July 19, 2018
Discussion led by Kate Kidd
This non-fiction book argues that the popular image of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus is inaccurate, and based on emerging scientific thought, Mann presents a picture of life in the pre-Columbian Americas far more advanced, and much more bustling, than is generally imagined.
Mann’s introduction starts by refuting the notion that Native Americans arrived on the content solely by way of the Bering Strait 20,000 to 25,000 years ago. He also disputes the common preconception that Native Americans did little to change their environment through all that time. This incorrect conclusion about early Americans is largely based on observations of scientists who met primitive peoples in Bolivia. The main scientist, Allan R. Holmberg, incorrectly concluded that the people he found there had always lived a primitive existence, marked by low population numbers. He failed to take into account the ravages of smallpox that decimated the tribe’s numbers. Mann calls his error “Holmberg’s Mistake.” This sets the stage for further complicating what people generally think of life in the pre-Columbian Americas.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/03/1491/302445/
http://www.powells.com/book/1491-new-revelations-of-the-americas-before-columbus-978140003205
http://www.supersummary.com/1491-2/summary/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491:_New_Revelations_of_the_Americas_Before_Columbus
Mann’s introduction starts by refuting the notion that Native Americans arrived on the content solely by way of the Bering Strait 20,000 to 25,000 years ago. He also disputes the common preconception that Native Americans did little to change their environment through all that time. This incorrect conclusion about early Americans is largely based on observations of scientists who met primitive peoples in Bolivia. The main scientist, Allan R. Holmberg, incorrectly concluded that the people he found there had always lived a primitive existence, marked by low population numbers. He failed to take into account the ravages of smallpox that decimated the tribe’s numbers. Mann calls his error “Holmberg’s Mistake.” This sets the stage for further complicating what people generally think of life in the pre-Columbian Americas.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/03/1491/302445/
http://www.powells.com/book/1491-new-revelations-of-the-americas-before-columbus-978140003205
http://www.supersummary.com/1491-2/summary/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491:_New_Revelations_of_the_Americas_Before_Columbus
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