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1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann
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A groundbreaking study that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492.
Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus’s landing had crossed the Bering Strait twelve thousand years ago; existed mainly in small, nomadic bands; and lived so lightly on the land that the Americas was, for all practical purposes, still a vast wilderness. But as Charles C. Mann now makes clear, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent the last thirty years proving these and many other long-held assumptions wrong.
In a book that startles and persuades, Mann reveals how a new generation of researchers equipped with novel scientific techniques came to previously unheard-of conclusions. Among them:
• In 1491 there were probably more people living in the Americas than in Europe.
• Certain cities–such as Tenochtitl�n, the Aztec capital–were far greater in population than any contemporary European city. Furthermore, Tenochtitl�n, unlike any capital in Europe at that time, had running water, beautiful botanical gardens, and immaculately clean streets.
• The earliest cities in the Western Hemisphere were thriving before the Egyptians built the great pyramids.
• Pre-Columbian Indians in Mexico developed corn by a breeding process so sophisticated that the journal Science recently described it as “man’s first, and perhaps the greatest, feat of genetic engineering.”
• Amazonian Indians learned how to farm the rain forest without destroying it–a process scientists are studying today in the hope of regaining this lost knowledge.
• Native Americans transformed their land so completely that Europeans arrived in a hemisphere already massively “landscaped” by human beings.
Mann sheds clarifying light on the methods used to arrive at these new visions of the pre-Columbian Americas and how they have affected our understanding of our history and our thinking about the environment. His book is an exciting and learned account of scientific inquiry and revelation.
- Sales Rank: #106961 in Books
- Brand: Mann, Charles C.
- Published on: 2005-08-09
- Released on: 2005-08-09
- Ingredients: Example Ingredients
- Format: Deckle Edge
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.53" h x 1.44" w x 6.61" l, 1.85 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 480 pages
Amazon.com Review
1491 is not so much the story of a year, as of what that year stands for: the long-debated (and often-dismissed) question of what human civilization in the Americas was like before the Europeans crashed the party. The history books most Americans were (and still are) raised on describe the continents before Columbus as a vast, underused territory, sparsely populated by primitives whose cultures would inevitably bow before the advanced technologies of the Europeans. For decades, though, among the archaeologists, anthropologists, paleolinguists, and others whose discoveries Charles C. Mann brings together in 1491, different stories have been emerging. Among the revelations: the first Americans may not have come over the Bering land bridge around 12,000 B.C. but by boat along the Pacific coast 10 or even 20 thousand years earlier; the Americas were a far more urban, more populated, and more technologically advanced region than generally assumed; and the Indians, rather than living in static harmony with nature, radically engineered the landscape across the continents, to the point that even "timeless" natural features like the Amazon rainforest can be seen as products of human intervention.
Mann is well aware that much of the history he relates is necessarily speculative, the product of pot-shard interpretation and precise scientific measurements that often end up being radically revised in later decades. But the most compelling of his eye-opening revisionist stories are among the best-founded: the stories of early American-European contact. To many of those who were there, the earliest encounters felt more like a meeting of equals than one of natural domination. And those who came later and found an emptied landscape that seemed ripe for the taking, Mann argues convincingly, encountered not the natural and unchanging state of the native American, but the evidence of a sudden calamity: the ravages of what was likely the greatest epidemic in human history, the smallpox and other diseases introduced inadvertently by Europeans to a population without immunity, which swept through the Americas faster than the explorers who brought it, and left behind for their discovery a land that held only a shadow of the thriving cultures that it had sustained for centuries before. --Tom Nissley
A 1491 Timeline
Europe and AsiaDates The Americas
25000-35000 B.C. Time of paleo-Indian migration to Americas from Siberia, according to genetic evidence. Groups likely traveled across the Pacific in boats.
Wheat and barley grown from wild ancestors in Sumer.
6000
5000 In what many scientists regard as humankind's first and greatest feat of genetic engineering, Indians in southern Mexico systematically breed maize (corn) from dissimilar ancestor species.
First cities established in Sumer.
