation practices, the diversity of their culture increased as the number of professions in the consumption/management sector of society (priests, tax collectors, artisans) increased. In this way, human impacts on the environment directly affected the cultural diversity of ancient Egypt (Hassan 1994). :The religious/spiritual beliefs of a people are an integral part of their culture and are often influenced by the environment. Early coastal Peruvians used vegetation, including cultivated plants in their spiritual practices. (Hastorf 2006). Other cultures have been known to use plants as spiritual tools as well, such as the Kiowa Native American tribe, whose religious leaders consume psychedelic plants during their religious rituals (Fikes 1996). REGIONAL CASE STUDIES :Regional case studies conducted within historical ecology underscore the importance of the reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment. Highly studied societies provide cohesive examples of the nature of this relationship as one of mutual exchange and simultaneous cause and effect, making the concepts of historical ecology easier to understand. The result of the interplay between people and their natural world is the creation of a landscape—an area in which local people affect an environment and, in turn, are affected by their environment. :These case studies also illustrate the multidisciplinary nature of research in historical ecology, which makes use of the anthropological sub-disciplines of sociocultural anthropology, biological anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics; they also incorporate history, biology, climatology, geography, and geology. By looking at historical ecology from the view of specific case studies, one is able to comprehend the vast undertaking of research that culminates with the recognition of the human place in the ecological sphere. :Many case studies within historical ecology have focused on the peoples of Amazonia (South America). The Guajá people of Eastern Brazil is one group that has been examined extensively. The Guajá are historically seminomadic but have become increasingly sedentary since permanent contact with the Western world in the mid-1970’s. Linguistic similarities of plants between the Guajá and neighboring agrarian communities has led to speculation that this group once possessed the tradition of horticulture, but lost it at some time in their past due to colonization, warfare, and disease (Cormier 2003). : This modern hunter-gatherer group’s kinship scheme includes all plants and animals native to their landscape (Cormier 2003). According to the Guajá’s unique kinship tradition, introduced domesticates and outside humans are not considered to be a part of the Guajá cultural and religious world. Thus, howler monkey is more “human” in the Guajá mindset than the American researcher Loretta Cormier. :The Guajá are also well-known for their tradition of keeping several species of monkeys as pets. Many consider the monkeys to be surrogate children, which can extend to human “mothers” breast-feeding baby monkeys. Interestingly, many of the same species kept as pets make up a substantial portion of the Guajá diet, though pets themselves are never eaten (Cormier 2003). This seemingly paradoxical situation stems directly from their inclusive view of kinship relationships. Because all organisms in their world are in some way related, they consider all consumption to be cannibalistic, though they do not eat people. When a Guajá dies, living group members believe that the person was eaten by a cannibal ghost, or ''aiyã'', in the same way that Guajá eat wild monkeys. This ingestion signifies the belief that the deceased being moves into the ''iwa'', or “sky-home”; the process of eating serves as a sort of rite of passage in this way (Cormier 2003). Thus, a native understanding of the concept of the reciprocal landscape stems from this group’s traditional religious beliefs. :Certain ideologies are best understood through examinations of definitive case studies. Early cultural ecologists attempted to explore the foundational questions of historical ecology but failed to capture the breadth of human-environmental interactions. One such example is Steward's and Jennings’ research on hunter-gatherer groups in the Great Basin area of the United States in the early part of the 20th century (Bettinger 1998). Steward’s view of cultural ecology consciously avoided strict environmental determinism by positing that human societies grew as a result of both pre-existing environmental conditions and available technology. Under this theory, sympatric groups that possess different levels of innovation would be culturally disparate because they interact with a different “effective environment”, the resources accessible to humans through technology (Bettinger 1998). This theory also asserted that no fundamental changes had occurred over time in groups whose technology and environment had not changed, thus robbing these societies of any cultural shifts that may have occurred due to historical happenstance. The genetic makeup of a group owes as much to history (through bottlenecks, drift, and founder effects) as to natural selection. In the same way, it is now understood that cultures are affected not only by cultural adaptation to their environmental and technological milieu but also by the simple fact of history acting upon them. :The cattle herders of the Thar desert in Rajasthan, India also illustrate the reciprocal nature of landscapes. Plant life in this harsh environment has adapted to drought conditions and extreme heat and salinity (Henderson 1998). In the past half-century the herders have converted much of the region into grazing land for cattle; this has greatly desiccated the area. Researchers suggest that this contributed to the decade-long droughts that began in the 1980's (Henderson 1998). The herders of Rajasthan are a people whose livelihoods have been influenced by their changed environment and who have, in turn, affected their landscape. :In the early to mid-twentieth century, colonial governments in parts of Africa began addressing problems of soil conservation. In the case of the Bakiga people of Kigezi, Uganda, native practices to control this problem were already in place when colonists arrived in the 1930’s. The British created a revised authoritative structure in order to implement their “new” policies of soil conservation, which were actually tweaked Bakiga practices. For these people, outsiders’ concept and manipulation of their land created an organized power structure which was effective in maintaining soil quality (Carswell 2003). In contrast, colonial intervention had drastic consequences in Nyasaland, Malawi. Government officials introduced soil conservation policies which ignored indigenous practices, causing both environmental degradation and social unrest within the native population. The native backlash against these policies caused them to neglect the land further, leading to greater soil degradation (McCracken 2003). The colonial government’s policies in this case were far less effective at preventing soil degradation than were pre-colonial solutions. These two case studies begin with the same intrusion of colonial authority, but conclude in completely opposite ways. :By incorporating time and space, historical ecology provides an unprecedented perspective into landscape. From observing the details of researchers’ case studies, this juxtaposition of time and space is seen more comprehensively. As illustrated by the previous example in Africa, some situations that begin similarly may result in completely opposite ways; this is one reason why taking an environment’s history into account is so important. The effect humans have upon their environments has long been monitored, but it is the incorporation of historical elements and the recognition of a reciprocal relationship which make this interaction fully comprehensive; this is the basis of historical ecology. The multifaceted nature of this relatively new discipline makes it both interesting and accessible to anyone. REFERENCES. :References:
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