Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Amazonians Before Columbus:

Discoveries That Can Help Us Cope
With Current Environmental Issues
by Bill Denevan

Monday, March 5, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
$5 donation requested

Bill Denevan will discuss prehistoric intensive cultivation in the Amazon rainforest, along with arguments for dense populations, large permanent towns, and small states in Amazonia. The lecture will be 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Video and slides will be included.

There is evidence that Amazonia before 1492 was not a pristine environment but had been modified during thousands of years of human activity. Vegetation and wildlife largely recovered after 1492 following massive Indian depopulation. There are lessons from this story about prehistoric Amazonia that have relevance today for sustained and highly productive cultivation, energy production, and reduction of C0₂ emissions and thus global warming.

After the presentation there will be group discussion.

Suggested reading: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, Vintage (paperback) 2005.

A $5 donation is requested.

Located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, California, the Gualala Arts Center is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m. Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information.