4000
3000 The Americas' first urban complex, in coastal Peru, of at least 30 closely packed cities, each centered around large pyramid-like structures
Great Pyramid at Giza
2650
32 First clear evidence of Olmec use of zero--an invention, widely described as the most important mathematical discovery ever made, which did not occur in Eurasia until about 600 A.D., in India (zero was not introduced to Europe until the 1200s and not widely used until the 1700s)
800-840 A.D. Sudden collapse of most central Maya cities in the face of severe drought and lengthy war
Vikings briefly establish first European settlements in North America.
1000 Reconstruction of Cahokia, c. 1250 A.D.* Abrupt rise of Cahokia, near modern St. Louis, the largest city north of the Rio Grande. Population estimates vary from at least 15,000 to 100,000.
Black Death devastates Europe.
1347-1351
1398 Birth of Tlaca�lel, the brilliant Mexican strategist behind the Triple Alliance (also known as the Aztec empire), which within decades controls central Mexico, then the most densely settled place on Earth.
The Encounter: Columbus sails from Europe to the Caribbean.
1492 The Encounter: Columbus sails from Europe to the Caribbean.
Syphilis apparently brought to Europe by Columbus's returning crew.
1493
Ferdinand Magellan departs from Spain on around-the-world voyage.
1519 Sixteenth-century Mexica drawing of the effects of smallpox** Cortes driven from Tenochtitl�n, capital of the Triple Alliance, and then gains victory as smallpox, a European disease never before seen in the Americas, kills at least one of three in the empire.
1525-1533 The smallpox epidemic sweeps into Peru, killing as much as half the population of the Inka empire and opening the door to conquest by Spanish forces led by Pizarro.
1617 Huge areas of New England nearly depopulated by epidemic brought by shipwrecked French sailors.
English Pilgrims arrive at Patuxet, an Indian village emptied by disease, and survive on stored Indian food, renaming the village Plymouth.
1620 *Courtesy Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Collinsville, Ill., painting by Michael Hampshire. **Courtesy Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, N.M. (Bernardino de Sahag�n, Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espa�a, 1547-77).
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In a riveting and fast-paced history, massing archeological, anthropological, scientific and literary evidence, Mann debunks much of what we thought we knew about pre-Columbian America. Reviewing the latest, not widely reported research in Indian demography, origins and ecology, Mann zestfully demonstrates that long before any European explorers set foot in the New World, Native American cultures were flourishing with a high degree of sophistication. The new researchers have turned received wisdom on its head. For example, it has long been believed the Inca fell to Pizarro because they had no metallurgy to produce steel for weapons. In fact, scholars say, the Inca had a highly refined metallurgy, but valued plasticity over strength. What defeated the Inca was not steel but smallpox and resulting internecine warfare. Mann also shows that the Maya constructed huge cities and governed them with a cohesive set of political ideals. Most notably, according to Mann, the Haudenosaunee, in what is now the Northeast U.S., constructed a loose confederation of tribes governed by the principles of individual liberty and social equality. The author also weighs the evidence that Native populations were far larger than previously calculated. Mann, a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly and Science, masterfully assembles a diverse body of scholarship into a first-rate history of Native America and its inhabitants. 56 b&w photos, 15 maps.
Copyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Like all creation myths, the story of America’s discovery by Columbus endures no matter how improbable it now seems. Mann, a correspondent for Science and The Atlantic Monthly and coauthor of four previous books, dives right into this thorny topic—one fraught with political tension and intertwined with a nation’s identity—with no agenda other than the journalist’s desire to find the truth. Critics were riveted by his rich portrait of the pre-Columbian Americas and compared him favorably to Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies. Like a good reporter, Mann seeks out sources that challenge his own views; nonetheless, critics found some of Mann’s conclusions short on evidence. In some cases, they questioned whether his journalistic approach did justice to such a complex subject.
Copyright � 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
Most helpful customer reviews
309 of 324 people found the following review helpful.
New Possibilites for Pre-Columbian Life in the Americas
By From the Oregon Country
Mann gives the reader a comprehensive overview of the new theories concerning native American societies before the colonial period. The story is intriguing, and the fascinating narrative will hold the reader's complete attention. The assertions made are too numerous and complex to go into in any detail here, but in brief: we are told that the Western Hemisphere was actually much more populous than anyone had imagined previously. Most of the inhabitants were wiped out by plagues brought by the Europeans. Far from being either brutal and child-like, or "noble savages", the native Americans had established sophisticated societies which served large and growing populations, and which had great impact on their natural environments. No small Indian tribes living in a vast, untamed wilderness! To the contrary, fire was used repeatedly to burn off weeds and undergrowth, extensive mounds and other structures were raised to provide crop land and ponds for fish breeding, and cultivation was widespread. Indeed, Mann asserts that the Amazon, far from being the quintessential wilderness most regard it as, is actually a garden gone wild!
