Collapse and Sustainability: Rome, the Maya, and the Modern World
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title
The Resilience and Vulnerability of Ancient Landscapes: Transforming Maya Archaeology Through IHOPE
Publisher
Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Volume
24
First Page
201
Last Page
214
Abstract
The factors that make a society sustainable, or vulnerable to collapse, can rarely be discerned within a human lifetime. Sustainability challenges develop over periods of decades, generations, or centuries. Sustainability must therefore be a historical science. A major challenge of the IHOPE program is how to draw valid comparisons among different kinds of societies, existing at different times, that can clarify our contemporary problems of sustainability. This paper develops and illustrates a theory for understanding sustainability and collapse that has cross-cultural applicability. Illustrating the theory by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire yields new insights into what it means to be a sustainable society. Comparison to the Maya reveals that, despite many differences, the Roman Empire and Maya polities underwent similar patterns of cultural evolution, and developed similar vulnerabilities. Comparison of both historical cases to the sustainability challenges of today demonstrates that contemporary industrial societies face evolutionary processes similar to those experienced by the Romans and the Maya. This analysis yields several points that are worthwhile for policy makers to understand. [collapse, complexity, energy, Maya, Roman Empire, sustainability]
Recommended Citation
Tainter, J. A. Collapse and Sustainability: Rome, the Maya, and the Modern World. In The Resilience and Vulnerability of Ancient Landscapes: Transforming Maya Archaeology Through IHOPE, edited by Arlen F. Chase and Vernon L. Scarborough, pp. 201-214. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 24.
