A Critique: Jared Diamond’s Collapse Put In Perspective

pia Gause, E 2014 A Critique: Jared Diamond’s Collapse Put In Perspective. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 24(1): 16, pp. 1-7, DOI: http:// dx.doi.org/10.5334/pia.467 GENERAL A Critique: Jared Diamond’s Collapse Put In Perspective Emma Gause* Jared Diamond’s book Collapse captivated readers with its tales of past great civilizations succumbing to dramatic cycles of decline, and among them are the ancient Maya. Diamond’s model of the Maya collapse has become quite popular since its publication, however numerous other divergent theories exist as well, which attempt to explain the phenomenon. Diamond, buoyed by the success of his book and his renown as an author, is the assumed authority, despite academic criticism. By comparing Diamond’s Collapse with current research I hope to critique Diamond and thus elucidate the condition of the Maya decline concerning the roles of the environment, the regional variability of various sociopolitical dynamics, such as those that were played out in the Petexbatun region, and the extent of Post Classic continuation of Maya tradition. The Maya ‘Collapse’ According to Jared Diamond Diamond defines collapse as, ‘A drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time’ (Diamond 2011: 3). He developed a single general formula outlining how many of the world’s great civilizations fell, a process he explains as ‘ecocide’. Ecocide, as the name * University College London, United Kingdom suggests, describes a society that destroys the very environment upon which they depend, thus ensuring its own demise (Diamond 2011: 6). Diamond’s proposed trajectory begins with population growth, spurring the need for intensified agriculture. This leads to the expansion of farmland into marginal areas to accommodate more people. This intensification gradually damages the environment and results in problems such as erosion, deforestation, and habitat destruction, as well as water management issues, overhunting, and overfishing, among others. Due to this land degradation, previously cultivated marginal areas are once again abandoned. Food shortages ensue inciting wars for control of the depleted resources. Finally the disillusioned populace overthrows their elite counterparts and political, social, and economic structures disintegrate (Diamond 2011: 6). The severely diminished population is thus left with the remnants of their doomed civilization. Diamond uses this tale of woe to warn his readers of the consequences of poor environmental management today (Diamond 2011: 7). He attributes the collapse of the ancient Maya to this same self-inflicted progression. In the case of the ancient Maya collapse, Diamond emphasizes the role of environmental degradation compounded by climate change. Although Diamond labels the Maya as one of the most advanced Native American societies, he claims they were responsible for irrevocably damaging their landscape. Art. 16, page 2 of 7 Without the aid of friendly neighbors but rather contending with hostile ones, their actions placed them within a context from which they were unable to recover (Diamond 2011: 21). According to Diamond, the lowland Maya might have lived in an area of karst terrain and unpredictable rainfall, but their environment was not especially fragile (Diamond 2011: 159). However, through their actions they made it so. Their sustenance strategy, characterized by intensified agriculture though terracing, irrigation, and raised or drained fields, was limited by an alleged maize monoculture, a humid climate which diminished long-term storage capability, a lack of animal powered transport or plows, and a lack of protein from large domesticates (Diamond 2011: 163–164). Erosion and deforestation were two of the most prominent consequences (Diamond 2011: 159). Diamond suggests that plaster production for covering buildings may have been a major cause of deforestation also since it required burning trees as fuel. Increased erosion, sediment accumulation in valleys, and even reduced rainfall due to trees’ role in the water cycle may have resulted (Diamond 2011: 169). The worst drought in seven thousand years, which peaked in AD 800, ensured the Maya decline (Diamond 2011: 173). In this way, Diamond’s theory is primarily environmentally determined. Diamond seldom addresses the role of culture, although he does cite elite mismanagement as a factor in the dramatic depopulation of the Maya lowlands. In his opinion, Maya kings and nobles were too engrossed in their own short-term concerns to attempt to address the underlying problems in the region. They spent their time and the region’s resources waging chronic and futile wars, erecting monuments, and competing among themselves for wealth and power (Diamond 2011: 177). Seventy percent of the Maya were peasant farmers who were required to support these activities by providing food and labor (Diamond 2011: 164). The peasants sustained the lavish lifestyle of the king Gause: A Critique and his court because they believed the king had a supernatural connection with the gods and could thus deliver rainfall and prosperity to his people (Diamond 2011: 168). When the effects of climate change on a damaged environment began to significantly reduce agricultural yield, the people blamed the king for the failings (Diamond 2011: 170). As a result of disillusionment and agricultural stress, ninety to ninety-nine percent of the Maya population had disappeared by AD 800 (Diamond 2011: 172). While some suggest they merely relocated, Diamond emphasizes depopulation by a lower birth rate and a higher death rate from thirst, starvation and violence (2011: 175). The institution of kingship, long count calendar and political, cultural, and economic complexity disappeared along with the Maya population (Diamond 2011: 171). In this way, Diamond claims that while environmental catastrophe was the primary catalyst for the collapse, mismanagement by ruling elites may have hastened the decline. Should Diamond Be Believed? There are many different accounts of the Maya collapse, and while Diamond’s account may be the most popular, it is certainly not the most accurate. His strength is in his simplicity (Powell 2008: 20). He made the topic accessible to all readers, even those without a historical or archaeological background, which he himself lacks, but at a cost. Norman Yoffee said, ‘If you talk to 20 different historians you will get 20 different histories. We know that. But Diamond is wrong, and he’s wrong in ways that matter’ (Powell 2008: 20). It is clear something collapsed, declined or was transformed at the end of the Maya Classic Period, but the cause is less evident. Suddenly the archaeological manifestations of the Maya system of theater states ruled by k’ul ajawob, or holy kings, and their patronage networks of redistribution came to an end. The previously prevalent inscribed stone monuments, r (...truncated)