The tale is breathtaking in its scope. But is it true? The author of 1491 acknowledges that the new theories are controversial. For example: everyone agrees the Europeans brought diseases which wiped out large numbers of Indians. But not all agree that the original population was anywhere near the levels claimed. And many researchers contend that structures claimed to be of human origin, such as the Beni causeways in Bolivia, are actually of natural origin. This reader withholds judgement until a lot more evidence is forthcoming. However, everyone interested in history owes it to themselves to read this spellbinding story of an America that just might have been, and then watch as it is either confirmed or refuted by continuing, widely based research.
243 of 258 people found the following review helpful.
Observations about Cahokia
By Gary D. Cope
I have been a volunteer at Cahokia Mounds for about three years, leading guided tours of the Historic site. I have read extensively about Cahokia's history, attended a few conferences and had access to several of the principal archeologists at the site. I consider myself fairly well informed.
Several visitors at Cahokia, and a few of my friends, recommended that I read 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, written in 2005, by Charles C. Mann.
Mr. Mann relies heavily on the work of Dr William I. Woods, a geography professor at University of Kansas. I have found a book Envisioning Cahokia: a Landscape Perspective, co-authored by Dr. Woods. Not an easy read, but I am currently tackling it to see if I can learn more.
I have recently finished 1491 (Vintage Books, second edition, July 2011) and I have a few observations. Some of the things the author states as "facts" about Cahokia are speculation. Some of the things he says are clearly incorrect.
This makes me question the rest of the book.
The best known landmark at Cahokia is Monks Mound. Standing 100 feet high, with four terraces and a base of 14 acres, Monks Mound is the largest earthen structure in the Americas.
Mr. Mann tells us that "the elite revamped Monks Mound. By extending a low platform from one side, they created a stage for priests to perform ceremonies in full view of the public." (pg303)
The first terrace of Monks Mound is a late addition and it very well may have been used as a stage to address large gatherings in the forty acre Grand Plaza. I mention this in my tours, but point out that it is speculation. Beyond the apparent acoustics in the Grand Plaza (some archeologist have noted that, in the early mornings, it is sometimes possible to clearly hear the voices of people ascending the mound) there isn't a whole lot of evidence to support the theory.
The author tells us that one of the contributing factors to the demise of Cahokia was the diversion of Cahokia Creek. This provided additional water to the city and allowed logs to be floated downstream, but also caused flooding which destroyed the maize crop. This may well be true, but I have found no other sources that mention this diversion of Cahokia Creek. Most accounts of Cahokia's demise cite an extended drought and, perhaps, a shortened growing season.
Mound 72, in my opinion, is the most interesting mound at Cahokia. Excavations in the late 1960s by Dr. Melvin Fowler revealed about 300 burials. The most spectacular was "the beaded burial" an early chief buried on a falcon shaped blanket of 20,000 sea shell beads from the gulf of Mexico. Archeologists estimate that 60% of the burials at mound 72 were ritual killings.
Speaking of these Mr. Mann says "Among them were fifty young women who had been buried alive." (pg 298)
He may be confusing two or more separate burials.
There were about 100 young women who were likely garroted before their bodies were laid out in trenches in neat rows. I am not aware of any evidence that these victims were buried alive.
On another occasion, 50 individuals, men and women, were executed, mainly clubbed to death, and haphazardly thrown into a pit. There is evidence that some of these people were still alive when the pit was filled.
Sometime around 1150, the people at Cahokia constructed a palisade. Clearly a defensive structure, we do not know who the two mile long fence was intended to keep out.
Mr. Mann tells us that the palisade "was also intended to welcome the citizenry - anyone could freely pass through its dozen or so wide gates." (pg 303)
Actually, the "gates" into the palisade were narrow, L shaped entryways, situated between bastions, where archers easily could hold off unwanted intruders.
