Sustainability Peter Cavallaro & Mikaela BogdanFYS Archaeology of SustainabilityMendoza

Introduction

• Past civilizations thought they were being sustainable• Many of those past civilizations failed• Now we’re facing the same

predicament• We need to find ways to be more

sustainable

Easter Island• Deforestation• Shifting cultivation methods of agriculture• Overpopulation• Overexploitation of resources

Ancient Mayan Civilization

• Took labor from agriculture to erect buildings to their gods.• Used technology for only one purpose• Didn’t question assumptions or

premises

Montana• Acute environmental impact from mine waste,

weed control, lack of forest management• Climate change (hotter, drier) agriculture relies on

runoff irrigation from ice caps• Devotion to logging, mines, agriculture, and

little/no gov’t regulation

What Doesn’t Work• Alternative energy

sources• Relying on only a

few, nonrenewable, polluting resources

• Going along with assumptions and premises

What Works

• Water Conservation• Agriculture• Domestic• Commercial

• Selective harvesting/patchwork clear cutting

• Recycling • Alternative energy

sources

What has Archaeology Taught Us About Being Sustainable?• “Confines of a normal

problem solving do not always lead to the best answers and might even blind us to the consequences of our actions.” (Archaeology matters)

• We need to be regularly questioning assumptions and premises and not just accept them as fact. (Archaeology Matters)

• We can’t use certain resources and technology for only one purpose (Archaeology Matters)

How Can We Become More Sustainable?

• Thinking Long-term

• Using conservation methods that work

• Utilizing archaeological research to discover methods of sustainability

Sources• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IESYMFtLIishttp://www.ted.com/• Diamond, Jared.Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or

Succeed.2005• https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQwSSK5

mpZytTYgBtD6AXOtUXua7AzLS0YCY-CC36Cj0rjxX8agxEjxTw• https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS30I5-tD

vJsHyskZFDDHQbQciKSpU273Hva2cUJP1ZziVh-ugZDw• https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSr-bI6DX

roVEKDbhhlK0CIcRovSuGV_ywX2DT7RFfBVSVdD0JwmA• https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnIJFbAx

kkEsA7xnfvEu4TmdLcpTeQwSvekbVVfp7cEJOQzWot• https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTdSWaz

ofts_bJyP2WQPTmKxzqpXs7o9EwyqfXec83nYuYuNdB60g

• http://hdwallpaper.freehdw.com/0001/nature-landscapes_hdwallpaper_glacier-national-park-montana_5341.jpg

Source Cont.• https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTW5URV

FlWF_K_prnhu-T_RwAm80mfxiohlLnM1lu2pJgxHQB2Hvg• https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGl27ZN

Lc4SsRwVNMN0hN06ApRxQv86nSDsX7JzXrWDCbaUcGu6UIhTA• https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROi4RD

dVTG_jsGrhatLSOtgDsuJGeElRK8_LwWPwaQzHVJPBY2ow• https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1sA4Fr

x4I5mmk59zANPvl2gGyNY62EG5Iwic9jNjxnXWsgb3h• http://www.thecaliforniamissionride.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/0

8/Ruben.Presidio.Dig_.jpg• https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS8lDfDp

Gmkd-SCI8Pj-sjTHdfc0sWXpZzotxTv-DrTIdRd_jHQfg• https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQn8FhNJ

q9SFafFq-dRTcejBw1XwtspqH4IOcYvsXUDu0orIaZV1dNITw• http://

www.mayas.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/mayas-temple.jpg

• www.ers.usda.gov