The Native population of the Americas in 1492 / edited by William M. Denevan ; with a foreword by W. George Lovell.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Denevan, William M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indians of North America--Population.

Indians of North America.

Indians of South America--Population.

Indians of South America.

America--Population.

America.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (398 p.)

Edition:

2nd ed.

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, 1992.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

William M. Denevan writes that, "The discovery of America was followed by possibly the greatest demographic disaster in the history of the world." Research by some scholars provides population estimates of the pre-contact Americas to be as high as 112 million in 1492, while others estimate the population to have been as low as eight million. In any case, the native population declined to less than six million by 1650. In this collection of essays, historians, anthropologists, and geographers discuss the discrepancies in the population estimates and the evidence for the post-European decline. Woodrow Borah, Angel Rosenblat, William T. Sanders, and others touch on such topics as the Indian slave trade, diseases, military action, and the disruption of the social systems of the native peoples. Offering varying points of view, the contributors critically analyze major hemispheric and regional data and estimates for pre- and post-European contact. This revised edition features a new introduction by Denevan reviewing recent literature and providing a new hemispheric estimate of 54 million, a foreword by W. George Lovell of Queen's University, and a comprehensive updating of the already extensive bibliography. Research in this subject is accelerating, with contributions from many disciplines. The discussions and essays presented here can serve both as an overview of past estimates, conflicts, and methods and as indicators of new approaches and perspectives to this timely subject.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""List of Tables""; ""List of Maps""; ""List of Figures""; ""Foreword""; ""Native American Populations in 1492: Recent Research and a Revised Hemispheric Estimate ""; ""Supplementary Bibliography""; ""Preface to the First Edition""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Part I: Estimating the Unknown""; ""Introduction""; ""1. The Historical Demography of Aboriginal and Colonial America:An Attempt at Perspective""; ""Part II: The Caribbean, Central America, and Yucatán""; ""Introduction""; ""2. The Population of Hispaniola at the Time of Columbus""

""3. The Indian Slave Trade and Population of Nicaragua during the Sixteenth Century""""Part III: Mexico""; ""Introduction""; ""4. The Population of the Central Mexican Symbiotic Region, the Basin of Mexico, and the Teotihuacin Valley in the Sixteenth Century""; ""Part IV: South America""; ""Introduction""; ""5. A Defense of Small Population Estimates for the Central Andes in 1520""; ""6. A Reexamination of Aboriginal Population Estimates for Argentina""; ""7. The Aboriginal Population of Amazonia""; ""Part V: North America""; ""Introduction""

""8. The Sources and Methodology for Mooney's Estimates of North American Indian Populations""""Epilogue""; ""Glossary""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-331) and index.

ISBN:

9786613159519

9781283159517

1283159511

9780299134334

0299134334

OCLC:

927483501

Publisher Number:

2027/heb03840 hdl