﻿POPULATION 
  OF 
  ANCIENT 
  AMERICA 
  — 
  SPINDEN 
  

  

  459 
  

  

  The 
  earliest 
  "contemporary 
  " 
  date 
  found 
  (on 
  the 
  Tuxtla 
  statuette) 
  is 
  98 
  

   B.C., 
  and 
  the 
  peak 
  of 
  the 
  urban 
  civilization 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  called 
  the 
  First 
  

   Empire 
  falls 
  between 
  300 
  and 
  600 
  A. 
  D. 
  

  

  But 
  by 
  630 
  A. 
  D. 
  every 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  cities 
  had 
  been 
  abandoned. 
  

   This 
  abandonment 
  may 
  have 
  begun 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  sixth 
  

   century 
  of 
  our 
  era, 
  judging 
  from 
  the 
  latest 
  dates 
  at 
  several 
  cities. 
  

   Speculation 
  has 
  been 
  rife 
  concerning 
  its 
  causes. 
  Huntington^* 
  has 
  

   developed 
  a 
  theory 
  of 
  climatic 
  change, 
  which 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  meet 
  

   the 
  known 
  facts; 
  and 
  

   Cook 
  has 
  argued 
  that 
  

   the 
  Central 
  American 
  

   savanas 
  are 
  exhausted 
  

   agricultural 
  lands. 
  ^^ 
  

   But 
  the 
  barren 
  savan- 
  

   as 
  respond 
  to 
  geologi- 
  

   cal 
  conditions 
  without 
  

   evidence 
  of 
  having 
  been 
  

   farmed. 
  Moreover, 
  the 
  

   dates 
  show 
  that 
  cities 
  

   located 
  on 
  the 
  rich 
  flood 
  

   plain 
  of 
  theUsumacinta 
  

   were 
  abandoned 
  at 
  the 
  

   same 
  time 
  as 
  cities 
  on 
  

   the 
  shallow-soiled 
  plain 
  

   ofPeten. 
  Warfare 
  does 
  

   not 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   highly 
  developed, 
  for 
  

   none 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  Maya 
  

   cities 
  are 
  fortified. 
  San- 
  

   itation 
  affords 
  the 
  best 
  

   explanation, 
  and 
  it 
  hap- 
  

   pens 
  that 
  yellow 
  fever 
  

   had 
  its 
  most 
  likely 
  place 
  

   of 
  origin 
  in 
  Central 
  

   America.'^ 
  

  

  Yucatan 
  and 
  in 
  fact 
  

   the 
  whole 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  Mayas 
  is 
  a 
  welter 
  of 
  hewn 
  stone 
  and 
  rubble 
  constructions 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  

   massive 
  character. 
  Yet 
  during 
  the 
  prolific 
  First 
  Empire 
  the 
  Mayas 
  

   were 
  entirely 
  unacquainted 
  with 
  metals. 
  We 
  must 
  picture 
  them 
  

  

  » 
  Ellsworth 
  Huntington: 
  The 
  Climatic 
  Factor 
  as 
  Illustrated 
  in 
  Arid 
  America, 
  Carnegie 
  Instn. 
  Publ. 
  

   No. 
  192, 
  Washington, 
  1914. 
  

  

  " 
  Discussed 
  by 
  S. 
  Q. 
  Morley 
  in 
  "The 
  Inscriptions 
  at 
  Copan," 
  Carnegie 
  Instn. 
  Publ. 
  No. 
  219, 
  pp. 
  452-457, 
  

   Washington, 
  1920. 
  

  

  i« 
  The 
  Books 
  of 
  Chilam 
  Balam, 
  Maya 
  chronicles, 
  record 
  pre-Spanish 
  visitations 
  of 
  yellow 
  fever 
  under 
  the 
  

   name 
  xekik, 
  " 
  blood 
  vomit." 
  

  

  Figure 
  2.— 
  Distribution 
  of 
  agriculture 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  World 
  in 
  pre- 
  

   Columbian 
  times. 
  Numbers 
  have 
  reference 
  to 
  agriculture: 
  1, 
  In 
  

   arid 
  regions 
  of 
  considerable 
  altitude, 
  mostly 
  with 
  irrigation; 
  2, 
  

   under 
  humid 
  lowland 
  conditions; 
  3, 
  under 
  temperate 
  conditions 
  

  

  