Life on the Edge

A four frame history lesson. Sorry.

Frame 1.

In the beginning was the spear. Fifteen thousand years ago, give or take the first inhabitants of the good old USA hunted and gathered. Killing bison and gathering berries to survive. Life was tough to say the least.

Frame 2.

One thousand six hundred years ago, almost exactly, a group of hunter gatherers discovered basket weaving. We now call them “basket weavers”. This gave them the ability to carry more stuff than they did before. They also started farming as they had discovered that corn grows if you plant it and just wait. Life was getting better one moon at a time (no calendar as we know it back then).

Frame 3.

One thousand three hundred years ago, give or take a tad, the basket weavers began farming more and hunting and gathering less. This made them “advanced basket weavers”. This meant they could stay in one spot, build a fairly permanent shelter and kick back on the weekends. Life was pretty sweet. Take particular note of the house with the ladder.

Frame 4.

One thousand two hundred years ago on a Saturday the “advanced basket weavers” dragged themselves into the Advanced Pueblo Period. They really had their corn sorted and basket weaving down pat. Life was about as good as it gets.

So what next?

Well the Mesa was quite dry and getting pretty crowded, the water was limited and resources were spread a little thin. The Pueblos had been growing crop after crop of corn for hundreds of years and the ground was starting to feel the effects. Then came the drought……

The Pueblos moved from the Mesa top to the cliffs for security and protection, hoarded their stores and began fighting over the scarce resources. After fifteen thousand years of peaceful living and only a couple of hundred years after getting their act together the corn had hit the fan.

The good news is they had the smarts to realise the situation was untenable and for the most part they moved to Mexico, where life was good. Now of course they are trying to get back north of the border.

So whats the lesson? Too many people to few resources leads to arguments and the need to move on to greener pastures. If it happens again I think I’ll move to, let me see, um,………….Suggestions welcome. After all, I said I was sorry.