Technology, Population, and the Impact of Ancient Humans on the Environment
In recent years, humans have become increasingly concerned with their effect on the planet and its ecosystems. In the popular view, these problems are new and unprecedented in human history. While it is probably true that our impact on the environment on a global scale has never been as great, the difference is simply the scale on which our actions are being taken. Situations that previously were local or regional in scope have now become global, owing to the increasingly sophisticated technologies that we have developed and our ever-increasing population. As an examination of the impact of ancient humans on the environment illustrates, however, the current impact fits into the general pattern that the degree to which humans influence their environment is determined by their concentration and the sophistication of their technology. Contrary to the popular view which sees ancient humans as either benignly living with their environments (see Note 1 below) or as leading miserable short lives during which they were at the mercy of those environments, archeology tells us that humans have been interacting with and affecting their environments since the beginning. As Neil Roberts comments, humans' impact on landscapes began "even before…landscapes had become recognizably modern." (Note 2).
My purpose in this paper is to illustrate some of the ways ancient humans, using a variety of technologies, altered the environments they lived in. Before I begin, however, I would like to emphasize that discussing human "impact" on the environment implies human action was detrimental to the environment. In this paper, I shall define "impact" as any change in the lands...
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...ng paragraphs come from the author's lecture notes as described in note 7 above, as well as Ellen, R. "Modes of subsistence: hunting and gathering to agriculture and pastoralism," in The Companion Encyclopedia to Anthropology, ed T. Ingold, New York: Routledge, 1994.; and Price, T.D. and J.A. Brown. "Aspects of Hunter-Gatherer Complexity," in Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, T. Price and J. Brown, eds. San Diego: Academic Press, 1985.
9. Other populations such as mammoth hunters of the Central European Plain dealt with these pressures by shifting to specialized economies based on the extensive use of a few species.
10. The opposite is k-selected species such as mammoth, who produce fewer offspring, but give these offspring more care in order to give each offspring a higher chance of survival. Earlier subsistence patterns had tended to focus on k-selected species.
As one knows, some unwanted pregnancies could often be harmful and distressing for a woman. Women should have the right over their body to choose to sustain the fetus or not. In the past decades, women did not have their freedom of abortion in many countries of the world. There have always been controversies going on about abortion. Each individual has dissimilar views on the legality of abortion. Some people are against abortion for personal religious purposes and beliefs. For those who don’t believe in abortion, it is because they see it as killing a fetus, which is a human being. Others support abortion because they believe in women’s rights. Laws of abortion vary in each country, and abortion is not legal all over the world. It is illegal under any conditions but only permitted to save woman’s life if in countries such as Brazil, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, and Ireland. However, abortion is legal without any restrictions in countries like Canada, Albania, and Italy. It the past decades Abortion was considered as criminal act in Canada. “If an abortion was carried out without such approval, the woman was liable for imprisonment for 2 years, an...
.... Some animals face endangerment because of human’s hunting activities and because of the climate changes. Due to the endangered rare species, people solve this problem by bringing these animals back to their natural habitat.
animals into a category of game hunting animals to relieve the population and provide some
My vision of Art Therapy was very vague. I always thought art therapy was a form of therapy for distressed or abused children trying to tell a story through pictures or drawings. The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well being of individuals of all ages. Art therapy is a form psychotherapy that has been practiced for over sixty years and it has been promoted as a means of helping people who find it difficult to express themselves verbally (Crawford, et al., 2010). Art therapy sessions usually start with a form of relaxation such as deep breathing , progressive muscle relaxation, or setting an intention for the session ahead (Hart, 2010). Art therapy is used for several different types of people with diverse illnesses such as: Autism Spectrum Disorder, people living with HIV/AIDS, mental disorders and even Cancer. Studies show that art therapy can lead to increased self awareness of self, as well as improved ability to cope with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences (American Art Therapy Association). This form of therapy helps these patients express positive feelings that may not be easy to access in the midst of a fear provoking experience (Hart, 2010). Art therapy help people to identify their feelings, and resolve the issues associated with their illness. Although, my lack of knowledge on this therapeu...
