Read Online The Emperor Has No Clothes A Practical Guide for Environmental and Social Transformation by John Hagen - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John Hagen
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landlords.” Typically absentee landlords
lack involvement in the actual work taking place. Because of their
detachment from the property under their control they seldom had
little or no idea of what was actually occurring. Generally if
elites start to feel a little “pinched” their remedy is to
intensify extraction, and carry on as before. Moreover, the people
working the land as “tenants” also have no incentive to invest a
lot of labor to install and maintain improvements like terraces,
since they don't derive any immediate or ongoing benefits from
their labor. Since terraces require substantial amounts of ongoing
maintenance, protracted attention from the people in control is
essential. Needless to say, a sustained focus on these kinds of
mundane details are not a hallmark of absentee land lords.
According to the above table, the population
of Copan reached a maximum in the late 8th century whereupon the
dynasty fell. The last King in the direct royal lineage was Yax
Pasaj who acceded to the throne in 763 CE and is last heard of in
810 CE. A final reference to a ruler named Ukit Took was inscribed
in 822 CE on a partially finished alter.xiii He appears to have
been an unsuccessful pretender. This is the last entry that is
relevant to any royal presence in Copan's written record.
The termination of the royal presence in
Copan is not accompanied by signs of strife. In many of the other
Mayan kingdoms there is evidence of strife and that the royals were
forcefully removed. The deposition of royals probably occurred as a
result of the obvious ineffectiveness of their system of religious
beliefs to address their desperate situation. This impotence
probably led to a general disillusionment among the populace and an
abandonment of their religious creed.
As can be seen from the above table in the
early 10th century the population of Copan experienced a large
population reduction that was followed by a continuing decline at a
gradually slowing rate. It's believed that some of the elites were
able to persist for some time after the end of the classic period,
because they still provided some useful services to the moribund
society. By the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th
century, the area was completely abandoned as reported by Cortes
who passed through the area and nearly starved.
The Maya Kingdom of Lamanai was located on
the shore of a lagoon of the New River in Belize. As a result of
the location of this settlement, it had a more diverse resource
base that incorporated locally obtained aquatic fresh water foods
comprised of fish, shellfish, and turtles. In addition to
freshwater fish, there also is evidence that seafood was a part of
their diet. It is thought that the seafood was transported by boat
on the New River from the Atlantic coastal areas where a maritime
trade network was in place. The maritime trade network was large,
it extended along the Caribbean costs of Mexico and Belize. The
most prominent of the oceanic trading settlements were Jain Island,
Frenchman’s Kay, Moho Cay, and Wild Cane Cay [20]. Wild Cane Cay
occupied a position as the last link of the coastal network. It was
also the start of the New River connection to the inland kingdom of
Lamanai. All of these settlements survived the classical Maya
collapse and persisted into post classic times.
20. The coastal trading centers were
comprised of traders and did not have large central monumental
types of architecture associated with the kings. For example, Wild
Cane Cay was densely populated but only occupied an area of 10
acres.
I would hypothesize that the Lamanai kingdom
and maritime trading settlements were able to weather the classic
collapse as the result of the availability of external sources of
food. These more diverse food sources were provided by a more
capable transportation system based upon boats. Boats were used to
ship marine resources inland by river while also providing access
to the contiguous river waters. This
lack involvement in the actual work taking place. Because of their
detachment from the property under their control they seldom had
little or no idea of what was actually occurring. Generally if
elites start to feel a little “pinched” their remedy is to
intensify extraction, and carry on as before. Moreover, the people
working the land as “tenants” also have no incentive to invest a
lot of labor to install and maintain improvements like terraces,
since they don't derive any immediate or ongoing benefits from
their labor. Since terraces require substantial amounts of ongoing
maintenance, protracted attention from the people in control is
essential. Needless to say, a sustained focus on these kinds of
mundane details are not a hallmark of absentee land lords.
According to the above table, the population
of Copan reached a maximum in the late 8th century whereupon the
dynasty fell. The last King in the direct royal lineage was Yax
Pasaj who acceded to the throne in 763 CE and is last heard of in
810 CE. A final reference to a ruler named Ukit Took was inscribed
in 822 CE on a partially finished alter.xiii He appears to have
been an unsuccessful pretender. This is the last entry that is
relevant to any royal presence in Copan's written record.
The termination of the royal presence in
Copan is not accompanied by signs of strife. In many of the other
Mayan kingdoms there is evidence of strife and that the royals were
forcefully removed. The deposition of royals probably occurred as a
result of the obvious ineffectiveness of their system of religious
beliefs to address their desperate situation. This impotence
probably led to a general disillusionment among the populace and an
abandonment of their religious creed.
As can be seen from the above table in the
early 10th century the population of Copan experienced a large
population reduction that was followed by a continuing decline at a
gradually slowing rate. It's believed that some of the elites were
able to persist for some time after the end of the classic period,
because they still provided some useful services to the moribund
society. By the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th
century, the area was completely abandoned as reported by Cortes
who passed through the area and nearly starved.
The Maya Kingdom of Lamanai was located on
the shore of a lagoon of the New River in Belize. As a result of
the location of this settlement, it had a more diverse resource
base that incorporated locally obtained aquatic fresh water foods
comprised of fish, shellfish, and turtles. In addition to
freshwater fish, there also is evidence that seafood was a part of
their diet. It is thought that the seafood was transported by boat
on the New River from the Atlantic coastal areas where a maritime
trade network was in place. The maritime trade network was large,
it extended along the Caribbean costs of Mexico and Belize. The
most prominent of the oceanic trading settlements were Jain Island,
Frenchman’s Kay, Moho Cay, and Wild Cane Cay [20]. Wild Cane Cay
occupied a position as the last link of the coastal network. It was
also the start of the New River connection to the inland kingdom of
Lamanai. All of these settlements survived the classical Maya
collapse and persisted into post classic times.
20. The coastal trading centers were
comprised of traders and did not have large central monumental
types of architecture associated with the kings. For example, Wild
Cane Cay was densely populated but only occupied an area of 10
acres.
I would hypothesize that the Lamanai kingdom
and maritime trading settlements were able to weather the classic
collapse as the result of the availability of external sources of
food. These more diverse food sources were provided by a more
capable transportation system based upon boats. Boats were used to
ship marine resources inland by river while also providing access
to the contiguous river waters. This
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