Islands in the Lake

Environment and Ethnohistory in Xochimilco, New Spain

Dados Bibliográficos

ID24176259
AutoresRichard Conway (0000-0002-1876-9163, Montclair State University, autor correspondente), Richard M Conway
Ano2021
Data de publicação2021-10-31
Open AccessSim
TipoBOOK
PeriódicoIslands in the Lake (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditoraCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/9781009003957
OpenAlexW4200002550
ISBN9781009003957
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas253

Now notorious for its aridity and air pollution, Mexico City was once part of a flourishing lake environment. In nearby Xochimilco, Native Americans modified the lakes to fashion a distinctive and remarkably abundant aquatic society, one that provided a degree of ecological autonomy for local residents, enabling them to protect their communities' integrity, maintain their way of life, and preserve many aspects of their cultural heritage. While the area's ecology allowed for a wide array of socioeconomic and cultural continuities during colonial rule, demographic change came to affect the ecological basis of the lakes; pastoralism and new ways of using and modifying the lakes began to make a mark on the watery landscape and on the surrounding communities. In this fascinating study, Conway explores Xochimilco using native-language documents, which serve as a hallmark of this continuity and a means to trace patterns of change.

Archaeology · Biology · Colonialism · Environmental ethics · Flourishing · Geography · Ecology · Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and Beyond · Latin American history and culture · Mexican Socioeconomic and Environmental Dynamics