Historic and bioarchaeological evidence supports late onset of post-Columbian epidemics in Native California
Historic and bioarchaeological evidence supports late onset of post-Columbian epidemics in Native California
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历史和生物考古学证据支持加利福尼亚州原住民后哥伦布时期流行病的晚发性
DOI：
10.1073/pnas.2024802118
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发表时间：
2021
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
B. Codding
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
T. Jones;Al W. Schwitalla;M. Pilloud;John R. Johnson;Richard R. Paine;B. Codding
意义大约从1492年开始，整个大陆的人口急剧下降的观点长期以来一直影响着北美的生态和社会叙事。我们分析了北美迄今汇编的最大的系统死亡记录数据集(n=33,715人)，将考古和历史数据结合在一起，以评估现在称为加利福尼亚州中部的土著人口减少的性质和时间。研究结果表明，与鼠疫一样的死亡年龄结构相一致的死亡风险始于大约公元1770年与欧洲入侵者的持续接触，这表明在北美的这个和可能其他与世隔绝的地区，主要的人口减少开始得相对较晚。我们的分析不支持本土动植物的“反弹”，这是第一个殖民定居点之前假定的流行病的结果。美洲土著人口在与欧洲人接触后灾难性地减少是人类历史上最严重的人口事件之一，但关于崩溃的时间和规模仍然存在不确定性，这不仅对土著历史，而且对历史生态的理解都有影响。长期以来的假设是，西班牙海员一到达就会立即爆发整个大陆的大流行，但近年来，一种区域流行病异步爆发的模式对这一假设提出了挑战，导致不同地区的人口下降速度不同。一些研究人员提出，在加利福尼亚州，后哥伦布时代的头两个世纪发生了显著的人口减少，导致当地动植物在1769年之后与欧洲持续接触时出现了“反弹”。在这里，我们结合了一个全面的史前骨学数据集(n=10,256个人)和历史使命停尸房记录(n=23,459个人)，这些记录总共跨越了公元前3050年到公元1870年，通过构建寿命表和进行死亡年龄记录的生存分析，系统地评估死亡率随时间的变化。结果表明，只有在与欧洲侵略者持续接触后，死亡风险的形式才开始发生戏剧性的变化，这与瘟疫般的人口结构相一致，当时西班牙人在公元1770年左右建立了永久定居点和传教士。这些下降反映了新引入的疾病的共同影响，以及西班牙殖民制度对土著生活方式的严重文化破坏。
Significance The idea of precipitous continent-wide population decline beginning ca. 1492 has long influenced ecological and social narratives of North America. We analyze the largest systematic dataset of mortality records (n = 33,715 individuals) yet compiled across North America coupling archaeological and historic data to evaluate the nature and timing of Indigenous depopulation in what is now called central California. Findings indicate that mortality risk consistent with a plague-like age-at-death structure began after sustained contact with European invaders ca. AD 1770, suggesting that major depopulation began relatively late in this and possibly other isolated regions of North America. Our analysis does not support a "rebound" in native flora and fauna as a consequence of hypothesized epidemics before the first colonial settlements. Catastrophic decline of Indigenous populations in the Americas following European contact is one of the most severe demographic events in the history of humanity, but uncertainty persists about the timing and scale of the collapse, which has implications for not only Indigenous history but also the understanding of historical ecology. A long-standing hypothesis that a continent-wide pandemic broke out immediately upon the arrival of Spanish seafarers has been challenged in recent years by a model of regional epidemics erupting asynchronously, causing different rates of population decline in different areas. Some researchers have suggested that, in California, significant depopulation occurred during the first two centuries of the post-Columbus era, which led to a “rebound” in native flora and fauna by the time of sustained European contact after 1769. Here, we combine a comprehensive prehistoric osteological dataset (n = 10,256 individuals) with historic mission mortuary records (n = 23,459 individuals) that together span from 3050 cal BC to AD 1870 to systematically evaluate changes in mortality over time by constructing life tables and conducting survival analysis of age-at-death records. Results show that a dramatic shift in the shape of mortality risk consistent with a plague-like population structure began only after sustained contact with European invaders, when permanent Spanish settlements and missions were established ca. AD 1770. These declines reflect the syndemic effects of newly introduced diseases and the severe cultural disruption of Indigenous lifeways by the Spanish colonial system.