| Popis: |
The Iberian invasion of the New World resulted in land-degradation processes. Human agency associated with silver mining and the two methods involved in refining (smelting and amalgamation) had dramatic environmental consequences. The need for fuel used in one method led to the deforestation of vast areas where soils were further eroded. The use of mercury in the other produced toxic wastes and tailings in mining towns and regions, poisoning soils, sediments, and the water table. Based on the detailed analyses of historical records, surveys, and archaeological excavations, we discuss how the Otomi Indians of the Mezquital Valley in central Mexico became producers of charcoal required in the mines located in that valley, and show how mercury was introduced in the mining regions of northern Mexico using a case study from Zacatecas, in Panuco, a mining town founded by the Onate family. |