We are told "A catastrophic earthquake razed Cahokia in the beginning of the thirteenth century, knocking down the entire western side of Monks Mound." (pg 303)
I have a couple of problems with this statement.
The first relates to the second terrace of Monks Mound. The official literature at the Interpretative Center states that Monks Mound had four terraces. Some researchers, including Dr. Woods believes that what we now call the second terrace was the result of a massive slumpage along the western side of the mound. They may be correct, but this is still open to debate.
If Dr. Woods is correct, might the second terrace of Monks Mound be the result of an earthquake? Perhaps.
In 1811/1812, quakes along the New Madrid fault in southern Missouri caused the Mississippi River to run backwards and rang church bells in New York and Boston. Archeologists do speculate whether earthquakes had anything to do with the abandonment of Cahokia. The problem has to do with timing.
This summer I attended a Mississippian conference at Cahokia. One of the presentations dealt with this topic. There is evidence that there was a major quake along the New Madrid fault around 1450. Unfortunately this is at least 200 years too late to fit into Mr. Mann's narrative.
"The Cahokia earthquake .. must have splintered many of the city's wood-and plaster buildings; fallen torches and scattered cooking fires would have ignited the debris, burning down most surviving structures. Water from the rivers, shaken by the quake, would have sloshed into the land in a mini-tsunami. ... Meanwhile the social unrest turned violent; many houses went up in flames. There was civil war, ... fighting in the streets. The whole polity turned in on itself and tore itself apart." (pg 304)
If this scenario played out, one would expect ample archeological evidence. If it exists, I have missed it.
Finally, there are two statements in 1491 I find particularly strange.
"Monks Mound opens into a plaza a thousand feet long. In it southwest corner is a pair of mounds, one conical, one square. One day I climbed up their grassy sides at sunset." (pg 289)
You are not allowed to climb on any of the mounds except Monks Mound. There are signs posted throughout the site. Perhaps the author had special.
"A friend and I first visited Cahokia in 2002 ... The site is now a state park with a small museum." (pg 302)
Has Mr. Mann ever actually been to Cahokia? The Historic Site ceased being a state park in 1977. The "small museum" was replaced in 1989 by a 33,000 ft interpretative center that receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
553 of 600 people found the following review helpful.
An excellent update on the current academic understanding of pre-Columbian America
By Ursiform
Although recent years have yielded significant progress in understanding how "Indians" lived throughout the Americas before 1492 and Columbus, only isolated bits of the story have reached the popular press. Far too many people still hold to one of two myths of the Indians, or have little conception at all of pre-Columbian America.
The first popular myth is that the Indians were a bunch of primitive savages just keeping the land warm until superior Europeans showed up. It's sad to read reviews here that assert that because Indians used stone tools they were therefore "stone age", with the implication that their culture was no further advanced than that early period.
The second myth makes the Indians into proto-flower-children, naively and simply in tune with their environment.
Both myths are based on stereotyping and are condescending to the pre-Colombians. How could people spread over two continents and many millennia be briefly summarized? They can't be! The Americas saw the development of a broad range of cultures, just like every other inhabited area of the world. Some cultures overstressed their environment and soon collapsed. Others created stable conditions under which they could survive for generations. (Which is not the same as saying they didn't impact nature.) But even the latter could be brought down by climate change, political instability, disease (especially European), or contact with outsiders (Indian or European).
Great cities arose in mesoamerica and the Andes, and also in other areas when the right conditions prevailed. And sophisticated cultures existed even where city building wasn't favored.
This book takes the reader through a vibrant overview of centuries of Indian culture both before and shortly after Columbus landed. Much of the narrative is based on work-in-progress by archaeologists and historians, and will certainly become dated with time, but it is an important update to the common, current understanding of the subject.
For those not enthralled by one of the myths I mention above, most Americans recall our history along the lines of Scene 1: The Pilgrims land and encounter Indians who teach them how to grow corn; they then have a big Thanksgiving party together. Scene 2: Americans moving inland encounter savage Indians who need to be exterminated or moved to reservations to make the continent safe for manifest destiny. Scene 3: The few remaining Indians are victims of brutal European suppression, and we need to buy jewelry and pottery from them to make ourselves feel better about the situation.
This book is a welcome update to our thinking about the Americas before Columbus. It's also one of the best books I've read in long time, and I highly recommend it.
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