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The survival
of any society is based on its collective wisdom, or ability to
understand the past in ways that successfully shape the future. Epidemic
disease has disabled great civilizations and emerging cultures. We believe,
therefore, that it is important to re-examine major epidemics of the
historic and remote past using newly available high-tech tools. The new
discoveries from this interdisciplinary approach contribute valuable
insights for informing current public awareness and shaping public health
policy that may enable us to avoid repeating the disasters of the past.
The papers we will present demonstrate
recent breakthroughs in research that will dramatically revise what has been
believed, up until now, about pre-Columbian and Colonial disease and
epidemics. For example, both the Andean epidemic of 1524 in which the Inca
Emperor Huayna Capac died in Quito, and the great Mexican epidemic of 1576
that forever changed the direction of post-contact colonial cultural
evolution, have long been blamed on European diseases brought to the New
World by the Spaniards. However, we will show that, in light of recent
medical discoveries, it is much more likely that these epidemics were both
caused by indigenous New World diseases that became widespread
epidemics because of sudden radical ecological changes brought about by
large scale human activity organized at the state level. Other papers will
demonstrate paleopathological evidence of syphilis, tuberculosis, and
other diseases in pre-Columbian America. Two papers will specifically
address interdisciplinary methodologies and state of the art technologies
for understanding the relationship between global weather patterns and
cycles and epidemic disease, both in the contemporary world and in the
remote past.
We are quite sure that the publication of this
collection of papers will mark a significant turning point in the
literature. You will notice that the Saturday event is open to the public by
registration while the Sunday roundtable, moderated by Jack Woodall, is
limited to those invited to attend.
Suzanne A. Alchon will lead off with a review of Pre-Columbian disease throughout the Americas. Robert McCaa, will present the state of research in the field, and outline the scale and scope of the pre-Columbian and Colonial demographic disasters. Rodolfo Acuna-Soto will present his findings on Hemorrhagic fever in pre-Columbian and Colonial Mexico. David Stahle will show the relationship between long term weather patterns, as revealed through dendrochronological analysis, and epidemic disease outbreaks. James Kiracofe and John Marr will provide a comparative analysis of evidence surrounding the circa 1524-28 Andean Epidemic, evaluating arguments in favor of Smallpox or Bartonellosis as the most likely cause. Richard Andre will demonstrate the relationship between El Niņo weather events and dramatic increases in outbreaks of bartonellosis in Peru. Dicey Taylor will present evidence in art and mythology pointing to pre-Columbian syphilis among the Taino. Bruce M. Rothschild will discuss the results of his paleopathological studies of human remains showing evidence of syphilis and other diseases of pre-Columbian North America. John Marr will discuss the need for re-examining with new, interdisciplinary methodologies great epidemics of the past for clues that may lead to breakthroughs in modern preventive medicine and public health planning.
drkiracofe@interamericaninstitute.org
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