Germs

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Some semi-random thoughts/impressions after finishing 1491:

  • Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel might be better titled Germs, Germs, Germs and Some Other Ancillary Stuff – at least as far as the New World is concerned. If 1491 is accurate in it’s depiction of the depopulation of the Americas as a result of smallpox and friends, the technological advantage enjoyed by Europeans is almost beside the point. One also wonders how a full-strength local population would have held up against a tiny force (the conquistadors) with superior firepower, but incredibly long and tenuous supply lines. Logistics, logistics, logistics.
  • Still with the Diamond comparo – 1491 gives a much different impression when it comes to food crops. If grains are the only thing compared, then the Old World wins big time – wheat, barley, rice, oats, rye vs. corn (maize) and quinoa. It would be interesting (I’m sure someone has already done it) to compare the caloric and protein output of milpas, medieval European farms, Andean potato plots, etc. and see if Diamond’s suggested European advantage exists.
  • Passenger pigeons. I’m leaving this as a teaser – fascinating… (Or you can click here – a post from before a personal 1492: my discovery of Querencia. In fact, searching Q for ‘1491’ – not a bad idea.)

My two biggest takeaways from the book are, first, how deeply rooted and deeply wrong the popular image of the Indian – and pre-Columbian America – is and, second, how much permaculture went on in the Americas, especially in the Amazon basin. If you haven’t read it – highly recommended.

4 thoughts on “Germs”

  1. Thanks for the links! As you can tell from my posts the book made quite an impression on me. I have been recommending it to anyone interested in North American archaeology since it came out.
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    If 1491 is accurate in it’s depiction of the depopulation of the Americas as a result of smallpox and friends, the technological advantage enjoyed by Europeans is almost beside the point. One also wonders how a full-strength local population would have held up against a tiny force (the conquistadors) with superior firepower, but incredibly long and tenuous supply lines. Logistics, logistics, logistics.
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    Good observation. People think of Cortes as “conquering” the Aztecs with a small army of conquistadores when actually they were the point of an army of tens of thousands of Tlaxcalans. It was a revolution, really. Also, look at all the failed attempts to colonize the east coast. It wasn’t until epidemics had wreaked havoc in the early 17th century that Jamestown and Plymouth could take root. Before that, the Indians were too strong. The only reason the Spanish were successful in Florida was due to their bases in the Caribbean – again logistics

  3. S – it’s worth a read. I checked it out from the school library, so loaning may be a bit of an operation. If you let me know when you’re ready, I’ll check it out again – it’ll give me an excuse to swing by and check out the basement room.

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