1491 (Second Edition): New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus [Paperback]

 

 

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There has been much scholarly discussion over the years about pre-Columbian societies in the Americas. How many were there? What technologies did they develop? Did they have writing? What destroyed them? Where is the evidence?

In this book, Charles Mann brought together much of the recent scholarly knowledge, piecing together evidence from across North, Central and South America, to come up with a cohesive image of what the Americas looked like in terms of human occupation before Columbus.

The book's main arguemnt is that the Americas were already heavily populated with as many as 20 million people when Columbus arrived. These people possessed technology very advanced that was not, as much of history tells, puny and weak compared to what Europeans had developed. Agricultural methods were advanced and very productive, providing the basis for the establishment of large sedentary populations, much larger than previously thought. These large populations were mainly destroyed by disease. What we see today are in fact the remaining population after the equivalent of a holocaust, which is hardly a good basis to judge their capabilities and one time glory.

To demonstrate this theory, evidence is gathered from archeology and ancient reports from travellers. From most 16th century explorers, we get a picture of a heavily populated landscape, both in the southeastern US and in the Amazon. However, explorers through the same regions roughtly a century later describe a landscape of peaceful nature without large human interventions. The archeological evidence, as more is discovered, points in the direction of large populations and many characteristics (such as religion and art) of sedentary populations.

Particularly interesting is the section on the Amazon forest, in which the author describes the Amazon not as virginal forest but rather an a human construct, a large garden manipulated by ancient inhabitants, now abandoned. Evidence of these people's technology can be found in unlikely places, such as in the formation of terra preta, a highly fertile soil in a land well known for poor soils for agriculture. Additionally, the raised fields of the Bolivian Amazon also point to a highly sophisticated and organized society that would need to be surplus producing in order to spare the manpower for such great public works.

An interesting addendum to his argument is about the freedom enjoyed by antive americans, which is much more similar to the freedom we enjoy today and seek to expand, than the Europeans at the time enjoyed. The author does a superb job of piecing together evidence from across the continent to come to interesting conclusions about our ancestors.

I highly recommend this book not only to anyone interested in the history of the Americas before Columbus, but to anyone looking for an interesting read about our history as humans.

"What is the conclusion then?" -- 1 Corinthians 14:15 (NKJV)

Accurately describing the past is tricky business. Part of the problem comes in being unaware of our own thinking habits that stall our ability to perceive accurately what is in front of us. More significantly, lots of partial evidence can point in a variety of directions, many of which may be ignored. Further, there's a tendency to pick a view that will draw attention . . . causing "spectacular" explanations over more cautiously chosen ones. Ultimately, it's just that the past is so large, complex, and shifting that it's beyond our power to capture.

1491 is not so much about what life was like before Columbus in North and South America as it is about the methodological and intellectual problems with identifying what has gone before us . . . particularly in the absence of written records that we can decipher and understand. In the course of exploring this broad theme, Charles C. Mann does a solid job of contrasting traditional beliefs about pre-Columbian times (small populations of "uncivilized" people who lived in the middle of a nearly pristine environment, little changed over thousands of years) with more recent scholarship that suggests the Americas may have had enormous populations relative to Europe that were soon decimated by disease from Europeans, very sophisticated civilizations, and advanced practices for controlling the environment that we would do well to emulate today. I came away with an appreciation that tracking down what really happened is probably the work of many future centuries of research. In any event, those who "assume" European superiority in 1491 can learn a lot from reading about the contrary evidence as described by Mr. Mann.

The book's main weakness is that it doesn't have a simple thesis and structure. Ostensibly focused on new research, the book often tells about the new findings in such a leisurely and anecdotal way that what you learn is more at the factoid level than in fleshing out a picture of what happened. As a result, there's a lot of "what if" information here that's not likely to be fully confirmed or denied anytime soon. You'll come away realizing the you need to keep an open mind about many aspects of life in the Americas before 1492 without being able to firmly state what did occur . . . with the exception of descriptions of conquests among some of the larger empires. I found the book's photographs and maps greatly helped to make the scientific studies come to life so I could integrate what was being said into a personal perspective.

Mr. Mann is very fair in presenting questions and rebuttals from scholars about hypotheses and competing conclusions so that you won't feel as though you only have the choice of accepting all the latest studies without question.

My overall reaction to the book was to want to learn more about these studies. I hope that scholars in these subjects will be encouraged to publish well-illustrated books at the popular science reading level for those who would like to know more about the lessons from earlier civilizations that we should be applying today. Inquiring minds will be interested, I'm sure.

Having read 1491 I find myself in disagreement with Mr Bass. I am neither archiologist or anthropologist but do have a keen interest in history. I feel that Mr Mann makes a good case for the North American Indian population having an impact on their environment beyond that previously thought. It is interesting that recently a University of Calgary professor was on the news, announcing that in his research he had come to the conclusion that the plains Indians were far more numerous and socially organised than previously thought. He felt that the traditional image of small groups of nomadic stone age hunters had to be re-examined. He fell short of suggesting that these same groups were probably the remanents of the largely inadvertant genocide that saw, what is likely, the largest human die off in history. The implication has to be there and Charles Mann addresses this time and again. 1491 is a compelling and worthy read and there is no compunction to accept every argument as gospel, even Mann provides the material with acknowlegment that there are opposing points of view. As for Mr Bass why as a member of the USDA why is he writing to amazon.ca?

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5.0 out of 5 stars Response to a one star reviewer
Did Mr Bass read past the dustcover of this excellent book? If he had then he should have mentioned that 1491 embodied recent research, duly presented with counter-arguments that... Read more

Published 12 months ago by K. Reid

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
This book was amazing - i don't know why something about pre-Columbian Americas has not been written already like this - it is well researched and expands across the north and... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Jennifer Der

5.0 out of 5 stars A haunting, resonant reminder of a tremendous lost society
As someone who enjoys sociology and the various human myths across history, I couldn't put it down. Granted, this was very much my first foray into South American History. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Louise Gadoury

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening and thought provoking
Unlike many opinion/fact based books, Mann allows the reader to see the different sides or the argument of some key points of the Americas before Columbus. Read more

Published on April 2 2009 by Zude

4.0 out of 5 stars Sheds much light on Pre-columbus americas
Very entertaining and insightful book. You can agree or disagree with his thesis but you will be enlightened. Read more

Published on Sep 3 2007 by Boreal Jeff

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a review - a short response to previous review
Well, I think that it can be very strongly shown that pre-Columbian Americans had a major ecological impact. Read more

Published on Dec 16 2005 by K. Bascom

1.0 out of 5 stars An incorrect argument
Often when developing a certain argument, some authors become so enamored by the argument that they get carried away by the beauty of their argument to the exclusion of the facts... Read more

Published on Sep 1 2005 by Quentin R. Bass II

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