Christopher Fisher Wins 2007 Willey Prize

Christopher Fisher

The Archeology Division is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2007 Gordon R Willey award is Christopher Fisher, (Colorado State U), for his article “Demographic and Landscape Change in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, Mexico: Abandoning the Garden,” published in American Anthropologist 107(1), March 2005. Fisher was affiliated with Kent State University at the time the article was published.

In his article, Fisher integrates archaeological, environmental and geoarchaeological data collected in a regional survey around the southwestern border of Lake Pátzcuaro in central Mexico. The multidisciplinary, multi-year research was co-directed by Fisher and Helen Pollard (Michigan State U). Fisher analyzes these data in the context of investigating the breakdown of past civilizations. He explicitly responds to widespread popular assumptions that suggest that the collapse of complex societies is due to human over-exploitation of the landscape caused by over-population. Through detailed data collection, careful analysis, and very clear writing, Fisher demonstrates the counter-intuitive conclusion that environmental degradation in the region was not caused by over-population and over use. In fact, environmental collapse occurred after social collapse caused by Spanish invasion; environmental degradation was probably caused by loss of population and resulting lack of maintenance of a humanly-created productive landscape. The engineered terraced landscape supported high population densities during late Prehispanic, but was subject to degradation due to loss of population and introduction of European crops and animals following Conquest.

Fisher’s article is a contribution to a sophisticated analysis that recognizes the complexity of the issues and encourages us to avoid a simplistic understanding of cause and effect. As he points out, only a long-term historical perspective, provided by archaeology, can provide an understanding of the complexity of human-land interactions.

The Willey award carries a $1,000 prize and will be presented at the annual business meeting of the Archeology Division on November 30, 2007.