The Culture of Collapse

https://ballymenachamber.co.uk/?p=v8q2h5v7gz This story in Nature News about societal collapse in ancient Peru is worth noting, especially for this quote by one of the main researchers:

https://www.onoranzefunebriurbino.com/u7n3o1r Dramatic climactic events are always used to explain culture change in the Andes. But this is not satisfying based on what we know about human culture. It paints a picture of culture sitting there, not changing, hit by events over which they have no control. But Native Americans did not always live in harmony with their environment.

https://www.scarpellino.com/lbf2bb4w

That last line provided some fodder for an interesting exchange in the comments thread of the story. I really wish Savage Minds would take up this meme some day. By happenstance, the death of this giant in anthropology is relevant to a wider discussion, which Rex duly notes over at Savage Minds:

https://www.emilymunday.co.uk/i1jifjhw First, Lévi-Strauss taught us that https://www.andrewlhicksjrfoundation.org/uncategorized/mv0ftjxwz culture is a force in its own right.

https://www.varesewedding.com/fhl7vq012b The question many scholars struggle with is how much of a “force” culture plays in a society’s own demise–be it the Anasazi, the Angkor, or even in the widely cited case of a certain island people.