The National Geographic article “Siberian Tiger” by Joel Sartore highlights the escalating endangerment of Siberian tigers due to two main factors: destruction of the forests, and most prominently poaching (2014). Amur tigers primarily reside in eastern Russia, China, and North Korea, where they experience bitter climates, resulting in low human density and vast woodlands to roam (Sartore, 2014, p. 1). Yet, what seemingly appear to be advantages in reality are downsides, since timber industries expand and demolish these vast ecosystems (S...
An example of an art therapy program is the Rialto Jean Project. The project uses the Rialto Jean denim line and A-list actors and actresses who are part of the companies fan base. Each pair of jeans has a different design and is uniquely made (See addendum). The project involves working with children from the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. The Rialto Jean Project believes the theory that art “can help young patients find a sense of hope and increase self esteem, autonomy and competence, while offering opportunities to express their feelings safely while providing a solid foundation for healing” (“Giving Back”). The art therapy program at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles was started in 1991 by Mark Taper and the Jonny Mercer Artists Program. The Jonny Mercer Artists Program made the effort to incorporate visual arts, music, dance and expressive art therapy to a pediatric medical setting. This form of therapy helps patients express their thoughts about their illness and has played a role in helping alleviat...
Before I graduated from college, an art therapist saved my life. She helped me work through my diagnosis by utilizing poetry, collage, and freeform oil pastel drawings. Upon termination, art therapy had given me true healing. Today, I am thriving with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, applying to graduate school to follow my passion, and wearing my adversity as a badge of triumph. The healing power of art therapy provided me with an inside look at the difference an art therapist can make. Now I want to help individuals find their own healing through art. Additionally, I posses an insatiable interest in both art and psychology. The emerging field of art therapy synthesizes my true love of
The nature of this relationship between humans and their environments has long been the subject of academic debate. Many scholars, from the Greco-Roman era until the late eighteenth century, believed one’s environment predominantly dete...
Art therapy began as a natural extension of Freud’s groundbreaking psychoanalytic theories at the turn of the last century. Psychiatrists discovered that visual arts could be used as a tool of assessment, and by the 1940s art was being used not only for assessment, but also in therapeutic applications (Junge, 2010). Two main branches evolved from these early years: art as therapy and art psychotherapy.
Steward’s approach made it easier to delimit the field of study and produce a cause and effect relationship. “Steward delimited the field of human-environment interaction by emphasizing behavior, subsistence, and technology” (Moran, 2008). Those who now continue to use Steward’s methods tend to use it for researching pastoral groups, rural societies, preindustrial farmers, and especially hunter-gatherer groups, and in fact has led to a new understanding of
One of the most key examples of understanding human culture through archaeology is the topic of climate and the environment. As seen through history, there is an intricate relationship between the environment and life on earth. Through extensive research, archaeologists have the ability to take note of minor cultural changes that can be attributed to the environment during a particular time period. These changes include, shifts in methods of food collection, changes in the artwor...
Pierson, M., & Wilson, H. (2009). Exploring Art as Therapy. In Using Expressive Arts to Work with Mind, Body, and Emotions: Theory and Practice (pp. 202-222). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsly Publishers.
Writer, printer, scientist, leader, inventor, and “rebel with a cause” are few of the many careers that Benjamin Franklin has been renowned for over the years. All of them truly reflect the abilities that he deployed during the birth of our nation. These qualities have also acknowledged a superb leader who serves as a prominent model and founding father to today’s generation.
The extinction of indigenous animals has been an ongoing problem that has not received the attention it deserves. Biologists have studied the pattern of mass extinction with growing concern. The world’s species are declining at a rate 10,000 times faster than normal according to a census of the world’s species (Dugan). What is causing such a rapid increase in extinction is unknown however there is one thing that is indisputable: human interference is playing a direct role.
When a species becomes endangered, it means that the species is being threatened with extinction. Since the beginning of time, numerous species have gone extinct due to naturally changing physical and biological conditions. Human factors such as pollution, commercial overexploitation, poaching and deforestation have all contributed to the ...