Human Impacts on the environment
Humans have played a major role in modifying the environmental conditions that we have today. These modifications have been intensified to an extent that the overall climatic conditions are also changing. Research reveals that major anthropogenic changes on the environment are linked to change in the agricultural practices and the ever-growing population around the world. Some of the other changes include overexploitation of large animals leading to extinction. However, various researchers in the field of anthropogenic studies have contested the timing and extent of these alterations. Therefore, to bring all these arguments into perspective this paper aims at establishing the correlation between the past human activities and the alterations that have been experienced on the environment by comparing and contrasting two anthropogenic articles. These articles are Erickson’s article entitled Prehistoric Landscape Management in the Andean Highlands a case of Raised Field Agriculture and its Environmental Impact and Pérez and Anderson’s Terracing in the Mixteca Alta, Mexico: Cycles of Resilience of an Ancient Land Use Strategy.
Pérez and Anderson In the first article Terracing in the Mixteca Alta, Mexico observes that terracing is a vital and ever-present landscape feature in the Mixteca region located in southern Mexico. The land management strategy has been practiced in the region for millennia and has an unwavering influence among the modern-day farmers in Mexico. The authors argue that the region’s landscape is characterized by a rugged tectonic landscape of valleys and mountains that have been intensively modified over the last millennia for farming purposes. The article focuses on tracing as a human activity employed to improve food production and land use management in Mixteca Alta. Despite, the fact that terracing is considered a cultural system among the local communities in Mixteca the land management strategy it is associated with uncertainties and catastrophes due to changes that have occurred on the environment. The author documents the history of terracing by using archeological, ethnohistorical, geomorphological and ethnographic data. The article also discusses the Mixteca society’s response to the natural and cultural practices that have occurred over time due to environmental changes.
Prehistoric Landscape Management in the Andean Highlands by Erickson is all about prehistoric land management in the Andean mountains, which got a boost by the invention of the raised field agriculture in modern-day Peru and Bolivia. The author outlines that the terrain around the Andean highlands of Bolivia and Peru has been modified due to human activities. Furthermore, the article revolves around vast earthened parcels of land that prevent water logging, increase soil fertility and improvement of crop microclimate. Most importantly, the paper examines the effects of over 82, 000 hectares of raised fields on the immediate surroundings of Andean highlands. The reprocess of the raised fields agricultural technology to solve modern agricultural problems are also discussed in details in the article. Some of the environmental impacts of the raised field agriculture are categorized into the following categories: erosion, recycling of nutrients, microclimate modifications, soil disturbance and modification, hydrology, and change in animal and plant communities.
The two articles used in this piece demonstrate various environmental changes that are linked to the alterations caused by human activities. According to the first article by Rodriguez and Anderson, the major environmental change is brought about by the terracing system in the rugged terrain of the mountainous regions and valleys of the Mixteca Alta (Pérez & Anderson, 2013: 335). Terracing is used for agricultural purposes and as an adaptive tactic for improving resilience. Many communities still maintain and work on their terraced farms to curtail erosion, create flat lands and retain the sediments. These are some of the environmental changes that are noted by Rodriguez and Anderson. On the other hand, Erickson identifies raised field agriculture as a major environmental change and a land medication strategy in the Andean region. Massive irrigation schemes were set up in the perennial desert region of Peru as early as 2000 BC. The grasslands around were also modified by the pastoralists and the domestic animal keepers around the same time (Erickson, 1992:289). Most of the raised fields were abandoned in prehistory but later put into in consideration by the subsequent generations. The author confirms that there is evidence of continuous construction and rebuilding phases of fields and elevations. The most striking similarity by the two environmental changes is obviously in their joint focus on farming and improving the wellbeing of the people. The terraces might be different from raised fields in their structuring, but both of them conserved water for the environment.
Archeological evidence of impacts being caused by man are covered in the cycles of terracing from prehistory through, the time of Spanish rule and even after colonization. People died in large numbers away from the terraces when the colonialists forced them away from the terraces (Rodriguez and Anderson, 2013:344). In the post-classic era, there were many settlements remains on the hilltops and around the terraces. The ethnographic model of constructing terraces also correspond with the stratigraphic profiles of ancient terraces that is exposed in erosion blends well with the excavated profiles of larma –bordo terraces dug from city of Yucundaa. The profiles reveal that terrace walls were piles of rock of the uncut stone without mortar. The terraces were quite old as revealed by the farmers’ accounts and guided by the fact that is common to walk over artifacts scatters exhibited by the Prehispanic houses neighboring the terraces that were being worked on. On the other hand, Erickson carried out archeological mapping, reconnaissance and excavation of the field remains and the settlements in and around Northern basin, he found out a complex superposition of fields upon fields (Erickson, 1992:290). The evidence served to point up the incessant construction and building of different phases to enlarge fields and elevations. By using experimental archeology, local Andean crops were planted, traditional local methods were employed, and the results were quite encouraging. This was because of the good soil depth and improved fertility, drainage, improved macroclimate and better water conservation. The two articles used different kinds of instruments in reconstructing the past environments in order to explain the existing conditions. The methods used included stratigraphy for the Mixteca society and archeological mapping and survey for the Andean Highlands. The most conspicuous similarity between the two cases is their target to reveal archeologically human alteration of the environment.
The main functions of the modified landscape by terracing were to maintain resiliency of the land and enhance food production. A lot happened during the colonial period and in the aftermath, some changes in the use of land were witnessed due to the effects that the modified environment had on the communities in Mixteca. The terraces have been changed over time to respond to political, population and economic needs of the communities. The communities are also in a position to grow a variety of crops and adopt advanced agricultural technology that would not have been possible without the terraces (Rodriguez and Anderson, 2013:346). In addition, terracing had an enormous effect on the resilience on the environment and cultural activities of the people in Mixteca Alta. This has led to the reorganization of the terraces to be more productive to the communities leaving there. Accordingly, the practice of raised field agriculture also had some impacts on the communities that practiced it the Andean region. The raised fields elevated the platforms for planting thereby keeping water logging at bay. At the same time, water was conserved in the canals hence extending growing seasons and this meant more food for the population. In extreme situations, yields from the raised fields remained solid while the communities in the non-raised low-lying areas suffered massive losses. The raised field modification of the environment made it possible to control erosion. The canals become efficient in the capturing of sediments. Archeologically, this meant proper and permanent settlement because the threat of erosion was eliminated. Moreover, the raised field technique modified the local climate reducing the radiation frosts (Erickson, 1992:296). As a result, the communities around the region enjoyed warmth during cold seasons.
In conclusion, the two systems of environmental modification had various impacts on the communities that embraced them. Even though terracing was not that economically viable, it was still practiced within the Mixteca region. On the other hand, raised field technique appeared to have achieved its objectives of improving food production and control of water logging areas. Therefore, regarding the two articles human activities that modify the environment do not only have negative impacts but also positive impacts as demonstrated in this paper. However, minimum adverse impacts are associated with these modifications warranty the division of opinion among researchers dealing in anthropogenic studies.
References
Erickson,C.L.(1992). Prehistoric Landscape Management in the Andean Highlands: Raised Field Agriculture and its Environmental Impact. Population and Environment: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 13 (4). Philadelphia
Pérez Rodriguez, V., and Anderson, K. C. (2013). Terracing in the Mixteca Alta,
Mexico: Cycles of Resilience of an Ancient Land Use Strategy. Human
Ecology 41, 335349
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