Demographic Collapse: Indian Peru, 1520-1620

by Noble David Cook

Overview

While many scholars have been interested in the size of the Indian population of the Americas at the time of first contact with Europeans, this book, first published in 1982, was the first to make a thorough examination of the question. Focusing on Peru, Professor Cook estimates population size on the basis of archaeology, carrying capacity of the agricultural systems, disease mortality, depopulation ratios, and census projection. He also analyses the catastrophic population decline that resulted from contact with Europeans, and compares this experience with that of the coastal region and the Andean highlands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521239950
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/25/1982
Series:	Cambridge Latin American Studies , #41
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.87(d)

Table of Contents

List of tables, figures and maps; Preface; Introduction: the problem in perspective; Part I. Peru's Preconquest Population: 1. The ecological approach; 2. Population and archaeology; 3. Depopulation ratios; 4. Estimates from social organization; 5. Disease mortality models; 6. Census projections; 7. Conclusion; Part II. Demographic Collapse: 8. First contact: north coast; 9. Center of Spanish control: middle coast; 10. Disease, earthquakes, and droughts: south coast; 11. Intermediate area: northern highlands; 12. Mining and population in the central sierra; 13. The Indian heartland: southern highlands; 14. An overview; Abbreviations used in notes; Notes; Bibliography; Index.